Notebook: Gamecocks dominate as OVC gets murky

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Adam Tumino

Eastern quarterback Johnathan Brantley dives forward with the ball in Eastern’s 48-41 loss to Murray State on Saturday. The loss dropped Eastern to 1-5 overall and 1-2 in the Ohio Valley Conference.

JJ Bullock, Sports Editor

The Ohio Valley Conference seems to be 100 percent committed to remaining as mysterious as possible when it comes to sorting out which teams in the conference are actually good and which ones are just putting up early season shows. 

The only two things that seem to be certain right now in the conference is that Jacksonville State is very good, and Tennessee Tech is very bad. Other than that, the OVC is a jumble of teams all beating up on each other trying to scramble into position behind the Gamecocks in the standings.

Jacksonville State stomped Eastern Kentucky 56-7 on Saturday in a game that many people felt was going to be a lot closer than what it was. 

The Gamecocks put up 637 yards of offense and held Eastern Kentucky to just 147. Whew. So much for the Colonels being contenders for the top spot in the conference.

 Jacksonville State used two quarterbacks against Eastern Kentucky who both had moderate levels of success throwing the football.

Eastern Kentucky somewhat held Zerrick Cooper in check, holding him to 12 of 21 passing with 147 yards passing, two touchdowns and one interception. Zion Webb saw time at quarterback too for Jacksonville State; he threw for three touchdowns on 9 of 15 passing for 137 yards. Webb also added 100 yards rushing and one touchdown.

Wide receiver Josh Pearson grabbed two more touchdowns for the Gamecocks; he now has eight this season, the second-most in the OVC.

Austin Peay beat Tennessee State 49-34, giving the conference a result that either helps clear up the OVC power rankings or makes them murkier. That conclusion is left to the eye of the beholder. 

Austin Peay scored six rushing touchdowns to move to 3-3 overall this season and 1-2 in the conference. Tennessee State falls to 2-2 overall and 1-1 in the conference. 

What makes this result so interesting is that Austin Peay earlier this season was demolished by Tennessee-Martin 37-7, who was beaten itself by Murray State the next weekend. Tennessee State edged Eastern in week four and narrowly lost to Vanderbilt.

This game could say a lot of different things. Maybe, Austin Peay is better than the team that dropped back-to-back conference games against Tennessee-Martin and Tennessee State, or it could mean that Murray State is better than a lot of people gave them credit for. 

The Racers beat Eastern this past weekend and also beat Tennessee-Martin, who demolished Austin Peay, and if all that sounds confusing, that’s because it is. The middle of the OVC standings right now are a very volatile place to exist. 

Tennessee Tech showed once again this weekend that it is a program that is in need of a lot of work in a lot of areas. 

The Golden Eagles were dropped to 0-6 this season after losing to Southeast Missouri 70-38. It was the second time this season Tennessee Tech has given up 70 points in a game.

The Redhawks quarterback Daniel Santacanteria threw for 395 yards and four touchdowns on 20 of 27 passing. Southeast Missouri moved to 1-1 in the conference; its lone loss came at the hands of Eastern Kentucky.

This upcoming weekend could clear up a lot of the smoke veiled over the conference standings. Austin Peay and Southeast Missouri will square off in Missouri. Eastern Kentucky and Tennessee-Martin will both try and move one step closer to Jacksonville State when the two teams play Saturday, and Murray State will try and prove it’s not a fluke against Tennessee State. 

JJ’s Power Rankings:

1. Jacksonville State (4-1, 3-0)

2. Eastern Kentucky (2-3, 1-1)

3. Murray State (2-3, 2-0)

4.Tennessee-Martin (1-4, 1-1)

5. Austin Peay (3-3, 1-2)

6. Tennessee State (2-2, 1-1)

7. Southeast Missouri (3-2, 1-1)

8. Eastern (1-5, 1-2)

9. Tennessee Tech (0-6, 0-3)

JJ Bullock can be reached at 

581-2812 or [email protected].