Tennessee-Martin sends message with league win

Could this be the year that Tennessee-Martin finally finishes out of the Ohio Valley Conference's basement?

Only time will tell, but the Skyhawks are off to a good start toward that end.

Tennessee-Martin, the OVC's whipping boy for nearly a decade, got its conference season off in rousing fashion Saturday by routing visiting Tennessee State 42-20 in the only league game that has been played so far.

"It's great to start off conference play with a win naturally, but it's awful early," Skyhawks coach Matt Griffin said during Tuesday's OVC coaches teleconference.

The Skyhawks have finished either last or tied for last in the OVC each of the past nine seasons, claiming just three conference wins during that time.

But Tennessee-Martin posted one OVC win in each of Griffin's first two seasons after having gone six consecutive years without a conference victory.

And the Skyhawks also claimed two overall wins in each of Griffin's first two seasons, matching their most overall victories since the 1995 team went 5-6. Tennessee-Martin already is off to a 2-1 start this year and is currently the only OVC team with a winning record. It is the Skyhawks' first 1-0 OVC start since 1995.

Asked if Tennessee-Martin can legitimately make some noise in the conference this year, Griffin said, "I don't know. It really is too early, and I'm not sure where Tennessee State is as a team, either. The only thing I can say is we're better than a year ago, but we still have a lot of areas to improve on."

Griffin knew it would be a slow process with the Skyhawks, whose last winning season was a 6-5 mark in 1993. The Skyhawks have 10 seniors -- the most since 1994, according to Griffin -- and more than 20 juniors.

"The neatest thing going on is we've got some kids who have just grown up," Griffin said. "They've taken their lumps, they really have."

The Skyhawks certainly didn't look like a team again picked to finish last in the OVC against Tennessee State. They piled up 504 yards -- led by sophomore tailback Donald Chapman's 221 yards rushing on 31 carries -- and held the Tigers to 247 yards.

Tennessee State, in a transition period under first-year coach James Webster, played without quarterback Bryson Rosser. He has a broken bone in his left foot that may require surgery.

"Give credit to Tennessee-Martin," Webster said. "That's a good football team, a well-coached football team, a lot of senior leadership."

Even though Webster is not all that familiar with the OVC, he said league teams expecting their usual automatic win over the Skyhawks might be in for a rude awakening.

"This is a wakeup call for the OVC on Tennessee-Martin," Webster said. "I wish somebody else had played them first."

More OVC openers

Six more OVC teams play their conference openers this week, including the squads picked first and second in the league's preseason poll -- both of them currently winless.

Two-time defending champion Jacksonville State, the preseason favorite, visits Southeast Missouri State in a battle of 0-3 teams.

Eastern Kentucky, No. 2 in the preseason poll, is also 0-3 as it entertains 1-2 Tennessee Tech.

This week's other league game features Samford at Eastern Illinois in a matchup of 1-2 squads.

While Jacksonville State has not yet found the victory column, the Gamecocks have done nothing so far to suggest that they aren't good enough to capture their third OVC title in just their third season in the league.

The Gamecocks' three defeats have been by a total of 12 points, including Saturdays' 35-28 setback at Division I-A Alabama-Birmingham.

In their season opener, the Gamecocks saw Furman -- ranked No. 2 nationally in Division I-AA at the time -- score a touchdown on the game's final play to prevail 37-35. Tennessee-Chattanooga then scored a touchdown with less than 10 seconds left to win 21-18.

"We're a good football team and we know we're a good football team," Jacksonville State coach Jack Crowe said. "I have every confidence in our football team that we're going to be better than any of our two previous football teams that have played in this league."

Players of the week

Tennessee-Martin senior quarterback Brady Wahlberg is the OVC offensive player of the week after a big performance against Tennessee State.

Wahlberg completed 19 of 25 passes for 214 yards and three touchdowns, and he also rushed 19 times for 62 yards and two TDs. Wahlberg became the Skyhawks' all-time passing leader with 4,988 career yards.

Murray State junior linebacker Michael Sturgis earned the league's defensive award after having 11 tackles, including a sack, during a 27-15 victory over Indiana State.

Also gaining weekly league honors were Murray State senior running back Nick Turner (special teams) and Jacksonville State senior safety Darren Williams (newcomer).

Turner had 299 all-purpose yards, including a 91-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and a 5-yard touchdown run, against Indiana State. He also threw a 71-yard TD pass.

Williams had 10 tackles during a 35-28 loss to Alabama-Birmingham.