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 Week 4 of play among OVC-Big South Association games. Still many non-conference games to be played, a few byes (Eastern Illinois, Tennessee Tech, Tennessee State), and some coast-to-coast intersectional matchups. Association teams will play on the East Coast (Charleston Southern at William & Mary), in Mid-America (Gardner Webb at Ohio) and on the West Coast (Western Illinois at Eastern Washington). Just a fun geographical quirk to get fans ready for Saturday:

Gardner Webb at Ohio (3:30pm ET, ESPN+)
Another non-conference road game for the Runnin’ Bulldogs, this Saturday in Athens Ohio. Graduate QB Nate Hampton threw for 206 yards in last week’s win over The Citadel and looks to have similar success against the 1-2 Bobcats who have averaged giving up that number in their first three games. Ohio head coach Brian Smith noted in his weekly presser the number of Ohioans in the GWU program among coaches and players. Ohio feels they have played the toughest non-conference schedule in the nation in the season’s first quarter (Rutgers, West Virginia, Ohio State}, and they certainly have a case. Tall order for Cris Reisert (Ohio Dominican ’11) and his team.

Charleston Southern at William & Mary (4:00pm ET,  FloCollege)
After being upset at home by Lindenwood in an Association game, Charleston Southern heads north to William & Mary. Following the loss CSU, Head Coach Gabe Giardina was very plain-spoken saying, “We’ve got to get out of our own way, insisting 'there are no ghosts out there from 2024.'" W&M is the only FCS team in the nation that has multiple players with 10+ tackles per game, with both wins coming by one point. W&M is also one of the least penalized teams in the nation. Third down defense is a huge problem for the Bucs as opponents convert 53% of the time; W&M converts 28% of the time on third down, that stat and about a 50 yard per game gap in rushing is really all that statistically separates these teams. It is the second meeting all-time; William & Mary won the first game in Charleston in 2023.

Western Illinois at Eastern Washington (6:00pm CT, ESPN+)
The Leathernecks will travel to the West Coast to take on winless Eastern Washington this Saturday looking to move to 2-2 before Association play begins. In their blowout home win over Valpo last week QB Chris Irvin threw for 250 yards and three touchdowns. The offense looked like the late season offense of 2024, with Irvin connecting with 7 different receivers. Irvin’ counterpart at EWU, Jared Taylor, has thrown for 250 yards total through three games. Special teams play has been a bright spot for EWU after blocking a kick in each of its first three games this season.  This is a great spot for a Leatherneck win in Cheney, Washington.

Southern Illinois at SEMO (6:00pm CT, ESPN+)
For the second-straight week an OVC-Big South team will host No. 11 Southern Illinois as they travel to Cape Girardeau for the annual "War for the Wheel" game.  Overall, this is the 93rd meeting between the schools. The SIU defense is stingy, allowing just 15.7 points per game, and is fourth nationally in takeaways. These teams are nearly identical in passing yards per game, with the rushing edge to SIU. In SEMO’s case on the rushing side, facing No. 1 North Dakota State does skew your numbers downward.  Look for a big game from SEMO’s leading tackler Landon Sylvie, who ranks 19th in FCS against the rush heavy Salukis.  

UT Martin at Missouri State (6:00pm CT, ESPN+)
UT Martin’s rugged pre-conference schedule continues this week at Missouri State. No one expected the Skyhawks to be winless on September 20th.  Missouri State has moved to Conference USA and this contest marks the third FBS school UT Martin will face this season.  Jase Bauer continues to make strides at QB, having thrown for 516 yards, yet only 2 TD’s.  His Missouri State counterpart Jacob Clark has recorded 781 passing yards and 5 TD’s. Worth noting the outstanding performance defensively for UT Martin last Saturday from Josh Hasting who tallied 13 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss in the SIU game.

Stony Brook at Lindenwood (7:00pm CT, ESPN+)
Talk about an intersectional matchup:  Long Island, New York meet St. Charles, Missouri when Stony Brook visits Lindenwood. Time zones aside, Lindenwood must concern itself with Seawolves QB Chris Zellous who accounted for 313 total yards and four touchdowns in a win last week over Fordham.  Lindenwood rallied late to open Association play last week with a come from behind win at Charleston Southern, scoring 35 unanswered points. Lindenwood QB Nate Glantz also accounted for 4 touchdowns in the win, which sets up well against a Stony Brook defense that gives up 403 yards per game.