TECH'S TRUE CHARACTER TO RECEIVE STIFFER TESTS (OVC NOTES)

The toughest tests are yet to come for Tennessee Tech, but the Eagles have definitely positioned themselves to be a factor in the Ohio Valley Conference football race.

Tech, after beating Western Kentucky 23-10 last Saturday, moved to the top of the OVC standings with a 3-0 record. The Eagles are off to their best OVC start since 1993 and are 4-1 overall for the first time since 1977.

But the jury is still very much out on the Eagles as far as being legitimate OVC title contenders.

The Eagles, picked to finish sixth in the eight-team league, have so far only defeated squads selected in the lower half of the OVC preseason rankings. Tech has wins over preseason No. 5 Western Kentucky, preseason No. 7 Southeast Missouri and preseason No. 8 Tennessee-Martin.

Tech will certainly have a chance to prove itself the rest of the way. The Eagles play at Eastern Illinois this Saturday, then face OVC heavyweights Murray State, Tennessee State and Eastern Kentucky over the next three weeks.

Two other OVC squads are also undefeated in league play -- and they are the ones who were expected to be up near the top of the standings when the season began.

Tennessee State, which has moved up to No. 2 in the NCAA Division I-AA poll, is 2-0 in the OVC and 6-0 overall after crushing Tennessee-Martin 43-7 last Saturday. The Tigers are the defending OVC champions and also this year's favorite.

Eastern Kentucky, ranked 16th nationally, is 2-0 in the league and 5-1 overall. The Colonels, picked to finish third in the OVC's preseason poll, were idle last weekend.

Murray State, the preseason No. 2 choice in the OVC, improved to 3-1 in the league and 3-3 overall by holding off Eastern Illinois 37-32.

Western Kentucky fell to a fourth-place 3-2 in the OVC and 4-3 overall after losing to Tennessee Tech.

Eastern Illinois, the OVC's preseason No. 4 squad, fell to 1-2 in the league and 1-6 overall with the narrow setback to Murray State. But the Panthers' record could be misleading because four of their other losses were to three I-A teams and Tennessee State.

Bringing up the rear in the OVC -- as predicted in the preseason poll -- are Southeast Missouri (0-4, 0-7) and Tennessee-Martin (0-5, 1-6).

* In addition to the Tennessee Tech at Eastern Illinois game this Saturday, other OVC matchups feature Tennessee-Martin at Eastern Kentucky and Tennessee State at Western Kentucky.

In non-league games, Southeast Missouri hosts in-state rival Southwest Missouri and Murray States entertains Samford, with the later contest scheduled for tonight.

* Tennessee State quarterback Leon Murray and Tennessee Tech defensive end Branon Vaughn received the OVC's offensive and defensive player of the week honors.

Murray completed 17 of 31 passes for 269 yards and a career-high five touchdowns in the rout of Tennessee-Martin. It was Murray's sixth straight 250-yard passing performance as he now has 17 touchdowns and just two interceptions for the season.

Vaughn was honored for the second straight week after registering a career-high 13 stops, three tackles for loss and two sacks during the big win over Western Kentucky.