RICHMOND, Ky. – On a cold, windy and rainy Saturday afternoon at Roy Kidd Stadium, the Eastern Kentucky University football team concluded its 2008 home schedule with a convincing 34-7 victory over Murray State. The Colonels have now won six straight to move to 6-1 in Ohio Valley Conference play and 7-3 overall.

Junior running back C.J. Walker had a career day, finishing with a personal-high 229 yards on the ground, including 196 yards in the first half. Walker scored on touchdown runs of 16, 51 and 60 yards, and became the first Colonel to reach 200 yards rushing since C.J. Hudson ran for 202 yards at Samford in 2004.

The Colonel defense forced two turnovers and held Murray State to just 188 total yards of offense.

For Murray State (4-7, 3-4 OVC), Paul McKinnis tallied 63 rushing yards and accounted for the Racers’ lone points late in the third quarter.

Eastern Kentucky reached the end zone on its first three possessions and never looked back. After the Colonel defense forced a Murray State punt, EKU responded with six-play, 55-yard drive to jump ahead, 7-0. Walker capped the drive with a third down, 16-yard touchdown run.

On the Colonels’ second drive, Walker burst through the middle of the defense for a 51-yard score to extend the lead to 14-0 less than 10 minutes into the contest. Redshirt freshman H.B. Banjoman then gave Eastern a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter with a one-yard touchdown run.

This was the 64th consecutive season Eastern Kentucky and Murray State have met on the football field. Both schools are original members of the Ohio Valley Conference which was formed in 1948. EKU has now won seven of the last eight meetings and leads the all-time series, 39-25-4.

The Colonels conclude the regular season next Saturday, Nov. 22, at UT Martin. Game time is set for 1 p.m.

NOTES
--The Colonels scored a touchdown on their opening offensive possession for the third time this year and second game in a row.

--C.J. Walker’s 60-yard touchdown run in the second quarter was the longest run from scrimmage by an EKU player this year.

--H.B. Banjoman tallied his first collegiate touchdown, scoring on a fourth down, one-yard rush in the second quarter.

--EKU’s defense forced at least two turnovers for the fifth consecutive game. The Colonels now have a turnover margin of +12.