RICHMOND, Ky. - Off to a 3-1 start and with a No. 9 ranking in The Sports Network poll and No. 10 ranking in the USAToday/ESPN poll secured after their heart-stopping 28-24 see-saw win at Middle Tennessee last Saturday night, the Eastern Kentucky University Colonels have a welcomed open date to heal injuries before jumping back into Ohio Valley Conference play at Roy Kidd Stadium, Oct. 10, at 7:00 p.m. against Tennessee State.
EKU began defense of its OVC football championship in grand style last Saturday night in Murfreesboro with a hard-fought win over Middle Tennessee in the last meeting between the two schools as OVC football members. (MTSU will move up to NCAA Division I football status next season, making the Blue Raiders ineligible for the crown. However, Middle remains a member of the conference in all other sports.)
Two touchdown passes from junior quarterback Jon Denton to senior wide receiver Rondel Menendez and two TD scampers by sophomore tailback Corey Crume provided the bulk of the offense for the Colonels.
However, it was a third-down blitz call late in the fourth quarter by EKU defensive coordinator Dean Hood that worked to perfection as sophomore linebacker Butch Printup forced MTSU quarterback Wes Counts to fumble on a third-and-goal from the seven-yard line, while Colonel teammate Charles Tinsley fell on the bouncing ball back on the 34-yard line.
Eastern was then able to make one first down and the time expired, putting the Colonels into a first-place tie atop the OVC standings with Murray State and Eastern Illinois.
"We were glad to see the time run out there at the end. That was a tough game with Middle, just like we knew it would be. For whatever reason, our kids weren't ready to play. We could see that on Thursday and tried to change their attitude but it just didn't happen," said EKU head coach Roy Kidd.
"We are going to give the team off Sunday and Monday and then pick things back up Tuesday and start getting ready for Tennessee State. This open date is coming at a good time because we've had four very physical, hot, humid games that can take a lot out of you. We're going back to work on fundamentals and do a lot of work on our pass rush and tackling techniques."
Tinsley, a 6-0, 213-pound senior from Cumberland, recorded a team-high eight tackles, had a tackle for loss and made the key fumble recovery to pace EKU's defensive scheme. He won OVC Defensive Player of the Week honors for this performance.
Offensively, Menendez made a definite impact upon returning to the Colonels' lineup after separating his right shoulder in the season opener and missing the last two games. He made six catches for 140 yards and scored on TD passes of 30 and 11 yards from Denton. Denton was 9-16 for 166 yards and two TD's and leads all OVC passers in efficiency rating with a mark of 188.1.
Eastern played without its two safeties on defense for most of the game. Junior free safety Shawn Gallant sprained his left ankle in the first half and did not return to action, while sophomore Scooter Asel suffered an injury to his right knee late in the first half, finishing him for the night. Gallant should be available for the Tennessee State game, while the seriousness of Asel's injury was to be diagnosed by the team doctor Monday night.
Tickets for each of Eastern's five remaining home games are available weekdays by visiting the EKU Athletics Ticket Office in Room 126 of Alumni Coliseum. Tickets may also be purchased by phoning (606) 622-2122 or 1-800-262-7493, inside Kentucky.
Following the Oct. 10 EKU-TSU contest is the Colonels' Homecoming game against Murray State at 12:30 p.m. at Roy Kidd Stadium on Oct. 17. The '98 home schedule is rounded out with three November games at Hanger Field - Nov. 7 vs. Southeast Missouri, Nov. 14 vs. Appalachian State and Nov. 21 vs. Eastern Illinois. Each of the November games begins at 1:30 p.m. EST.
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