Tennessee-Martin was 30 minutes away from suffering its worst letdown loss in school history and then they returned to the field for the second half.

Down 7-0 at half, UTM’s Jesse Burton took the second half kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown to tie the score. Then the 10th-ranked Skyhawks turned the ball over to tailback Donald Chapman.

Chapman rushed for 225 yards and three touchdowns on 36 carries to lead UTM past Southeast Missouri 28-14 Saturday.

Tennessee Martin (8-1, 5-0 OVC) went into the second half down 7-0 after a blocked punt by the Skyhawks with 2:42 left in the first half was recovered by SEMO’s Monroe Hicks and returned for a 64-yard gain to the Tennessee Martin 20 yard line. Six plays later SEMO quarterback Kevin Ballatore found wide receiver Oge Oge in the end zone with 13 seconds left in the half.

Chapman then scored twice in the quarter on three- and one-yard runs to bring the score to 21-7 going into the fourth quarter.

When SEMO lost the ball on downs from the UTM 19-yard-line, the Redhawks (4-5, 2-4) gave up an 81-yard touchdown run to Chapman with 1:18 left that sealed the game.

Eastern Kentucky 51, Murray State 21

Eastern Kentucky racked up a season-high 495 yards of offense and scored the most points ever against Murray State in the series that dates back to 1929.

Junior Mark Dunn tallied two of his three rushing touchdowns in the opening half, including a 25-yard scamper off the right end, to put the Colonels (4-5, 3-3) ahead early, 14-7. Dunn gave himself a nice 21st birthday present with 92 yards rushing on 10 carries.

After Murray State (1-9, 0-7) cut the deficit to 23-14 with 2:39 remaining in the second quarter, EKU sophomore Davin Walker returned the ensuing kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown.

Murray State wide receiver Rod Harper had five catches for 138 yards and two touchdowns but the Racers lost their 14th straight OVC game.

EKU’s 31 points in the first half were the most since the Colonels tallied 42 in the opening half against Eastern Illinois on Oct. 9, 2004.

Tennessee Tech 20, Samford 14

Lee Sweeney threw for 232 yards and two touchdowns Saturday as Tennessee Tech snapped its three game losing streak on Senior Day in Birmingham, Ala.

Leading 13-7 in the third quarter, the Golden Eagles (3-6, 3-3) moved 71 yards in four plays with Sweeney hitting Larry Shipp down the middle for a 57-yard score. It was Shipp’s sixth touchdown catch of the season and Sweeney’s 12th scoring pass in his rookie season.

Samford (3-7, 1-6) sophomore quarterback Alex Mortensen, in his first collegiate start, completed 14-of-26 passes for 88 yards on the day.

Bulldogs receiver Jeff Moore caught five passes for 50 yards, and he returned a punt 62 yards for a touchdown late in the first quarter.

TTU tailbacks Derek White and Anthony Ash each rushed for more than 100 yards for Tennessee Tech and Shipp had 121 receiving yards.

Jacksonville State 13, UT-Chattanooga 10

JSU running back Clay Green led the way for the Gamecocks (5-4) on the night with one touchdown and tied his career-high with 163 yards rushing, 132 of which came in the second half, for his 13th career 100-yard rushing performance.

The game’s drama was set up by a roughing-the-kicker penalty on JSU that erased what would have been a 40-yard game-tying field goal with 29 seconds to play.

UT-Chattanooga (3-7) elected to go for the win instead of taking the game into overtime. Chattanooga quarterback Matt Lopez completed a five-yard pass to wide receiver Emanuel Hassell at the three-yard line, but Hassell tripped short of the goal line as time expired and Jacksonville State escaped with a home non-conference win.