Murray State freshman quarterback Jeff Erhardt posted his second consecutive 300-yard passing game Saturday at Tennessee State and was named the Ohio Valley Conference Offensive Player of the Week and the OVC Newcomer of the Week.

However, it was also the second consecutive game Erhardt passed for more than 300 yards and the Racers lost, this time 42-28 to the Tigers.

Erhardt completed 36 of 46 passes for 330 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran the ball 30 times for 104 yards and another touchdown. His more than 300 yards passing and 100 yards rushing in the same game was the first for an OVC quarterback since Samford’s Ray Nelson threw for 348 yards and rushed for 109 yards at TSU in 2004.

“I know we didn’t go into the game with the idea we’d have our quarterback rush the ball 30 times,” Racers coach Matt Griffin said. “Some of those he just pulled down and scrambled and made some plays.”

Griffin said Erhardt works hard in practice because of the competition at quarterback and has become a leader on the team through his play.

“He’s great for our football team,” Griffin said. “He’s certainly a guy you can build a program around.”

Erhardt leads the OVC in passing completions (192), passing yards (2,087) and passing touchdowns (18).

TSU corner back finds end zone again

TSU coach James Webster said his team’s victory over Murray State was a result of the play of the Tigers defense making big plays early.

Tigers senior corner back Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie was a key player behind this early defensive surge.

Rodgers-Cromartie intercepted a pass by Erhardt with 3 minutes, 22 seconds left in the first quarter and returned it 71 yards for a touchdown. This was the second consecutive game Rodgers-Cromartie returned an interception for a touchdown.

He intercepted Eastern Illinois sophomore quarterback Bodie Reeder on Oct. 27 and returned it 69 yards for another first quarter touchdown.

These are Rodgers-Cromartie’s only two interceptions of the season, but they rank him second in interception yards (140 total yards) behind Eastern Illinois corner back Rashad Haynes (196 total yards).

“There’s a reason he was picked as a preseason All-American,” Webster said. “He makes big plays for us. That’s what we’ve come to expect from him, and that’s what we’ve gotten from him.”

Rodgers-Cromartie recorded his fourth blocked kick of the season when he blocked a 31-yard field goal attempt by Racers’ kicker Tyler Weiss in the first quarter.

Chapman nearing record

Tennessee-Martin senior running back Don Chapman is 182 yards short of 1,000 rushing yards on the season.

If Chapman gains those 182 yards during the Skyhawks’ next two games, he will have rushed for more than 1,000 yards in four straight seasons making him one of only 14 Division I running backs in the FCS or Football Bowl Subdivision to do so.

UT-Martin coach Jason Simpson said he would love to see Chapman break the 1,000-yard rushing mark and leave a legacy at UT-Martin and in the OVC.

This season has been a down season, statistically, for Chapman. He rushed for 1,412 yards last season and 1,396 yards in 2005.

“He’s never complained,” Simpson said. “He’s never looked at his stats and become a selfish player. He’s always done what we asked him to do, whether it be pass protection or splitting some of the carries with other backs.”

Gamecocks-Bulldogs game features special teams

Jacksonville State wide receiver Maurice Dupree was named OVC Special Teams Player of the Week for the second time this season after the Gamecocks’ 24-12 victory against Samford on Saturday.

Dupree finished the game with 201 all-purpose yards including an 86-yard kick return to set up a three-yard touchdown run by Shawn Green. He had five kick returns for 164 total yards.

“We got some big plays to shorten the field for us,” JSU coach Jack Crowe said.

Dupree also ran for a 24-yard touchdown on a reverse. He is ranked third nationally in kickoff returns (33.40 yards/return) and fourth in punt returns (13.93 yards/return).

The other player nominated for specialist of the week was Samford freshman kicker Mark Prevost, who kicked four field goals accounting for all of the Bulldogs’ points.

Prevost connected on field goals of 48, 39, 34 and 29 yards.

“It came down to a red zone game,” Samford coach Pat Sullivan said. “We scored four times; we kicked four field goals. They scored four times and scored a couple of touchdowns. That really was the difference in the game.”