RICHMOND, Ky. - For the first time since 1972 (Eastern Kentucky University's last losing season), coach Roy Kidd's Eastern football Colonels are in the midst of a three-game Ohio Valley Conference losing streak.

Eastern will try to break the skid Saturday at UT Martin in a 2:00 p.m. (CST) league game that will also feature the Skyhawks' (0-7 overall, 0-4 OVC) Homecoming activities.

EKU (3-4, 1-3 OVC) came up just short of a miraculous comeback last Saturday afternoon in the regionally-televised (FOX SportSouth) game at Tennessee Tech as the Colonels lost a three-overtime thriller, 31-29, to TTU, breaking a 22-game winning streak for Eastern in the series between the two teams. Tennessee State beat UT Martin, 76-0, last Saturday.

"I'm really disappointed in our football team, especially the fact that it seems we can not run the football" said Kidd. "We're playing hard, but sometimes that's just not good enough.

"It's obvious we need depth and we need more team speed and that falls in recruiting. We've got to do a better job. We're just not getting it done out there."

Three Colonel turnovers (two fumbles lost and an interception) led to all 17 points Tech put on the board in regulation, while a Rondel Menendez 54-yard run, a 29-yard Stephen Brown field goal and a 34-yard TD pass from quarterback Jon Denton to wideout Alexander Bannister mustered EKU's 17 points to send it to overtime.

In the third overtime, a Denton-Menendez eight-yard pass put Eastern up 29-23 but a two-point conversion play (a run by tailback Derick Logan) was thwarted, setting up Tech's heroics. Quarterback Michael Peeples found tight end Gary Taylor open for a six-yard TD pass that tied the score. These two repeated that play on the two-point conversion to ice the game.

On the day, Denton hit 13-22 passes for 152 yards and two touchdowns (34 and eight-yard strikes). His favorite receiver, senior All-American wide receiver, Menendez, caught six passes for 63 yards and , in the process, became Eastern's all-time leader in pass receiving yardage with 2,459 yards.

The Colonels' ground game was held to just 109 yards as Logan picked up 41 yards, sophomore tailback Brian Durham, 31, and the still-injured (sprained ankle) Corey Crume eight yards on six carries. Sophomore receiver Alexander Bannister followed up his career best seven catch day vs. Murray State with four receptions for 74 yards. Sophomore wideout Anthony Boggs added three catches for 15 yards.

Defensively, defensive backs Tony Woods (11 tackles) and Nick Sullivan (nine hits) led the Colonels, while sophomore linebacker Tim Gibbens had an interception and sophomore linebacker Butch Printup recovered a fumble. In a full game, plus three overtimes, the Colonel defense yielded but 332 yards of total offense to the Golden Eagles.