Eastern Kentucky-Home of I-AA Football's Top Rushing Game Tradition

The first time Tim Lester saw film of the Eastern Kentucky offense, he was a high school running back in Miami, Florida.

"I just thought, oh, man!" said Lester as he recalled watching first one tailback, then another, rip off huge chunks of yardage. He knew then that he'd be coming to Richmond, Kentucky, to play college football.

Lester finished his Eastern career with the 1991 season. By then, he had rushedfor3,651 yards, despite losing all but one game of his sophomore season to a knee injury. Thus, he became one of 11 Colonel running backs to gain more than 2,300 yards since 1970, a record no other NCAA Division I or I-AA school can touch.

Lester, now entering his seventh season as an NFL running back, first for the St. Louis Rams and now for the Pittsburgh Steelers, ranks 30th all time for career rushing yards in Division I-AA. Among those in front of him are four more EKU running backs:

- Markus Thomas, who closed a fabulous career in 1992, is ranked as the number one Division I-AA all time rusher with 5,552 yards. Thomas spentthe 1993 NFL season with the Philadelphia Eagles and played three springs in the World League of American Football in Europe, scoring a touchdown in the championship game in 1996.

- Elroy Harris, ranked 10th all time with 4,559 yards in three seasons (1985, 1987, 1988).

- Jimmie Brooks, who ranks 18th with 3,842 yards (1968-1971).

- James Crawford, who ranks 19th with 3,833 yards in three seasons ( 1985-1987).

"We run the I-formation, and we feature the tailback, so you'd expect them to get a lot of yards," said Coach Roy Kidd. "But it's more than that. We've had some special kids playing back there. Plus, you've got to give credit to the offensive lines we've had. They' re responsible for a lot of those yards."

The offense which produces all those yards seems predictable. It's the tailback off tackle. Ort he sprint draw up the middle. Or the option either way. Or the fullback on a quick hitter . Everybody knows what's coming. Butfewteams have shut it down.

Consider:

- Over the last 135 games, covering 11 seasons and 101 victories, the offense has averaged about 270 yards per game on the ground.

- In the 13 seasons since 1985, there have been 18 individual 1,000 yard rushing seasons. Five times in 12 years, two backs have each gained more than 1,000 yards, another NCAA record.

- Among the top 25 rushers, all time, in Division I-AA, Thomas has the highest average yards per carry (6.57) and

Harris ranks fourth (5.9).

- In 1991, Lester and Thomas broke through the 3,000-yard barrierfortheircareers the same day--appropriately enough, Homecoming. Also that day, fullback Rick Burkhead went over 1,000 yards for his career, which was mostly spent opening holes for Harris, Lester and Thomas.

- When Eastern faced Marshall in the Division I-AA semifinals in 1991, Lester and Thomas began the game with more than 7,500 career yards between them. A check of the record book by NCAA researchers failed to find any school with two starting backs--ever--totalling as much as 6,000 yards.

- In 1993, seniors Leon Brown and Mike Penman shared the role of starter at tailback. It was the first time as a starter at tailback for either player, yet both exceeded 1 ,000 yards. Brown spent the 1994 NFL season with the New York Giants and the 1995 season in his home town of Jacksonville, Florida, on the roster of the NFL expansion franchise there.

- For his career, Harris averaged 9.3 points per game, second highest total in the Division I-AA record book (behind Dave Meggett), and the 12.8 points he averaged per game in the 1988 season is the second highest average in one season (behind Jerry Rice).

The most talented of this very accomplished group may have been Elroy Harris. With his penchant for finding the end zone--58 times--and his trademark back flip upon doing so, he is the all-time crowd favorite.

A second-round draft choice of the Seattle Seahawks in 1989, Harris played one year in the NFL before being waived, a victim, Seattle observers said, of a tendency to miss meetings and to practice half heartedly. Harris then played two years in the World League of American Football.

The most versatile was Tim Lester, who would break outside f ram tailback one series, and flatten linebackers and defensive ends from fullback the next series. Those multiple talents were on display last in January 1992 when Lester played in the North-South and East-West Shrine all-star games.

But the most accomplished was Thomas. He was selected first-time All-American by Kodak, Associated Press, Football News-Gazette and the Walter Camp Football Foundation. He was OVC Offensive Player of the Year his junior and senior years.

Most of all, Thomas was a player who, like Lester, realized his potential. "He dedicated himself to doing the little things that are needed to be the best football player you can be," Kidd said.

This year, junior Derick Logan and sophomore Corey Crume will be featured. Both are going into their second years as Colonel running backs and both are capable of attaining postseason honors. At fullback, junior Jonathan Butler will push for playing time.

All of these players have the potential to one day become a bigger part of this story. The 1998 season will provide them with that opportunity.

"We have some kids with the talent it takes to play running back here," said Kidd. "Now, we'll have to see which of them are ready to step up."