Brentwood, TN – On Tuesday the OVC revealed the first two games that are part of the league’s eight-game football “Game of the Week” package that will be carried exclusively on ESPN3 this fall.
The package will kickoff on Saturday, September 20th when UT Martin hosts Eastern Kentucky at 12:00pm CT. The second game of the package will take place on Saturday, October 4th and will be a “Wildcard” selection which will be announced roughly 12 days before the contest.
A season ago UT Martin won for the first-time ever in Richmond, Kentucky, knocking off Eastern Kentucky 16-7. Overall it was just the second win in 24 all-time games for the Skyhawks against the Colonels.
UTM kicker Jackson Redditt made three field goals (from 38, 45 and 51 yards) and Abou Toure rushed for 111 yards to lift the Skyhawks to the victory. This season UT Martin returns 61 players from last year’s team that was 7-5 overall and 5-3 in the OVC. Eastern Kentucky brings back 45 lettermen from last year’s team that was 6-6 overall and 4-4 in the OVC.
The four games up for consideration for the Oct. 4th Wildcard Selection are Eastern Kentucky/Austin Peay, UT Martin/Jacksonville State, Murray State/Tennessee Tech and Tennessee State/Southeast Missouri.
This marks the second-straight season the league has produced the Game of the Week package in conjunction with WebStream Sports. WebStream Sports, an Indianapolis-based company which is a proven leader in video production, streaming video and content creation. The company, founded in 2006, produces more than 1,000 events annually and has also served as a web streaming consultant for the OVC for the past year.
Kevin Ingram, host of “The Wake Up Zone” on 104.5 The Zone in Nashville, will handle play-by-play duties while Bob Belvin, on-air talent and contributor at 100.7 FM/AM 540 (ESPN Clarksville), will provide analysis. The duo has worked together each of the past two years in the league’s TV package.
The OVC Football Game of the Week package is part of a five-year agreement with ESPN which was announced last October. The deal runs through the completion of the 2017-18 season.
ESPN3 is ESPN’s live multi-screen sports network, a destination that delivers thousands of global sports events annually and accessible online via WatchESPN.com, on smart phones and tablets via the WatchESPN app, through ESPN on Xbox LIVE to Gold members and on Apple TV and Roku.
It is also available at no cost to approximately 21 million U.S. college students and U.S.-based military personnel via computers connected to on-campus educational networks and on-base military networks.
2014 OVC Football Game of the Week on ESPN3 Schedule
- September 20th – Eastern Kentucky at UT Martin, 12:00pm CT
- October 4th – Wildcard Selection (Eastern Kentucky at Austin Peay, UT Martin at Jacksonville State, Murray State at Tennessee Tech, Tennessee State at Southeast Missouri)
The remaining six games will be announced over the course of the rest of this week.
