'UPSET WEEKEND' PLAYS HAVOC WITH STANDINGS (OVC NOTES)

Last weekend was a time for the supposedly have-nots of the Ohio Valley Conference to speak up and be heard.

Middle Tennessee State, Tennessee State and Southeast Missouri State -- selected to finish fourth, sixth and seventh, respectively, in the eight-team league -- all posted big victories over teams picked to finish ahead of them in the OVC standings.

Middle Tennessee handed Murray State a surprisingly lopsided 35-14 victory in Murfreesboro, Tenn. The Racers were tabbed for third in the OVC preseason poll.

Tennessee State turned in the biggest shocker of all as the Tigers went to Richmond, Ky., and stunned defending OVC champion Eastern Kentucky 31-21. The Colonels entered the season as heavy favorites to capture another league title.

And Southeast Missouri also went on the road and upended Tennessee Tech 29-24 in Cookeville, Tenn. The Eagles had been tabbed for fifth in the OVC preseason rankings.

Middle Tennessee scored on all three of their first-half possessions and piled up 468 yards of total offense in rolling past Murray State. Freshman quarterback Wes Counts completed 22 of 29 passes for 229 yards.

Tennessee State ended an 0-for-11 streak against Eastern Kentucky and handed the Colonels only their third OVC home defeat in the 1990s. Leon Murray, the OVC's top passer, completed 18 of 34 for 281 yards.

Southeast Missouri scored the game-winning touchdown with under six minutes left to continue Tennessee Tech's frustrations. The Eagles have dropped their three OVC contests by a total of 15 points.

The net results of those three upsets is that the OVC race has been thrown into a real tizzy, with only one team without a loss.

Eastern Illinois, the preseason No. 2 choice in the OVC which was idle last weekend, is now the leader all alone at 2-0. Middle Tennessee has moved into second place at 3-1 while Murray State is third at 2-1.

Southeast Missouri follows at 2-2 while Eastern Kentucky and Tennessee State are both 1-1. Tennessee Martin at 0-2 and Tennessee Tech at 0-3 bring up the rear.

There is a very real possibility that the OVC title will be won by a team with at least one loss. The last time the championship went to a squad that didn't go undefeated in league play was 1990, when Eastern Kentucky and Middle Tennessee shared the crown with 5-1 records.

* Two big conference matchups will take place Saturday as Murray State visits Eastern Kentucky and Tennessee State travels to Southeast Missouri.

Also, Tennessee Tech figures to break into the OVC win column when the Eagles play at hapless Tennessee-Martin.

An attractive matchup outside the league will pit Illinois State of the Gateway Conference at Eastern Illinois.

* Two OVC teams took a hit in the national I-AA rankings.

Eastern Kentucky, eighth last week, dropped all the way to 17th. Murray State, 13th last week, plummeted to 22nd.

Eastern Illinois, 22nd last week, moved all the way up to 14th even though the Panthers were idle.

* By helping lead their teams to big victories, Middle Tennessee tailback Torin Kirtsey and Tennessee State linebacker Labrent Sterling are the OVC offensive and defensive players of the week.

Kirtsey, a transfer from Georgia, rushed for 121 yards on 20 carries and scored three touchdowns. He also threw a TD pass.

Sterling had 15 tackles (10 solo), four tackles for losses of 25 yards and 2.5 sacks.