2020 Eastern Kentucky Colonels football team

The 2020 Eastern Kentucky Colonels football team represented Eastern Kentucky University during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by Walt Wells in his first season as the program's 15th head coach.[1] The Colonels played their home games at Roy Kidd Stadium and competed as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference.

2020 Eastern Kentucky Colonels football
Opportunity Bowl champion
ConferenceOhio Valley Conference
Record3–6 (0–0 OVC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorAndy Richman (1st season)
Defensive coordinatorJake Johnson (1st season)
Home stadiumRoy Kidd Stadium
Seasons
← 2019
2021 →
2020 Ohio Valley Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 8 Jacksonville State $^   6 1     10 3  
No. 19 Murray State   5 2     5 2  
No. 21 Austin Peay   4 2     4 5  
Southeast Missouri State   4 3     4 4  
UT Martin   3 4     3 4  
Tennessee Tech   2 5     2 5  
Tennessee State   2 5     2 5  
Eastern Illinois   1 5     1 5  
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – FCS playoff participant
  • Note: Eastern Kentucky played only in the fall and opted out of the spring season.
Rankings from STATS Poll

Schedule

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While the Ohio Valley Conference moved conference games to the spring of 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, while allowing member schools to play four non-conference games in the fall of 2020, Eastern Kentucky scheduled eight non-conference games for the fall of 2020.[2]

DateTimeOpponentSiteTVResultAttendance
September 5 1:00 p.m. at Marshall* ESPN L 0–59 12,001
September 1212:00 p.m. at West Virginia* FS1 L 10–56 976
September 26 1:00 p.m. at The Citadel* ESPN+ W 37–14 3,081
October 3 3:00 p.m. Houston Baptist* ESPN+ L 30–33 2,916
October 17 7:00 p.m. at Troy* ESPN3 L 29–31 10,500
October 24 3:00 p.m. No. 11 Central Arkansas*  ESPN+ W 31–28 2,932
November 7 3:00 p.m. Stephen F. Austin*
  • Roy Kidd Stadium
  • Richmond, KY
ESPN+ L 6–24 2,569
November 14 4:00 p.m. at No. 11 Central Arkansas* ESPN+ L 25–37 2,000
November 21 3:00 p.m. Western Carolina*
  • Roy Kidd Stadium
  • Richmond, KY
    (Opportunity Bowl)[3]
ESPN+ W 49–17 3,009
  • *Non-conference game
  •  Homecoming
  • Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Eastern time

[4]

Game summaries

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At Marshall

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Game One – Eastern Kentucky Colonels at Marshall Thundering Herd
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Colonels 0 0 000
Thundering Herd 21 17 14759

at Joan C. Edwards StadiumHuntington, West Virginia

  • Date: Saturday, September 5, 2020
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m. EDT
  • Game weather: Clear • Temperature: 77 °F (25 °C) • Wind: ENE 3 mph
  • TV announcers (ESPN): Jason Benetti (play-by-play), Andre Ware (analyst), Katie George (sideline)
  • Pregame line: Marshall –25.5 • Odds to win: Marshall 95.8%
Game information
First quarter
  • (12:19) MRSH – Xavier Gaines 22 yard pass from Grant Wells, Shane Ciucci kick (Drive: 7 plays, 72 yards, 2:41; Marshall 7–0)
  • (8:04) MRSH – Brendan Knox 8 yard rush, Shane Ciucci kick (Drive: 4 plays, 70 yards, 1:31; Marshall 14–0)
  • (2:01) MRSH – Talik Keaton 21 yard pass from Grant Wells, Shane Ciucci kick (Drive: 5 plays, 65 yards, 2:05; Marshall 21–0)
Second quarter
  • (10:02) MRSH – Garet Morrell 2 yard pass from Grant Wells, Shane Ciucci kick (Drive: 15 plays, 72 yards, 6:12; Marshall 28–0)
  • (6:07) MRSH – Shane Ciucci 23 yard field goal (Drive: 7 plays, 49 yards, 1:37; Marshall 31–0)
  • (3:07) MRSH – Jaron Woodyard 42 yard pass from Grant Wells, Shane Ciucci kick (Drive: 1 play, 42 yards, 0:06; Marshall 38–0)
Third quarter
  • (7:04) MRSH – Sheldon Evans 6 yard rush, Shane Ciucci kick (Drive: 12 plays, 90 yards, 5:05; Marshall 45–0)
  • (0:43) MRSH – Lawrence Papillon 13 yard rush, Shane Ciucci kick (Drive: 7 plays, 63 yards, 2:47; Marshall 52–0)
Fourth quarter
  • (4:02) MRSH – Amir Richardson 3 yard pass from Luke Zban, Shane Ciucci kick (Drive: 15 plays, 75 yards, 8:22; Marshall 59–0)
Statistics EKU MRSH
First downs 7 34
Plays–yards 47–166 83–627
Rushes–yards 31–86 54–282
Passing yards 80 345
Passing: compattint 10–16–1 22–29–0
Time of possession 25:37 34:23
Team Category Player Statistics
Eastern Kentucky Passing Parker McKinney 7/10, 71 yards, 1 INT
Rushing Quentin Pringle 6 carries, 39 yards
Receiving Keyion Dixon 3 receptions, 34 yards
Marshall Passing Grant Wells 16/23, 307 yards, 4 TD
Rushing Knowledge McDaniel 14 carries, 93 yards
Receiving Talik Keaton 2 receptions, 68 yards, 1 TD

At West Virginia

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1 2 3 4 Total
Colonels 0 7 3 0 10
Mountaineers 14 28 7 7 56

At The Citadel

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1 2 3 4 Total
Colonels 13 10 7 7 37
Bulldogs 7 7 0 0 14

Houston Baptist

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Houston Baptist Huskies at Eastern Kentucky Colonels
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Huskies 14 10 7233
Colonels 7 0 101330

at Roy Kidd Stadium, Richmond, Kentucky

  • Date: October 3
  • Game time: 3:00 p.m. EDT
  • Game weather: Cloudy 43% Humidity • Temperature: 62–69 °F (17–21 °C) • Wind: 1-3 SW MPH
  • Game attendance: 2,916
  • Referee: Steve Hazle
  • TV: ESPN3
  • Box score, Recap
Game information
First quarter
  • HBU – Vernon Harrell 8-yard pass from Bailey Zappe (Gino Garcia kick), 7:45. Huskies 7–0. Drive: 6 plays, 49 yards, 1:12.
  • HBU – Jerreth Sterns 42-yard pass from Bailey Zappe (Gino Garcia kick), 6:01. Huskies 14–0. Drive: 2 plays, 57 yards, 0:21.

EKU – Matt Wilcox Jr. 10-yard pass from Parker McKinney (Alexander Woznick kick), 1:32. Huskies 14–7. Drive: 11 plays, 75 yards, 4:29.

Second quarter
  • HBU – Gino Garcia 24-yard field goal, 14:01. Huskies 17–7. Drive: 9 plays, 68 yards, 2:31.
  • HBU – Dreshawn Minnieweather 1-yard run (Gino Garcia kick), 0:43. Huskies 24–7. Drive: 7 plays, 43 yards, 2:49.
Third quarter
  • EKU – Matt Wilcox Jr. 7-yard pass from Parker McKinney (Alexander Woznick kick), 10:53. Huskies 24–14. Drive: 10 plays, 75 yards, 4:07.
  • EKU – Alexander Woznick 26-yard field goal, 1:36. Huskies 24–17. Drive: 10 plays, 55 yards, 4:25.
  • HBU – Josh Sterns 65-yard pass from Bailey Zappe (Gino Garcia kick), 0:38. Huskies 31–17. Drive: 3 plays, 70 yards, 0:58.
Fourth quarter
  • EKU – Alonzo Booth 29-yard run (A. Woznick kick), 13:21. Huskies 31–24. Drive: 8 plays, 75 yards, 2:17.
  • EKU – Keyion Dixon 27-yard pass from Parker McKinney (Alexander Woznick kick blocked), 4:04. Huskies 31–30. Drive: 12 plays, 80 yards, 6:22.
  • HBU – Tra Fluellen 98-yard PAT return, 4:04. Huskies 33–30
Statistics HBU EKU
First downs 24 26
Total yards 520 480
Rushing yards 140 184
Passing yards 380 296
Turnovers 0 3
Time of possession 27:41 32:19
Team Category Player Statistics
Houston Baptist Passing Bailey Zappe 35/46, 380 yards, 3 TD
Rushing Dreshawn Minnieweather 9 rushes, 38 yards, TD
Receiving Vernon Harrell 10 receptions, 98 yards, TD
Eastern Kentucky Passing Parker McKinney 25/40, 296 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT
Rushing Alonzo Booth 17 rushes, 108 yards, TD
Receiving Keyion Dixon 6 receptions, 112 yards, TD

At Troy

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Eastern Kentucky at Troy
1 234Total
Colonels 7 10012 29
Trojans 14 773 31
  • Date: October 17, 2020
  • Location: Veterans Memorial Stadium
    Troy, AL
  • Game start: 2:35 p.m. CDT
  • Elapsed time: 3 hours and 37 minutes
  • Game attendance: 10,500
  • Game weather: 71 °F (22 °C) • Weather: Clear • Wind: W 5 MPH
  • Referee: Marshall Lewis
  • TV announcers (ESPN3): Will Kollmeyer (play–by–play) and Ben Stanfield (analyst)
       
Pregame line Over/under
TROY −30 60[5]
Statistics Eastern Kentucky Troy
First downs 21 27
Total yards 425 507
Rushing yards 55 174
Passing yards 370 333
Turnovers 1 3
Time of possession 34:12 25:48
Team Category Player Statistics
Eastern Kentucky Passing Parker McKinney 30/47, 370 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT
Rushing Alonzo Booth 15 carries, 39 yards, 1 TD
Receiving Keyion Dixon 8 receptions, 196 yards, 2 TDs
Troy Passing Gunnar Watson 26/38, 333 yards, 3 TDs, 2 INTs
Rushing Kimani Vidal 13 carries, 143 yards, 1 TD
Receiving Kaylon Geiger 7 receptions, 100 yards

No. 11 Central Arkansas

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1 2 3 4 Total
No. 11 Bears 0 7 7 14 28
Colonels 0 17 0 14 31

Stephen F. Austin

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1 2 3 4 Total
Lumberjacks 14 0 7 3 24
Colonels 0 3 3 0 6

At No. 11 Central Arkansas

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1 2 3 4 Total
Colonels 0 9 16 0 25
No. 11 Bears 17 7 0 13 37

Western Carolina

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1 2 3 4 Total
Catamounts 0 10 0 7 17
Colonels 7 14 0 28 49

References

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  1. ^ Moore, Josh (December 9, 2019). "Kentucky quality control assistant Walt Wells named head coach at EKU". Lexington Herald-Leader. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  2. ^ "Eastern Kentucky football goes against OVC plan, schedules 8 non-conference games". nationofblue.com. August 21, 2020. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
  3. ^ "EKU To Host Inaugural Opportunity Bowl". Eastern Kentucky University. October 26, 2020. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  4. ^ "2020 Eastern Kentucky Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
  5. ^ "Eastern Kentucky Colonels vs Troy Trojans". Odds Shark. Retrieved October 18, 2020.