The All State

» By TRENT SINGER
tsinger@my.apsu.edu

With the AFC Championship on the horizon, the conference’s two most dominant teams, the New England Patriots and the Baltimore Ravens, are reaping the benefits of home field advantage.

Throughout this year’s playoffs, AFC home teams are 4-0 entering this week’s matchup. The early line has the Patriots favored by seven points and with good reason. Including the playoffs, New England is 8-1 at home this year, while the Ravens have struggled on the road all season.

There are still several key issues that New England must address in order to make their fifth Super Bowl appearance in ten years. Among those issues are improving the league’s 31st ranked defense and Tom Brady’s ability to score against the Ravens consistently stingy defense, led by future hall-of-famer Ray Lewis.

For the Ravens, they must simply defeat the odds. Their offense has found the most consistency with star running back Ray Rice. However, the Ravens’ best chance for victory may come down to the arm of quarterback Joe Flacco, who needs to show more consistency.

Both teams showed their respective strengths with home victories this past weekend.

The Ravens stifled the Texans on defense, forcing four turnovers and using ball control to advance to the AFC Championship Game.

On the other hand, the Patriots defeated the visiting Denver Broncos in dominant fashion with six touchdown passes from Tom Brady and a defense that showed tremendous improvement from the regular season. TAS

» By TRENT SINGER
tsinger@my.apsu.edu

At the beginning of the season, only a handful of people would have predicted the New York Giants and the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game, but in a season that was affected by a summer-long lockout, why not?

The 49ers enter this matchup as the favorite by 2.5 points, and on paper, these two teams compare equally.

Defensively, the 49ers ended the regular season ranked first in rush defense. The secondary has shown the least amount of consistency, but has benefited greatly by a stout pass-rush, led by veteran Justin Smith and rookie Aldon Smith.

On the other hand, the Giants are healthy and have proven to be dominant in recent weeks. The play of Jason Pierre-Paul and Justin Tuck, along with the return of Osi Umenyiora, has given New York an enormous spark on defense.

New York’s road to the playoffs began in the final week of the regular season, with a defeat against the Dallas Cowboys for the NFC East title. The Giants won their Wild Card Game by defeating the Atlanta Falcons 24-2 at home. New York shocked many this past weekend by trampling the defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers 37-20 at Lambeau Field.

The 49ers ended the regular season as one of the NFL’s biggest surprise teams, finishing with a 13-3 record and the NFC’s second seed in the playoffs. The team’s first playoff action came this past weekend when Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints came into Candlestick Park. With only nine seconds left on the clock, Alex Smith threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Vernon Davis, sealing the 36-32 victory over the Saints and sending the 49ers to the NFC Championship Game. TAS

» By ANTHONY SHINGLER – ashingler@my.apsu.edu

Winless.

That one word summarizes the Govs basketball team so far this season. The Govs are off to their worst start since the 1993-94 season. They lost their home opener against MTSU Saturday, Nov. 26, 90-70, making their record 0-7.

“We really got it handed to us tonight,” said head coach Dave Loos in a press release. “The shooting percentages tell it all. There’s a lot that makes up for why that happens, but the fact of the matter is, we’re just not making any shots. We’ve got to start making some shots and we’ve got start making some stops.”

The Govs have been playing without senior center John Fraley since their previous loss to MTSU in the season-opener on Friday, Nov. 11, when he suffered a concussion.

Fraley’s absence had the most impact on the boards and in the post. The Govs snatched a season-low 26 rebounds and also allowed MTSU to shoot 64.7 percent from the field. They also outscored the Govs 34-23 in the post.

The Govs shot 21-of-58 (36.2 percent) from the field and 4-of-17 (23.5 percent) from three-point range. They also shot 24-of-33 from the free
throw line.

“We’ve got to step up, because no one is going to feel sorry for us. We’ve got a long way to go,” Loos said. “We play good basketball teams the rest of the way through the pre-conference schedule. We hope to be ready to play in our conference. We’ve got to find our way.”

Down only 38-30 at halftime, the Govs allowed MTSU to open the second half on a 22-6 run. At the 12:58 mark, they had established a 23-point lead, 61-38, their biggest lead of the game.

The Govs rallied and cut the lead to 12 points, 72-60, on a layup by senior forward Melvin Baker with 6:38 left in the game. However, they could not get any closer.

Senior guard TyShawn Edmondson led the Govs with 14 points. Baker added 12 points and sophomore forward.

Will Triggs added nine points and six rebounds. Freshman forward Chris Freeman tied Triggs for the most rebounds with six.

Marcos Knight led MTSU with 16 points and LaRon Dendy and Shawn Jones added 13 points each.

The Govs return to action Saturday, Dec. 5, traveling to face Memphis. Tip off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and can be watched on CSS locally. TAS

» By Marlon Scott – mscott@my.apsu.edu

With a win in their final game against Tennessee Tech, the Govs would have earned the Sgt. York Trophy for the first time since the series began in 2007. However, since they lost, the Govs remain the only team in the series yet to earn the trophy. Tennessee State won the Sgt. York Trophy for the third time. They were tied with Tennessee Tech, but won the tiebreaker because they defeated Tennessee Tech head-to-head.

2010 Stat Leaders

Passing:
Jake Ryan: completed 107-212 for 1120 yards; 11 interceptions; seven touchdowns; 101.8 Avg/G

Rushing:
Terrence Holt: 146 for 793 yards; eight touchdowns; 50 longest; 72.1 Avg/G

Ryan White: 156 for 769 yards; four touchdowns; 63 longest; 69.9 Avg/G

Receiving:
Devin Stark : 19 for 253 yards; two touchdowns

Scott Thomas: 18 for 223 yards

Defense:
Antwaun Majors: 84 tackles; one FF

Derrick Dillard: 84 tackles; 1.5 S; one FF

2011 Stat Leaders

Passing:
Jake Ryan: completed136-256 for 1,478 yards; 15 interceptions; 12 touchdowns; 164.2 Avg/G

Rushing:
Ryan White: 236 for 1,100 yards; six touchdowns; 31 longest; 100 Avg/G

Wesley Kitts: 84 for 495 yards; two touchdowns; 37 longest; 45 Avg/G

Receiving:
Devin Stark : 53 for 627 yards; seven touchdowns

Scott Thomas: 28 for 299 yards; two touchdowns

Defense:
Antwaun Majors: 88 tackles; two Int; 2 FF; one FR

Amius Smith: 80 tackles; 0.5 S; two FR; onew Saf

» By ANTHONY SHINGLER – ashingler@my.apsu.edu

The Murray State Racers raced to a 56-24 victory over the Govs Saturday, Nov. 12. The Govs dropped to 3-7 overall, and 2-5 in the Ohio Valley Conference standing. Murray State improved to 6-4 overall, and 4-3 in the OVC.

It did not take long for Murray State to establish an early 26-0 lead. They scored on their first offensive drive. Junior quarterback Jake Ryan found senior wide receiver Scott Thomas for a 10-yard touchdown pass that cut the Murray State lead to 26-7.

Murray State pushed their lead to 42-10 on a 22-yard field goal in the third quarter. Racer kicker Kienan Cullen made five field goals in the game.

Ryan instrumented another Govs scoring drive in the third quarter. He tossed a 38-yard bomb to Devin Starks for the touchdown. Ryan completed 10-of-18 passes for 101 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. It was his first game back after sitting out due to a knee injury.

Ryan White, who was suspended for the first quarter, finished with 20 carries for 92 yards. The Govs rushed for 125 yards. Starks made seven catches for 81 yards and two touchdowns.

Murray State’s Casey Brockman finished 25-of-39 for 277 yards and one touchdown. Murray State out gained the Govs offensively 525 to 295.

The Govs return to action for the season finale at Tennessee Tech Saturday, Nov. 19, in the final game of the Sgt. York Trophy Series and
OVC schedule. TAS

Whitney Hanley

Named 17th among OVC scoring leaders and second-team all OVC in the 2010-11 season

Nicole Olszewski

Started 26 games and finished third on team in scoring in the 2010-11 season

Meghan Bussabarger

Played in all 33 games, and ranked third in rebounding during 2010-11 season

» By MARLON SCOTT – mscott@my.apsu.edu

The Lady Govs used to be beasts.

For three years straight they earned a spot in the OVC Tournament. For two of those years, they terrorized the rest of the OVC teams in the tournament, earning back-to-back tournament titles.

By the time tournament time came last season, the other coaches and players lost sleep and broke out in cold sweats, not willing to whisper the words “Lady Govs,” hoping by not saying their name, they could somehow avoid them in the tournament.

However, the reign of terror ended in the semifinals of the OVC Tournament last season.

For the first time in three years, the Lady Govs lost a game in the tournament. The rest of the OVC breathed a sigh of relief and are looking forward to a terror-free tournament this season.

The Lady Govs’ goal is to remind the other teams of their beast status.

In her sixth season as the Lady Govs head coach, Carrie Daniels has a squad balanced with experience and new talent.

“We have a lot of players that have been through the trenches with this team,” Daniels said. “A lot of our returners have been a part of two championship teams. They have a little bit of a bitter taste in their mouths, getting beat in the semifinals.”

The Lady Govs will look to fill two crucial positions left by graduating seniors Brooke Faulkner and Dalila Thomas. Faulkner was the team’s most experienced point guard. She averaged 7.6 points per game, made 29 steals and was a scoring threat from long range.

Thomas was the team’s leading shot blocker. She averaged 7.2 points per game.

“I believe every year you determine what you’re losing and then go out and replace those positions. You can’t replace particular players, but you do have to replace the positions,” Daniels said. “We went out and recruited five newcomers this offseason and, while we are never going to replace the players we lost, I believe we’ve got some great women who will come in and make up for the scoring we lost.”

The Lady Govs filled their needs with four freshmen and a junior college transfer this season. Three of the freshmen are guards who will compete to fill Faulkner’s minutes as point guard: Shira Buley, Kristen Steinback and Shelby Olszewski.

They will also compete with the more experienced Leslie Martinez, a junior transfer from Collin County Community College.

Rounding out the new members is 6-foot freshman forward Somalia McKenney.

“I think from day one, the newcomers have come in and the returners have taken them by the hand and tried to show them the ropes and tell them the things they need to know,” Daniels said. “The chemistry is so important off the court, on the court. It is something that can really help a team be successful.”

The Lady Govs will play a challenging non-conference schedule that includes Vanderbilt, Ball State, Belmont, University of Alabama at Birmingham and Florida A&M.

“We definitely have to stay healthy and just continue to improve each and every day,” Daniels said. “That is the one thing we have stressed. We want to see that improvement every day. We don’t want to digress and
go backwards.” TAS