MANY OVC FOOTBALL RECORDS FELL IN SOME WILD CONTESTS LAST SATURDAY (OVC NOTEBOOK)

It was a record-setting day in Ohio Valley Conference football last Saturday.

Heading up the list of new OVC record-holders is Murray State quarterback Justin Fuente, who set single-game individual marks for passing yards (553) and total offense (532) during the Racers' wild 58-51 loss at Southern Illinois.

The Racers also set OVC team records for single-game passing yards (553) and first downs passing (23) during that contest in Carbondale.

Tennessee State junior Avion Black matched the OVC record for the longest kick return (100 yards) and, with 214 yards, finished just one yard shy of the league mark for single-game kickoff return yardage.

Also during Tennessee State's 48-33 win over Jackson State, the Tigers set an OVC record for kickoff return yardage with 325 and they eclipsed the NCAA record for total kick return yards with 351 (325 kickoffs/26 punts).

And to cap off the record-setting Saturday, Western Kentucky freshman Bobby Sippio tied a league mark with two punt returns for touchdowns in a game. Sippio scored on returns of 52 and 49 yards as the Hilltoppers routed Cumberland 55-7.

* In two other OVC games of particular note last Saturday, Eastern Illinois dropped a tough 31-27 decision at Division I-A Hawaii and Tennessee-Martin won for the first time since 1997 as the Skyhawks edged Lambuth 25-19 in overtime.

Other OVC results saw Tennessee Tech lose to Division I-A Bowling Green, Southeast Missouri get mauled by fifth-ranked Illinois State 55-7 and Eastern Kentucky fall to fourth-ranked Appalachian State 34-20.

* Through the early part of the season, Tennessee State and Western Kentucky are the OVC's only undefeated teams, both at 2-0.

Tennessee State, ranked 12th in the latest Division I-AA national poll, has been extremely impressive through the early going. Jackson State had been rated 14th before falling to the Tigers last Saturday before a crowd of 50,723 at the Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tenn.

Western Kentucky has rolled over two outmanned opponents so far in Tennessee-Martin and Cumberland.

* There has been only one conference game played to date, that being Western Kentucky's 34-10 win over Tennessee-Martin two weeks ago.

And there will be just one league contest this Saturday as Southeast Missouri travels to Murray State.

But the other six OVC teams will all be in action, with several extremely intriguing matchups.

Among the more interesting games are Tennessee State vs. 13th-ranked Florida A&M in Atlanta; Western Kentucky entertaining No. 21 South Florida; and Eastern Illinois hosting Southern Illinois.

Also on the docket are Eastern Kentucky hosting Indiana State, Tennessee Tech hosting Liberty and Tennessee-Martin entertaining Samford.

* Fuente earned OVC Offensive Player of the Week honors for his record-setting performance against Southern Illinois. He completed 35 of 55 passes for 553 yards and three touchdowns.

Tennessee Tech linebacker Chad Evitts earned the league's defensive award as he had 10 tackles, including three for loss and a sack, against Bowling Green. Despite losing 40-15, the Eagles held the I-A Falcons to only 265 total yards.