Bob Belvin has broadcast games across the Association for well over a decade, and served as host of league Media Day events. Each week this season he will share his thoughts matchups and happenings around the Association and FCS.
Welcome to the stretch run, with three Association games left for most teams. One school can capture at least a share of the OVC-Big South title and another Tennessee school is making at run for the top. Some entertaining matchups are on the docket this week, for both contenders and those that are trying to nudge to the top of the standings.
Southeast Missouri at Gardner-Webb (1:30pm ET, ESPN+)
Coming off a home loss to Charleston Southern, SEMO heads east Saturday to take on Gardner-Webb. The schedule makers and the injury gods have not been kind to SEMO this season as the Redhawks will follow this road game in Boiling Springs with a trip to Macomb, Illinois next Saturday, a span of 609 miles. SEMO leads the OVC-Big South in passing offense, and that figure is very impressive since they have been without QB1 Jax Leatherwood for parts of the season. GWU, on the other hand, rushes for over 190 yards per game and is one the league's least penalized teams. It's Military Appreciation Day at Spangler Stadium as the Redhawks make their first ever trip to Carolina.
Tennessee State at UT Martin (1:00pm CT, ESPN+)
Tennessee State hits the road again taking for a Sgt. York Trophy Game at UT Martin on Saturday. Every game in November is a must-win for UT Martin as they try to extend their late season surge. Tennesseans have become all too familiar with Tennessee State sneaking up on teams and pulling a surprise at this point in seasons past, but the numbers and past performance don’t substantiate that happening in this game. Wide Receiver Devaughn Slaughter is emerging for the Tigers, scoring on the first play from scrimmage last week; and then the Tigers promptly gave up 35 unanswered points. UT Martin is riding a three-game Association win streak, needing overtime to win on the road last week. This is a Sgt. York trophy game too, now in its 19th season.
Lindenwood at Western Illinois (1:00pm CT, ESPN+)
High flying Lindenwood chose a much different route to victory last week, rushing for five touchdowns in the win over TSU, Jared Rhodes leading the way with 113 yards, averaging 7.5 yards per carry. In three of Lindenwood’s four wins this season, the Lions have run for better than 150 yards. Rushing aside, the Lions still lean heavily on the arm of Nate Glantz, who has thrown for 1,967 yards so far this season. WIU’s last outing was a big road win over TSU, followed by last week’s bye. Great stat heading into this game: Lindenwood has won both times these two have met, with the combined scores of those two games at 170 points. This may be a “weather” game too.
Tennessee Tech at Eastern Illinois (12:00pm CT, ESPN+)
Fresh off a come-from-behind Homecoming win, Tennessee Tech travels to Eastern Illinois to take on the hard-luck Panthers. EIU has lost their last two games by a combined 8 points. If these two age-old old clichés are true that “defense wins championships” and “defense travels well” then Tech should be fine on the prairie Saturday. Exhibit “A” is OVC-Big South Co-Defensive Player of The Week Maurice LaPierre. The Tech defender had three sacks and forced a fumble in the GWU win. For EIU, Tylan Foster and Ja’Waun Nickson, recorded 14 tackles each in their OT loss to UT Martin. Fourteen seniors will take their final bow at O’Brien Field Saturday, with nine of those student athletes having already earned their undergraduate degrees. In this game the average yards per game stat is the widest on the season for Association schools- 467 per game for Tech while 328 per game for EIU.