RICHMOND, Ky. - Homecoming '98 at Eastern Kentucky University this coming Saturday has all the makings of a place where college football fans would want to be.
Two Top 25 NCAA Division I-AA teams, a big Homecoming crowd and the production crew from FOX SportSouth Television Network will all mix together at Roy Kidd Stadium Saturday afternoon at 12:30 p.m. (EDT) as Eastern Kentucky University hosts Murray State University in an important Ohio Valley Conference matchup that has major conference championship and I-AA playoff implications. Eastern will enter Saturday ranked 17th in the nation in both the USA Today/ESPN poll and the Sports Network poll. Murray State comes in ranked 19th and 21st respectively.
Ironically, both teams come into Saturday's game off league losses suffered last weekend. EKU (3-2, 1-1 OVC) was beaten 31-21 by Tennessee State, while Murray State (4-2, 2-1 OVC) was handled 35-14 by Middle Tennessee.
"The race for the conference title is wide open now that Murray and us have both lost," said EKU head coach Roy Kidd. "We will regroup and make adjustments for the players that we've lost through injury.
"On offense last Saturday, we moved the ball. We just couldn't put it into the end zone. And then on defense, Tennessee State had a good team and a good plan with a good quarterback and good receivers and runningbacks. Overall, we have a young defense with a young secondary.
"We're going to work hard this week. We know this is an important game. We've had a rough schedule so far and Murray State is going to be every bit as tough to prepare for as anyone. We've got to continue to do a good job in the turnover category and when we get chances to score, we need to put points on the board."
Eastern was forced to play TSU without the services of its top two tailbacks. Junior Derick Logan, who sprained his left ankle in the Western Kentucky game, did not dress for the game because his ankle has not responded to treatment, while sophomore Corey Crume sprained his right ankle on Eastern's first play from scrimmage Saturday night and had to sit out the rest of the game.
However, as usually is the case in the long line of Eastern tailbacks, sophomore Brian "Bull" Durham made the most of his opportunity and responded with a career-high night of 41 carries and 157 yards rushing with two touchdowns.
Colonel quarterback Jon Denton, under pressure all night long vs. TSU, is rated as the 11th best passer in the nation in pass efficiency with his 152.0 rating. On the season, he has now hit 47-90 passes for 803 yards and eight TD's, while only being intercepted twice.
His favorite target, senior wide receiver Rondel Menendez, had another big game, hauling in nine passes for 150 yards. He leads the Colonels in pass receiving this year, although only playing in three games, with 18 receptions for 400 yards and four TD's.
Crume, who is listed as questionable for Saturday's game with Murray State, leads EKU with 391 yards rushing, followed by Logan with 193 and Durham with 166.
Defensively, the Colonels are yielding 369.2 yards per game. Linebackers Brad Folke and Charles Tinsley top EKU's tackle chart with 33 and 32 hits, respectively.
Tickets to Saturday's Homecoming game and Eastern's three November games
at Roy Kidd Stadium are available by visiting the EKU Athletics Ticket
Office in Room 126 of Alumni Coliseum from 8 a.m.- 4:30 p.m. weekdays or
by phoning (606) 622-2122 or 1-800-262-7493, inside Kentucky.
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