Trio enters the final week of conference play in dead heat

~ Eastern Illinois, Tennessee-Martin and Tennessee State all have one loss.

With one week left in the season, the race for the Ohio Valley Conference championship is still up for grabs.

It's likely that either Eastern Illinois, Tennessee-Martin or Tennessee State -- or a combination of that trio -- will have emerged from the pack by late Saturday afternoon.

But Jacksonville State, while needing plenty of help, also is still alive for a share of the title.

Those first three teams are tied for the top spot with one conference loss apiece, while Jacksonville State is fourth with two league defeats.

Tennessee-Martin's 31-28 home setback to Eastern Kentucky on Saturday left the door open for Eastern Illinois, Tennessee State and Jacksonville State -- or a combination of the three -- to barge through this week.

The Skyhawks (8-2, 5-1) held a 28-21 fourth-quarter lead before the Colonels pulled into a tie.

Eastern Kentucky then blocked a Tennessee-Martin punt in the final minute, which led to Taylor Long's game-winning 39-yard field goal with one second remaining.

The Skyhawks, ranked 12th nationally this week, had their eight-game winning streak snapped. They committed four turnovers and had two punts blocked.

"Both teams played hard, but we made more mistakes in that game than we've made all year," said Tennessee-Martin coach Jason Simpson during Tuesday's OVC teleconference.

Defending OVC champion Eastern Illinois (7-4, 6-1) took advantage of the Skyhawks' defeat by routing host Tennessee Tech 38-14.

"I was very pleased with the way we played," Eastern Illinois assistant head coach Mark Hutson said. "We've had trouble at Tennessee Tech before."

Tennessee State (6-4, 5-1) also took advantage of Tennessee-Martin's loss by crushing visiting Southeast Missouri State 31-0, even though the Tigers have been riddled by injuries, including to star quarterback Antonio Heffner.

"I think it's a tribute to our football team that we have so many injuries. ... I figured it up we had nine new starters. ... It's a tribute to those [replacement] guys that they stepped up," Tennessee State coach James Webster said.

Even Jacksonville State (6-5, 5-2) capitalized on Tennessee-Martin losing by crushing in-state rival Samford 55-7 at home.

The Gamecocks appeared hopelessly out of the OVC race just a few weeks ago, but now they're still alive for a title tie, although everything would have to break just perfectly for them.

"The numbers give us a chance ... it is mathematically a low percentage" said Jacksonville State coach Jack Crowe, whose squad actually would gain the league's automatic Division I-AA playoff berth based on a fairly complicated tiebreaker if it could force a four-way tie for the crown.

This week's schedule among the contenders features Tennessee-Martin visiting last-place Murray State (1-9, 0-7), Tennessee State visiting Eastern Kentucky (5-5, 4-3) and Eastern Illinois hosting Jacksonville State.

In the event the race ends in a three-way deadlock, Eastern Illinois would get the conference's automatic playoff berth because of tiebreakers.

In two-way tie scenarios, Tennessee-Martin gets the playoff nod over both Tennessee State and Eastern Illinois, while Eastern Illinois gets into the playoffs over Tennessee State because of winning the head-to-head meeting.

Tennessee-Martin and Tennessee State wouldn't be able to decide things head-to-head because they did not play each other this year.

The OVC has been allowing Tennessee State to play just seven league contests in order to keep its annual "classic" games against other historically black colleges intact. In the rotating schedule, this is the year that Tennessee State missed facing Tennessee-Martin.

Tennessee-Martin would then make the playoffs ahead of Tennessee State because it would own a win over Eastern Illinois, which would be the next-highest squad in the standings.

Likewise, if Tennessee-Martin and Eastern Illinois tie for the title, the Skyhawks make the playoffs because thhey beat the Panthers.

Confusing enough for everyone~ Webster chose to not even think about it.

"Nothing matters unless we win," Webster said. "If we go out and win, in my mind, we're conference champions. Now, there may be some other people that join us if we win, but as far as I'm concerned, we're OVC champions."

Webster hopes to have Heffner back for Eastern Kentucky. Heffner has missed the Tigers' past two games because of a shoulder injury, including a 29-3 loss at Eastern Illinois on Nov. 4.

"I'm expecting Antonio Heffner to play, I really am," Webster told the Nashville Tennessean early in the week.

Even with Heffner, the Tigers figure to have their hands full against an Eastern Kentucky team that has won three straight games and needs one more victory to post a 29th consecutive winning season and a 34th straight non-losing season.

"It's very, very important to us," said Eastern Kentucky coach Danny Hope of continuing those streaks.

Even if Tennessee-Martin or Eastern Illinois don't secure the OVC's automatic playoff berth, both squads figure to at least have a shot at gaining an at-large bid.

The Skyhawks had been ranked among the nation's top 10 teams for several weeks while the Panthers' four losses have been to a pair of I-A teams and two ranked I-AA squads.

Players of the week

Tennessee-Martin junior tailback Don Chapman is the OVC offensive player of the week for the second straight time. He rushed for 171 yards and two touchdowns on 31 carries against Eastern Kentucky. Chapman has recorded his third consecutive 1,000-yard rushing season.

Eastern Kentucky sophomore safety Brandon Gathof won the defensive award. He had 12 tackles, including a sack, and intercepted a pass to help hand Tennessee-Martin its first OVC loss.

Eastern Kentucky senior Matt Schoborg and Eastern Kentucky junior tailback Bobby Washington were honored as specialist and newcomer of the week, respectively.

Schoborg blocked two punts against Tennessee-Martin, including one with 34 seconds remaining in regulation that set up the game-winning field goal.

Washington, a transfer from North Carolina State, rushed for 119 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries against the nation's sixth-ranked rushing defense. He also caught six passes for 38 yards.