(STATS) -- Tennessee State is off to the programs best start in four years, but if that success is to continue it must come with a new -- yet familiar -- face under center.With sophomore starter OShay Ackerman-Carter done for the season because of a knee injury, senior Ronald Butler takes over the reigns of the offense Saturday as the Tigers (3-0) open Ohio Valley Conference play against visiting UT Martin.Ackerman-Carter threw for 598 yards with five touchdowns and two interceptions before he was injured in the first half of a 31-24 victory at Bethune-Cookman on Sept. 17. The Tigers conveniently had their bye last week so were able to put plenty of time into preparing for life with a new signal-caller.Thats unfortunate, coach Rod Reed said. But we have a very capable guy in Ronald Butler running the show.The Tigers last opened with four straight wins while going 7-0 in 2012, but they only won once the rest of the way and failed to make the playoffs. Reed, though, seems to believe the good times will keep coming with Butler leading the way.The Tallahassee, Fla., native has played in 31 games at Tennessee State with 13 starts, including eight in 2013 when he was named all-OVC Second Team as a freshman. Butler, who went 7 of 13 for 72 yards with two touchdowns and an interception after Ackerman-Carter was injured, has thrown for more than 2,700 yards with 24 TDs and 15 INTs for his career.Our playbook wont change, Reed said. Ronald has been running this offense for three years. ... Were just going to keep plugging along.Butler also knows hell have help from a stellar offensive line in front of him. That unit has allowed just one sack and has paved the way for Tigers backs to average 4.8 yards per carry.Hopefully we can continue that trend, Reed said. Weve got to be consistent up front. Hopefully we can keep Butlers uniform clean and run the ball.The former might be tough against UTM (2-2, 1-0), which has recorded five sacks in the last two games. Its also picked off six passes in 2016. Butler is 13 of 25 for 189 yards and a TD in three games against the Skyhawks, though most of that action came as a freshman.This is the biggest challenge weve faced to date, Reed said.UT Martin will try for a third straight victory in the series and overall. The Skyhawks are tied for seventh in the FCS in scoring (42.8 points per game) and junior quarterback Troy Cook ranks among the national leaders with nine TD passes.Rod and I have been competing against each other for a lot of years, UT Martin coach Jason Simpson said. Theres been some good battles.This contest is part of the annual Sgt. York Trophy competition, an in-season series contested among the leagues four Tennessee-based schools. This and the Commander in Chiefs -- featuring the nations services academies -- are the only traveling trophies in collegiate sports to involve more than two teams. UT Martin won last seasons title with victories over Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech and Austin Peay.Custom Dallas Cowboys Jerseys . He just needed to be his best twisting, turning acrobatic self. "I didnt need to be anybody else, I just needed to be myself and be aggressive," said Burks, who scored a career-high 34 points to spark the Utah Jazz to a 118-103 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Monday night. Fake Custom Jerseys Online . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. http://www.jerseyscustom.us/ . Those lessons were more than enough to overwhelm the Utah Jazz. Lou Williams scored 25 points and the Hawks continued their offensive upswing as they rolled to an easy 118-85 victory over the Jazz on Friday night, winning their third straight and for the fourth time in five games. Custom Jerseys From China . Durant finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds, Jackson matched his career high with 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting and Lamb scored 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, lifting the Thunder to a 94-88 win over San Antonio and snapping the Spurs 11-game winning streak. Custom San Francisco 49ers Jerseys . -- Gus Malzahn finally had his day in Fayetteville.STANFORD, Calif. -- Coach David Shaw understands that Stanford junior running back Christian McCaffrey may have played his final home game in Saturdays 41-17 nonconference win over Rice.But while fielding a question about how sophomore backup Bryce Love might fare as the starter in 2017, Shaw interrupted and said, If he wants to leave, thats fine. But lets not push (McCaffrey) out the door.McCaffrey rushed for 204 yards and scored two touchdowns as the Cardinal (9-3) won their fifth straight game in front of a sparse crowd that braved drizzly weather at Stanford Stadium.The 2015 Heisman Trophy runner-up wound up with 271 all-purpose yards, including a 23-yard touchdown reception and a 19-yard TD run. After his 19th career 100-yard rushing game and fifth 200-yard effort, McCaffrey eluded the big question about his future.I havent made a decision. I have people in my life I trust, but its my decision, he said. As of now, Im going to get back to practice Monday and get back to working on my craft.Everyone who watched McCaffrey on Saturday night was impressed.Ive done this for 33 years and I have not seen a young man who is capable of doing what he can do with a football in hand, said Rice coach David Bailiff, whose team finished the season 3-9. We knew coming in here, you had to tackle Christian and not let him have a big game. We didnt do that. Not a lot of people have done that.Shaw called McCaffrey a special, special football player.Every time he touched the ball there was a collective gasp to see what hes going to do next, Shaw said.It hasnt been an easy season for McCaffrey or the Cardinal. He missed portions of two games with an unspecified lower-body injury and operated in an offense struggled at times behind a rebuilt line, then made a mid-season quarterback change, going to Kelly Chryst.By the time the Cardinal were 4-3 after a loss to Colorado, McCaffrey was realistically out of the Heisman race. But he has 991 rushing yards and 10 rushing TDs the past five games, pushing his season total to 1,603 yards..ddddddddddddAsked if hed cast a Heisman vote for McCaffrey, Shaw said, The short answer is absolutely. But I would have voted for him last year, too.THE TAKEAWAYRice: The Owls two-game win streak died without a whimper. No match for Stanford, Rice totaled 14 yards and no first downs in the first quarter and trailed 20-3 by halftime. Stanfords 41 points represented the seventh time this season the Owls allowed at least 40 points.Stanford: The Cardinal continue to hum along after their fifth straight victory. Their season once considered a major disappointment after a 4-3 start, has recovered nicely and Stanford is now positioned, with a potential bowl victory, to claim a fifth 10-win season in Shaws six years.ON THE RUNThe Cardinal finished with 373 rushing yards, including a 62-yard TD dash by Chryst and a 50-yard scoring run by Bryce Love. Stanford has 1,377 rushing yards over the past four games. Chrysts first-quarter TD run was the longest by a Stanford quarterback in at least 20 years. Love finished with 111 rushing yards.SCHEDULING SWAPStanford won for the 16th straight time at home against a nonconference foe in a game that originally was scheduled for September 10. The contest was moved so the Cardinal wouldnt play 12 straight weeks without a bye and end the regular season with an open date.UP NEXTRice: Believe it or not, the Owls next game is against ... Stanford. Rice is done this season, but is scheduled to open its 2017 campaign at home against the Cardinal on Sept. 2. The Owls can only hope that Christian McCaffrey is playing in the NFL by then.Stanford: Its regular season complete, Stanford awaits its bowl assignment, to be announced on Dec. 4. Nothing is certain, but the best bets are the Dec. 17 Las Vegas Bowl, the Dec. 28 Foster Farms Bowl in Santa Clara, California, or the Dec. 30 Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas, depending on the final College Football Playoff standings. ' ' '