OVC SQUADS SUFFER MAJOR BEATINGS AT HANDS OF DIVISION I-A OPPONENTS (OVC NOTES)

Stepping up in class was not exactly kind to Ohio Valley Conference football teams last weekend.

Three OVC squads -- who were all ranked in the Division I-AA national poll -- hit the road to take on unranked I-A opponents.

The result was a combined 148-27 shellacking.

Eastern Kentucky was hammered by Heisman Trophy contender Tim Couch and Kentucky 52-7; Eastern Illinois got blanked by Heisman contender Duante Culpepper and Central Florida 48-0; and Middle Tennessee State saw a 20-7 first-quarter lead evaporate in a 48-20 loss to Illinois.

Couch and Culpepper certainly lived up to their advance billing as two of the nation's premier quarterbacks and future NFL players.

Playing in front of a standing-room-only crowd in Lexington, Couch passed for 372 yards and five touchdowns, giving him 870 yards and 12 touchdowns in two games.

Culpepper threw for 406 yards and four TDs and he rushed for 73 yards and three more scores.

Middle Tennessee was able to keep things a lot closer than the Easterns, but the Raiders still could not prevent Illinois from snapping its 18-game winning streak.

* Eastern Kentucky and Middle Tennessee managed to remain in the 1-AA rankings after their losses but Eastern Illinois fell out.

Murray State is now the highest-ranked OVC squad according to The Sports Network poll as the Racers check in at No. 12.

Eastern Kentucky is 16th while Middle Tennessee is 20th.

* Murray State (2-0) and Tennessee Tech (1-0) remain as the only undefeated OVC teams.

Tennessee-Martin (0-2) is the only winless league squad. Everybody else is 1-1.

* Justin Fuente and Lamar Carter are the OVC's offensive and defensive players of the week.

Fuente, Murray State's sensational quarterback who transferred in from Oklahoma, completed 33 of 51 passes for 358 yards in a big win over Western Kentucky. Fuente has thrown for more than 700 yards in two games.

Carter, a Tennessee State linebacker, had nine tackles, a quarterback sack and he returned an interception 75 yards for a touchdown in a win over Jackson State.

* Saturday's schedule around the OVC will feature on the second conference game of the season as Murray State visits Southeast Missouri State.

In non-league games, Eastern Kentucky visits Western Kentucky, Eastern Illinois visits Northern Illinois, Middle Tennessee travels to Jacksonville State and Tennessee-Tech is at UAB.