Head Coach Jason Simpson and UT Martin Athletics Director Kurt McGuffin are surrounded by many students including the football team, cheer squad and dance team. They are holding the trophy just awarded to them for winning the OVC Championship with a win of 41-14 against SEMO on Nov. 11, 2023. | Photo Credit/ Erika O’Brien
The UT Martin Skyhawk football team became the Ohio Valley Conference Division Champions for the third consecutive year after beating the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks 41-14 on Saturday, Nov. 11.
The Skyhawks had previously become the 2021 and 2022 OVC champions with strong seasons of 10 wins and one loss in 2021 and seven wins and four losses in 2022. In 2021, the Skyhawks made the playoffs. In the first round, they won their matchup versus the Missouri State Bears 32-31 but lost in the second round to the Montana State Bobcats 7-26. 2022 was a year to remember as UT Martin did not make the playoffs because of a coin toss – yes, you read that right. This was caused by a tiebreaker with the co-champion, Southeast Missouri.
This season the Skyhawks have looked amazing as they have cruised to a record of five wins and one loss in the OVC and an overall record of eight wins and two losses. Their losses have come from the Georgia Bulldogs (non-conference game) and the Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs (conference game). The offense has showed out throughout the season with an average of 33.2 points scored and 439.1 yards gained per game. The defense were no strangers to forcing turnovers with a total of 12 this season.
Even though the Skyhawks are the OVC champions, they still have another regular-season game left this Saturday at noon at F. Page Seibert Stadium in Homewood, Alabama. They will be taking on the Samford Bulldogs, whose season features five wins and five losses.
