The Skyhawk football team will kick off the 2019 season in a home game against Northwestern State on Thursday, Aug. 29, at the Hardy M. Graham Stadium.
UTM endured a grueling 2-8 campaign last season, which saw the team finish second-to-last in the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC). The campaign was plagued by multiple injuries, most notably to the linebacker core and current third-year starting quarterback Dresser Winn, who went down with a season-ending injury midway through the year against Eastern Illinois.
Since then, the Skyhawks have had time to recover and regroup, but the road to a winning season in 2019 will be a tough one for the boys in blue and orange. This difficult schedule is highlighted by two games against Southeastern Conference (SEC) teams and a two game stretch against the two best OVC teams from last season.
On week one, the Skyhawks will host the Northwestern State Demons out of Natchitoches, Louisiana. The Demons, who play in the Southland Conference, went 5-6 in 2018.
The first SEC opponent on UTM’s schedule in 2019 is a date in Gainesville, Florida, against the no. 8 ranked Florida Gators.
In 2018, Florida had an excellent season, going 5-3 in their conference and 10-3 overall, winning against the Michigan Wolverines in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl.
The last game for UTM before the OVC stretch of games will see the team travel to Carbondale, Illinois, to take on the Southern Illinois Salukis, who had a similar record of 1-7 in the Missouri Valley Conference and 2-9 overall.
After playing the Salukis, the Skyhawks will begin the most crucial part of the season: the OVC stretch of games, which consists of eight games against every OVC team, Sept. 28-Nov. 16.
UTM’s first home conference game will be against close rival Murray State on Sept. 28. The Racers finished under .500 last season in overall record but managed a 5-3 record in OVC play, with one of those wins coming against UTM in a 45-38 matchup.
The Skyhawks will be on the road for the next two games, where they will take on the Eastern Kentucky Colonels and the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles.
The Colonels were one of the better teams in the OVC in 2018, going 7-4 overall, ending the season on a four-game win streak and claiming third place in the OVC. UTM and Eastern Kentucky duked it out in a thrilling back-and-forth game that ultimately came down to the wire but resulted in a 34-35 loss for the Skyhawks.
Week six of the season will have the Skyhawks travel to Cookeville take on 2018’s last place team Tennessee Tech, one of the two schools UTM defeated last year. The Skyhawks won in convincing fashion at home against the Eagles by a whopping margin of 38-18.
Winn will look to avenge his season-ending game last year in week seven against Eastern Illinois. This year, however, the Skyhawks will face the Panthers at home, and will also attempt to avenge last season’s overtime loss against Eastern Illinois.
The most critical stretch of the season will be weeks eight and nine, when the Skyhawks will have to face 2018’s second and first place teams, respectively.
UTM will play week eight in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, against the Southeast Missouri (SEMO) Redhawks. In 2018, the Redhawks went 6-2 in OVC play and 9-4 overall, second only to Jacksonville State. SEMO took a commanding 33-56 win over UTM, which dropped the Skyhawks to 1-4 on the season, preventing a winning conference record.
The reigning OVC champion Jacksonville State Gamecocks will play the Skyhawks in Martin. The Gamecocks, a nationally ranked team in 2018, beat UTM 14-21 and won seven conference games to claim the OVC crown.
Austin Peay will host the Skyhawks come week nine. UTM notched its first conference win of the season against the Governors in 2018, ending in a 37-7 pummeling by the Skyhawks. The Governors didn’t fare much better than UTM last year, finishing right above the Skyhawks with a 3-5 conference record.
The Skyhawks will wrap up OVC play at home against Tennessee State on Nov. 16. The Tigers, who finished 3-4 in conference play in 2018, beat UTM by a close 31-28 margin, ending the Skyhawks’ season on a sour note.
After OVC play, the Skyhawks will travel to Lexington, Kentucky, to take on another SEC opponent: the Kentucky Wildcats. Like their conference rival Florida, Kentucky also went 10-3 overall in 2018 with a 5-3 conference record.
After a rough 2018 season, the Skyhawks will have another difficult schedule ahead of them this year.
Homecoming week, which is scheduled for Oct. 28 – Nov. 2, will feature a Friday night showdown between UTM and last season’s OVC champion, Jacksonville State. |Photo Credit / University Relations
