EASTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY 1983 Football Prospectus

Eastern Kentuc k y University head football c oach Ro y Kidd returns 27 le tterm en from last season's Ohio Valley Conference and NCAA Divisi o n I- AA national champions hi p team Kidd. who begins his 20th season at Eastern with a 146-55-6 record, has guided the Colonels to the I-AA ti t le game for four consecutive seasons, ha ving a lso wo n a nati onal championship in 1979.

Senior receiver Tron Armstrong (6-1. 198), a firs t team All-OVC and honorable mention All -A merican perfor mer in 1982. leads Colonel returnees. Armstrong, who played tight end in 1982 but who co uld move in 1983 to flanker. was Eastern and the OVC's second-leadi ng recei ve r last yea r with 38 ca t ches for 475 yards and four TD's.

Also return in g for Eastern on offense is sen ior tailbac k Terence Thompson (5-9. 182) T h ompson. an AII-OVC player as a sophomo r e ran for 883 yards and seve n TD's last yea r and is e xpected to ca rry the bulk of the rushing load if he stays healthy in 1983

Three par t -time s tarters will also be back for t h ei r sophomore pass receiving seasons .

Flanker Alvin Blount (6-4, 199) headed this group with nin e catches last season for 124 yards. Flanker Isiah Hiil (5-9 157) a nd ti g ht e nd Simon Codrin gton (6 -3, 19 5) round out the re turn ing receivers.

The quarterback s lot. vacat e d by All- OVC signa l-caller Tuck W oo lum, w ill be h andled by either of two red sh irt freshman q uar t e rbacks, Gre g Parker (5 - 1 1, 163) and Pat Smith ( 5-11 , 162) Tim Portale al s o return s a t thi s pos ition. a lth ough playing sparingly i n 1982.

Pe rhaps the biggest streng t h of the ' 83 Colonels lies o n the offensive lin e w here four starte r s re t urn including senior second-team OVC M edia As so ciation All-OVC cent er Chris Sullivan /62. 24 8). Other starters along the line returning include senior guard Mike Bobek (6- 1 22 2), sen ior guard David Burry (6- 1. 240) and junior tackle Joe Spadafino (6-1. 238) .

The biggest rebuilding job by the Eastern coaching staff must come on defense where nine starters were lost through graduation, includi ng All-OVC li nebacker A lex Dominguez and allconference tackle Randy Ta y lor.

Th e two returning starters include the third-leading tackler on the '82 t eam, j unior roverback Anthony Jones (5-11 , 189) who had 58 tackles , 30 assists and five intercep tions and sen io r noseguard Mike McShange (5- 10, 228) who had 11 tackles for losses.

Other players expected to see plenty of playing tim e thi s fall include senior li nebacker David Hill (5-10. 227), j uni or linebacker William May (5-10, 20 I ). juni or lin e backe r T e rry Simmons (511 , 202), senior cornerback Mike Mims (5-11 , 192) and sophomo r e defensive back Bobby Scannell (5-11, 180).

Red s hirt s on defense who will be in action in '8 3 includ e sophomo re e nd Joe Maunt e l, sop h omore tackle Rick Ca mpbell, freshman li nebacker Fred H arvey and freshman safet y Rob e rt Williams.

Th e kicking game for the Colonels re mains in good hand s with se ni o r Jami e Lov e tt (5 - 9, 164) and senior S t ev e Row e (6 - 5, 230) handling the p la cekicking and punting du t ies, respecti vely . Lovett ha d another outstand in g yea r in '82scori n g 72 poin t s o n 39-43 extra po ints and 1 1-21 f iel d goals. R owe , meanwh ile. a nd his EK U punt coverage teamma t es led th e na t io n in net puntin g (3 9.8) as Rowe averaged 40 9 yards per punt last sea son.

East e rn finis hed the 1983 season w ith a perfect 13- 0 record and exte nd ed its Hanger Field winnin g streak to 31.