In Retrospect

Most people said it couldn ' t be done. Not two straight Ohio Valley Conference championships. Not with the balance and strength which existed in the league . No chance.

No chance , indeed. Try telling that to Roy Kidd. Some tried, but Kidd and the Colonels ignored them . Now they 're all saying it can ' t be done again . Not three straight OVC titles.

It was an interesting season, 1968. To understate it , it was the Year of the Unexpected .

Eastern lost when it shouldn 't have and won when many had given up hope. There were last-second touchdowns, goalline stands in the final minute , and 40-yard field goals which decided the outcome of games . The comebacks, the neversay-die attitude , the deering-do, were all part of the winning tradition Kidd has instilled in Eastern's football program . One sportswriter summed it up this way : "These kids (the players ) talk and play as if they 're convinced Eastern just isn ' t supposed to lose . . . like it 's in the script that eventually they'll pr e vail. Green Bay was like that under (Vince) Lombardi. Bear Bryant 's teams have the same reputation. You can call it luck, but it 's something much bigger . The great teams just have it , that's all. Like Eastern, they're winners . It's that simple ."

Not quite that simple, but the fact remains that the Colonel 's did, indeed , win their second straight OVC title , running their unbeaten string in the league to 14 games . They finished with an over-all record of 8-2 and were ranked sixth in the final Associated Press national college division poll.

General Information

Location - Richmond, Madison County, Kentucky, a growing city of about 14,000 population and at an altitude of 937 feet . This is a rich farming area, the county considered the lar gest beef cattle-raising county east of the Mississippi.

Enrollment - 10 ,000 .

Founded- 1906.

President - Dr . Robert R. Martin .

Vice President for Academic Affairs - Dr . Thomas F . Stovall .

Athletic Conference - Ohio Valley, N.C .A .A.

Gymnasium - Alumni Coliseum (capacity 7,500).

Stadium - Hanger Stadium (capacity 8 ,500 ).

Nickname - Colonels, Maroons.

Symbol - Colonel

Colors - Maroon and White .

Board of Regents

Ex-Officio Chairman: Wendell P . Butler, State Superintendent of Public Instruction .

Members : Vice-Chairman Earle B. Combs, Sr ., Richmond ; Robert Begley , Richmond ; Sen . Fred Bishop, Manchester; Sen. Wilson Palmer, Cynthiana; Sidney W . Clay , Louisville; William Wallac e, Lexin gton ; Ralph Whalin , faculty representative; and Robert Warfield, Louis ville, student representative .

Athletic Committee

M embers: Dr. Ned Warren, Chairman ; Dr . Charles Ambrose; Dr . Dixon Barr; Mr. William Berge ; Dr. J . D. Coates; Dr. LaRue Cocanougher; Dr . Clyde Lewis ; Mr. J. C . Powell; Mr . William Stocker ; Mr . John Vickers; Mr . Ralph Whalin ; Mr. A. L . Whitt ; Mr . Glenn Presnell , ex-officio.

Athletic Staff

Director of Athletics - Glenn E . Presnell ( Nebraska , 1927).

Head Football Coach - Roy Kidd (Eastern Kentucky , 1954).

Line Coaches - Bobby Harville (Eastern Kentucky , 1957): Bill Shannon ( Eastern Kentucky , 1948) .

Backfield Coaches - Jack Ison (Eastern Kentucky , 1961). Fred Franci s ( Morehead, 1962 ).

H ead Coaches Other Sports - Baseball: Charles "Turkey" Hughes ; Basketball : Guy Stron g; Swimmin g: Don Combs ; Golf: Glenn E . Presnell; Tennis : Jack Adams; Rifle : Capt. Marvin Goff.