Football

Football Previews - Week 9


Weekly Report (PDF) | YouTube Interview Playlist

There are four Association games on the Week 9 schedule highlighted by nationally-ranked Tennessee Tech hosting Southeast Missouri. In other action Lindenwood welcomes Gardner-Webb, Tennessee State plays host to Western Illinois and Eastern Illinois travels to Charleston Southern.

Saturday, October 25
Southeast Missouri at #8/9 Tennessee Tech, 12:00pm CT (ESPN+)
Eastern Illinois at Charleston Southern, 2:00pm ET (ESPN+)
Western Illinois at Tennessee State, 1:30pm CT (ESPN+)
Gardner-Webb at Lindenwood, 2:00pm CT (ESPN+)

Open Date: UT Martin
 

Southeast Missouri (3-4, 2-1) at #8/9 Tennessee Tech (7-0, 4-0)
Saturday, October 25 - 12:00pm CT
All-Time Series:
 SEMO leads 17-16
Live Video (ESPN+): https://bit.ly/4o4Gx02
Live Stats: https://bit.ly/4o5YFXi

Noteworthy: The Redhawks are looking to snap a 3-game losing streak in road conference games ... Southeast Missouri has won the last three meetings with Tennessee Tech, and have not allowed a Tech TD since 2022 ... In the last two games -- both wins -- the Redhawk defense allowed 12.5 points and 301.0 offensive yards, while outscoring the opposition, 70-25 ... QB JOHNNY WEBER was 21-of-31 passing for 283 yards and four touchdowns in last week’s win over Eastern Illinois.  WR DONNIE CHEERS had seven catches for 165 yards and two scores, with KALVIN GILBERT catching the other two TD passes (44, 4) ... In his last three games, Weber has thrown for 653 yards and six scores ... SEMO recorded 13 tackles-for-loss against EIU, with JEREMY WALTON recording 3.0 and TREY LISLE adding 2.5.

The Golden Eagles are looking to become just the second team to start 5-0 in As-sociation games during the league’s existence ... Tech last defeated SEMO in 2021 (W, 28-17 at home) ... Tennessee Tech is 7-0 for the third time in program history (1952, 1977, 2025), and its best start since 1977 (8-0) ... TTU’s 12-straight wins is the longest winning streak in program history ... The Golden Eagles are 4-0 in conference play for the first time since 1999 ... Through seven games in 2025, Tech has rushed for 26 touchdowns and thrown for 19, has outscored the opposition 362 to 101, and has limited foes to 46.29 net rushing yards per game (324 total) ... Dating back to last season, TTU has held its last 11 opponents to less than 100 net rushing yards -- an Association consecutive record ... TRE’ HOLLOWAY’s 14.5 punt return average is pacing ahead of the league single-season record of 12.6.

 


Eastern Illinois (3-4, 2-2) at Charleston Southern (2-6, 1-3)
Saturday, October 25 - 2:00pm ET
All-Time Series:
 EIU leads 1-0
Live Video (ESPN+): https://bit.ly/47fnmt8
Live Stats: https://bit.ly/3YZbcQo

Noteworthy: The Panthers are looking to avoid consecutive road losses for the ?rst time this season ... EIU won the first-ever meeting with Charleston Southern last year (W, 16-13 in OT at home) ... QB COLE LaCRUE leads the Panthers with seven rushing touchdowns, which also leads the OVC-Big South Association and is one shy of the Association single-season record for most rush TDs by a quarterback (8 - NATHAN LAMB of Western Illinois in 2024) ... LaCrue led the Panthers with 99 rushing yards at SEMO last week, the first time he was the squad’s leading rusher since Week 1.

The Buccaneers snapped their 13-game losing streak in Association games last week, and are looking for back-to-back wins for the first time since 2023 (Sept. 30-Oct. 4) ... The Buccaneers have scored 20-plus points in four games this season, matching last season’s overall total ... In CSU’s 29-24 Association victory at Western Illinois, QB ZOLTEN OSBORNE threw for 262 yards and four touchdowns, and connected twice on scoring strikes to RASHAWN CUNNINGHAM and JAMIL BISHOP.  It was Osborne’s first multi-TD pass performance this year, as well as the Bucs’ first league victory since Nov. 4, 2023 (Tennessee State) -- and first-ever Association road triumph.   

 


Western Illinois (1-7, 0-4) at Tennessee State (2-5, 0-3)
Saturday, October 25 - 1:30pm CT
All-Time Series:
 TSU leads 1-0
Live Video (ESPN+): https://bit.ly/4qsyP1p
Live Stats: https://bit.ly/3b4F8CT

Noteworthy: The Leathernecks are looking to snap a five-game skid in Association road games ... Three of WIU’s four league losses have been one possession defeats, for a combined total of 14 points in those games ( =4.7 average) ... QB CASON CARSWELL has thrown for more than 300 yards in his last three appearances (343, 327, 375), and is 105-of-151 ( =69.54 percent) passing for 1,163 yards and eight touchdowns in his last four games ... The Leathernecks held their first opponent to under 100 net rushing yards this season, as WIU limited Charleston Southern to 77 yards rushing on 31 attempts.

The Tigers are looking to win back-to-back games for the first time this season ... TSU won the first-ever meeting with Western Illinois last year (W, 45-20 in Macomb) ... The Tigers were named the Stats Perform HBCU Team of the Week for its 24-7 win over Howard this past week.  QB BYRON McNAIR led Tennessee State to the victory with 174 passing yards and three TDs, while going 18-of-22 ( =81.8 percent).  He also led the Tigers with 47 rushing yards on six carries ... The TSU defense allowed its fewest yards this season (183), while MICAH GAY tallied a team-high 11 tackles and intercepted two passes.

 


Gardner-Webb (4-3, 2-1) at Lindenwood (3-4, 2-1)
Saturday, October 25 - 2:00pm CT
All-Time Series:
 GWU leads 1-0
Live Video (ESPN+): https://bit.ly/49ahmV1
Live Stats: https://bit.ly/3BtZfYV

Noteworthy: The Runnin’ Bulldogs are looking to avoid back-to-back losses for the first time this season ... GWU won the first-ever meeting with Lindenwood last year (W, 42-35 at home) ... The Runnin’ Bulldogs dropped their first home game of the season last week, were held to their fewest offensive yards this year (319), and were limited to their fewest points in an FCS contest since Nov. 25, 2023 (7 at Mercer in the FCS playoffs) ... QB COLE PENNINGTON was 18-of-33 passing for 236 yards last week against UT Martin in his first start of the season.

The Lions are looking to avoid back-to-back home losses for the first time this season ... Lindenwood is playing its third-straight home contest on Saturday, its first such home game streak since four-in-a-row in 2012 ... The Lions’ 28 points against Tennessee Tech was the most scored against the nationally-ranked Golden Eagles this season.  QB NATE GLANTZ threw for 294 yards and four touchdowns in the setback to TTU, and led Lindenwood in rushing for the second-straight game ... In his last two games, Glantz has 521 passing yards and 7 TD strikes ... Lindenwood is averaging 31.67 points in its three wins, compared to 13.5 points in its four losses (54 total points, including 26 total in two FBS defeats).

 

OPEN DATE