OVC Week 6 Review, Week 7 Preview

[Skyhawk71]

Jacksonville State 41 (1-1) 5-1 Tennessee-Martin 27 (1-1) (3-2)
Jacksonville State once again owned the Skyhawks, outschemed, outplayed and it looks like those close games have matured a young team into a contender, like the emotion of the players that seems to have come with this new coaching staff; It is also becoming increasingly obvious that the UTC and UCA wins for UTM where overhyped, and those teams are not as advertised in the preseason.

Murray State 35 (2-0) 4-2 Tennessee Tech 24 (0-2) 3-3
The Hatch Attack is putting up points and the defense is hanging on, so Murray could be in the mix, I still don't know what to think about Tech but they are probably solid in the middle of the pack this year.

Tennessee State 40 (2-0) 5-1 Southeast Missouri 16 (0-2) 0-5
Tennessee State's only loss is a close one to Bethune-Cookman, so now I'm about to start believing that they could make a run, but their conference wins have been TTU & SEMO, they will have a tough fight through the rest of the schedule, but should they stay on a roll it could be interesting

Eastern Kentucky 38 (1-1) 3-3 Austin Peay 3 (0-1) 0-5
EKU has a strong history in the OVC, EIU game is out of the way for them, and they could also regroup and make a run, also Coastal and EIU may just be that much better than anyone else, and the other loss was to Louisville- we shall see, but more than likely EKU will be in the mix down the stretch.

10/10 APSU has a short week to host EIU coming off of a bye, in this I only feel sorry for the Governors-
UTM travels to TTU on a short week, both teams have some problems to fix

10/12 Tennessee State @ Jacksonville State (Game of the Week)- the two 5-1 teams go at it for serious playoff implications, the winner will definitely be 1 up in that department
Murray State @ SEMO- Murray scores points, gives up some points and most likely wins again

Stock Rising: MSU, JSU, TSU, EKU Falling: UTM, TTU- EIU may be in a class of their own, as are SEMO & Austin Peay

These are just my thoughts, as I like to have a little OVC discussion on the board, please share your thoughts: GO OVC

[dystopiamembrane]

Rankings:
1. Eastern Illinois
2. Tennessee State
3. Murray State
4. Jacksonville State
5. Tennessee Martin
6. Eastern Kentucky
7. Tennessee Tech
8. Southeast Missouri State
9. Austin Peay

Predictions:
Tennessee Tech 27-34 Tennessee Martin
Austin Peay 7-45 Eastern Illinois
Southeast Missouri State 30-38 Murray State
Jacksonville State 24-27 Tennessee State

[DrStrangelove]

I was very anxious to see how JSU would respond to the gut-punch OT loss at home to Murray. The Gamecocks, on the road for a conference game with a ranked team, jumped on UTM early, answered swiftly whenever the Skyhawks got back in it, and put the game out of reach in the fourth quarter. This confirms what I have suspected about the new regime from the beginning: Bill Clark and his staff know what they are doing.

Tennessee State presents another test this week. Can JSU look past the homecoming hype and focus on the Tigers as a conference opponent currently sitting at the top of the standings? If the Gamecocks can take down TSU at home, it might be time to think about JSU as a playoff possibility.

[OSRacer]

Looks like EIU is the class of the league, but that 2nd tier is tough to figure out. Murray is winning some tough, close games but out lack of consistency on offense is a big concern. We are winning with big plays and special teams and the defense is stepping up when needed. That being said if we can get some of these issues straightened out we can be really good. We are decent as it is. TSU looks for real, JSU is talented and I still think UTM can make some noise in the conference. EKU is in the mix as well. The OVC will have 2 and possibly 3 teams in the playoffs.

[Houndawg]

I'm not sure the bye came at a good time for EIU, don't know what their injury situation is but they had a ton of momentum.

[Cocky]

UTM game was a surprised. JSU looked like a good team Saturday. Depth on the D line is a real issue of us as is QB. Hopefully another recruiting season will remedy these problems.

[Skyhawk71]

UTM game was a surprised. JSU looked like a good team Saturday. Depth on the D line is a real issue of us as is QB. Hopefully another recruiting season will remedy these problems.

Your coaches exposed UTM's terrible DB play, and the fact that forcing UTM to pass will now be the blue print for the rest of the OVC- looks like the wrong QB on the field for 'Hawks IMO- I picked JSU because I saw this one coming last week, had the same feeling I had in Cookeville last year- I did think JSU would win a close one, but was way off on that- Good luck the rest of the way-

[Skyhawk71]

Totally Random Side Note: UTM goes to 1-8 in those ridiculous orange uniforms; and yes I know the uniform has nothing to do with it- but they like to break them out for "Big Games" which means that winning the "Big Game" is the problem- If they are busted out again for the TSU game, I will most likely just head back to the parking lot and tailgate on-

[Skyhawk71]

http://ovcball.net/2013/10/week-seven-power-rankings/

Glad that I'm not the only one with this opinion of the Skyhawks. Well, could it be another giant cluster in the middle, as it seems like it has been the past few years- I think it might, just hope EIU doesn't slip up, a National Seed would definitely be awesome for the conference, everyone else is about to start the who beat who, and how the heck did they beat them- typical OVC