COLONELS TURN OVC SHOWDOWN INTO ROUT

The showdown for the Ohio Valley Conference football championship really wasn't much of a showdown after all.

Eastern Kentucky went to Charleston, Ill., last weekend and completed a dominating OVC season with a surprisingly easy 49-7 victory over Eastern Illinois.

That rout capped an impressive turnaround for the Colonels, who lost their first three games of the season -- all non-conference setbacks against highly-regarded Division I-AA teams.

Once OVC play began, there was no touching the Colonels. They went 7-0 against league competition and outscored their opponents 257-59.

Eastern Kentucky gained outright possession of its 18th OVC football championship and will make an unprecedented 17th appearance in the I-AA playoffs this Saturday against rival Western Kentucky, which defeated the Colonels early in the season.

Because of Eastern Illinois' loss to Eastern Kentucky, the Panthers had to settle for a second-place OVC tie with Murray State. Both teams finished the season with 5-2 league records.

Tennessee Tech and Tennessee State both finished solid league seasons with 4-3 records to tie for fourth place.

Middle Tennessee State, a former perennial I-AA power having its second straight disappointing season, finished in sixth place in the OVC with a 2-5 record.

Southeast Missouri State (1-6) and Tennessee-Martin (0-7) finished in the last two spots in the league.

* Eastern Kentucky and Eastern Illinois both finished with 8-3 overall records to lead conference teams.

Also above .500 were Murray State (7-4) and Tennessee Tech (6-5).

* Eastern Kentucky's dominance of the league was reflected in the Colonels' dominance of the OVC's eight major team statistical categories.

The Colonels finished first in the OVC in rushing offense (198.3 yards per game), total offense (396 ypg), scoring offense (33.5 ppg), pass efficiency defense (87.4 rating) and scoring defense (13.4 ppg).

Eastern Kentucky was also second in total defense (278.9 ypg) and third in passing offense (197.7 ypg).

Murray State led two of the other three major categories: rushing defense (83.3 ypg) and total defense (237.5 ypg). Tennessee State led in passing offense (265.2 ypg).

As for the down side of things, it's no surprise that Tennessee-Martin went winless in league play. The Skyhawks finished last in the OVC in seven of the eight major categories.

* Some of the major individual OVC leaders were:

Rushing -- Anthony Downs of Murray State, 1,011 yards. Downs, the only OVC back to gain more than 1,000 yards, averaged 4.8 yards per carry.

Total offense -- Jonathan Quinn of Middle Tennessee, 2,379 yards. Quinn passed for 2,209 yards.

Passing efficiency -- Simon Fuentes of Eastern Kentucky, 167.8 rating points. Fuentes completed 61 percent of his passes for 1,932 yards, with 13 touchdowns and just two interceptions.

Receiving -- Tyrone Butterfield of Tennessee State, 59 receptions. Butterfield gained 1,053 yards on his catches for a 17.9 average per reception.

Scoring -- Downs, 72 points. Downs scored 12 touchdowns.

Interceptions -- Fred Hambrick of Southeast Missouri and Kenny Thomas of Murray State tied with five apiece.

Tackles -- Thomas Williams, a linebacker from Eastern Illinois, 150 total on 102 solo and 48 assists.