Lindenwood’s Tre Bell (14) covers Illinois State’s Braden Contreras during Saturday’s NCAA football game at Hancock Stadium in Normal, Ill. (Photo courtesy: Illinois State Athletics)
DeMarcus Dixon
Staff Writer
Nine of the Big South-OVC Football Association’s 10 teams played on Saturday, all in non-conference games. The one team that had the weekend off was Tennessee State.
The league went 5-4 in those games. Here’s a quick recap of how they all went.
ILLINOIS STATE 48, LINDENWOOD 17 | BOX SCORE
The Lindenwood University football team went on the road to Normal, Ill., and suffered a 48-17 defeat at the hands of Missouri Valley Football Conference member, Illinois State. The Redbirds put up 521 yards of total offense and outscored the Lions 28-3 in the second half to turn what was a close game at halftime into a rout at the end.
Lindenwood wide receiver Jeff Caldwell, Jr., last week’s Big South-OVC Offensive Player of the Week, had another impressive performance this week. The redshirt sophomore from Louisville, caught five passes for 138 yards and a 73-yard touchdown.
Running back Robert Giaimo, another sophomore, led all rushers with 95 yards on the ground and also scored a touchdown.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 31, MCNEESE 28 | BOX SCORE
MJ Flowers rushed for third most yards in Eastern Illinois program history on Saturday afternoon but it was a Stone Galloway 56-yard field goal with 20 seconds remaining that completed the Panthers comeback in a 31-28 win over McNeese on Family Weekend at O’Brien Field. EIU scored 17 fourth quarter points to complete the comeback and improve to 3-1 on the season (3-0 against FCS opponents).
56 yards for the WIN‼️@EIU_FB | #BigSouthOVCFB pic.twitter.com/Q9FdoVuwdh
— Big South-OVC Football Association (@BigSouthOVCFB) September 23, 2023
BRYANT 16, PRINCETON 13 (OT) | BOX SCORE
Ethan Gettman connected on a 38-yard field goal with under two minutes left in regulation, then hit from 37-yards out in overtime to lift Bryant to a 16-13 win over Princeton in a non-conference contest Saturday afternoon. Zevi Eckhaus was 19 of 27 passing for 126 yards to lead Bryant (2-2). Ryan Clark carried 21 times for 78 yards.
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TENNESSEE TECH 17, KENNESAW STATE 7 | BOX SCORE
Tennessee Tech rushed for two fourth quarter touchdowns to knock off FBS transitioning foe Kennesaw State on Saturday night. It marked the first win of the season for the Golden Eagles. Justin Pegues tallied the go-ahead score in the fourth and finished the game with 71 yards on the ground. Marcus Knight added the insurance score later in the period and led TTU with 112 rushing yards.
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ROBERT MORRIS 46, LYNCHBURG 0 | BOX SCORE
Robert Morris came back home Saturday afternoon and managed to control all aspects of their homecoming game by defeating UVA-Lynchburg, 46-0. The Colonials improved to 2-2 on the young season. The Colonials achieved their first shutout since September 16, 2017, when they shutdown VMI at Joe Walton Stadium.
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TENNESSEE-MARTIN 37, NORTH ALABAMA 21 | BOX SCORE
Running back Sam Franklin had his second 200-plus rushing yard game of the season as UT-Martin scored 27 unanswered second half points to win on the road and improve to 3-1 on the season (3-0 against FCS opponents). Franklin, who leads all FCS backs with 160.75 rushing yards per game, tallied 221 yards on 32 carries (6.9 ypc).
EASTERN KENTUCKY 41, #16/20 SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 38 | BOX SCORE
Patrick Nations kicked a 46-yard field goal as time expired to give Eastern Kentucky (1-3) a 41-38 comeback win over Southeast Missouri (1-3) Saturday night at Roy Kidd Stadium. In a wild turn of events, EKU scored 10 points in the final 2:34 of the game to get its first win of the season. Paxton DeLaurent threw for a season-high 358 yards and three touchdowns and ran for two more scores to lead the Redhawks. He completed 31-of-43 passes and went his fourth game in a row without throwing an interception.
#23 WESTERN CAROLINA 77, CHARLESTON SOUTHERN 21 | BOX SCORE
Charleston Southern football made its first ever trip to Cullowhee, N.C., Saturday afternoon, falling to No. 23 Western Carolina 77-21. TJ Ruff had the main number in CSU backfield today, using 15 touches to collect 96 yards and two scores. Ruff also led the Bucs in receiving as well, adding three receptions for 27 yards. The Bucs recorded their second defensive score of the season Saturday afternoon, as Jamel Johnson recorded a strip sack that resulted in Josh Hill scooping the ball up and making a house call.
EAST CAROLINA 44, GARDNER-WEBB 0 | BOX SCORE
Gardner-Webb mustered just 107 yards of total offense, falling to ECU 44-0 on a rainy Saturday night. Ty French recorded a sack on third and long, forcing an ECU field goal attempt. The sack gives French 27.5 for his career, passing Jason Burns (1988-1991) for the second-most career sacks in program history.
BIG SOUTH-OVC FOOTBALL WEEK 5 SCHEDULE – SAT., SEPT. 30, 2023
| Away | Home | Gametime | Location | Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Howard |  Robert Morris | 11:00 AM | Moon Township, Pa. | TV: ESPN+ Stats |
 Bryant |  Rhode Island | 12:00 PM | Kingston, R.I. | TV: FloSports Stats |
 Austin Peay |  Lindenwood | 1:00 PM | St. Charles, Mo. | TV: ESPN+ Stats |
 Kennesaw State |  Charleston Southern | 5:00 PM | Charleston, S.C. | TV: ESPN+ Stats |
 Eastern Illinois |  Northwestern State | 6:00 PM | Natchitoches, La. | TV: ESPN+ Stats |
 Tennessee State |  Tennessee-Martin | 6:00 PM | Martin, Tenn. | TV: ESPN+ Stats |
BigSouth-OVCFootball.com contributed to this story.