RICHMOND, Ky. - The 12th-ranked Eastern Kentucky University Colonels, fresh from a 27-16 victory over Western Kentucky in Bowling Green last Saturday, begin defense of their Ohio Valley Conference football crown Saturday night with a 6:00 p.m. (CDT) contest at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro.
EKU, ranked 12th in both the USA Today/ESPN and The Sports Network polls, comes in at 2-1, following the come-from-behind win over Western Kentucky. Coach Boots Donnelly's Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders are 1-2 with a season-opening win over OVC member Tennessee State and losses to Illinois and Jacksonville State.
"Saturday's game with Western was a hard-hitting, very aggressive game and I expect this week's game with Middle to be just like that," said Kidd. "They are sitting on top right now out of the gate in the conference with Murray State at 1-0 and will be ready to play us.
"I enjoy coaching in games against Boots. He is very competitive and I am too. You know when you play one of his teams, you had better stay fundamentally sound and stay away from turnovers or you'll get beat.
"I was very proud of the way our team played a full four quarters the other night against Western, especially in that heat. Our defense played well all night and then our offense got it together in that fourth quarter and we were able to hold on for the win. Western's got a good team and any time you can win in Bowling Green, you have to feel good about it.
"But that was last Saturday and now we've got to come down out of the clouds and get focused on Middle Tennessee. Our coaches do a good job of not letting the team get overconfident. I'm sure we'll be ready to go Saturday night."
Middle Tennessee, who has lost five straight games to the Colonels and trails in the series between the two schools, 28-19, is paced by the league's top rusher in 5-11 junior tailback Torin Kirtsey who has rushed for 302 yards and three touchdowns. He has an ample backup in 5-9 junior Kelverick Green who has rushed for 8l yards.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Wes Counts directs the Blue Raider attack and has hit 20-31 passes for 169 yards in '98. Senior flanker Sulecio Sanford leads the way in pass receiving with nine catches for 107 yards and a score.
MTSU has a sophomore-and-junior-dominated defense that is yielding 430.3 yards per game and is leading the OVC in turnover margin with a plus nine (3.0 pg.). Cornerback Darrell Love is Middle's top tackler with 15 solo tackles, 10 assists.
EKU rolled up 482 yards of total offense against Western as tailback Corey Crume ran for 133 yards and two TD's (83 and two yards) and tailback Derick Logan added 114 yards on the ground. Crume also threw a 31-yard TD pass and, for his performance, was selected as the OVC Offensive Player of the Week.
Quarterback Jon Denton had an impressive last half and finished the night 10-16 for 183 yards and a TD. Denton, the Colonels' junior transfer from UNLV, leads the conference in passing efficiency with his 189.5 rating. He is now hitting 59 per cent of his passes (23-39) on the season and has thrown for 418 yards and six TD's in three games.
EKU senior split-end Rondel Menendez was back in practice Monday and could possibly be ready to return to the lineup after separating his right shoulder in the season-opening 43-13 win over Kentucky State and having missed the last two games.
Also receiving conference laurels this week for the Colonels was senior punter Stephen Brown who punted five times for an average of 43.4 yards per kick vs. WKU. He boomed one punt 70 yards, tops in the OVC this season, and placed three boots inside the 20-yard line. He was the OVC Special Teams Player of the Week.
Defensively, Eastern allowed but one touchdown, only 22 yards passing and 328 yards of total offense overall to the potent Western attack. Tackle Jason Muchow (11 stops), strong safety Scooter Asel (11 hits), linebacker Charles Tinsley (10 tackles), linebacker Marcel Desir (4 tackles, fumble recovery), tackle Justin Ernest (seven tackles, two TFL) and linebacker Butch Printup (three tackles, TFL, two fumble recoveries) played huge roles for the Colonels against WKU.
Following the EKU-MTSU game, Eastern has an open date before hosting Tennessee State, Oct. 10, at 7:00 p.m. at Roy Kidd Stadium. Tickets for EKU's five remaining home games are on sale weekdays by visiting the EKU Athletics Ticket Office in Room 126 of Alumni Coliseum or by phoning (606) 622-2122 or 1-800-262-7493, inside Kentucky.
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