EKU football is on a winning streak. Will it be enough to push Colonels into FCS playoffs?
Eastern Kentucky football is putting forth a late-season push to try and reach the national postseason.
The Colonels (6-4 overall, 4-2 in United Athletic Conference play) have won three straight games to put themselves on the edge of the FCS playoffs picture.
In consecutive weeks, head coach Walt Wells’ team has defeated ranked opponents. EKU went on the road to top then-No. 7 Tarleton State in Texas on Nov. 2. Last Saturday, the Colonels maintained their perfect 5-0 record at Roy Kidd Stadium in Richmond with a home win over then-No. 16 Central Arkansas.
Both upsets had EKU star running back Joshua Carter score a go-ahead touchdown with less than three minutes remaining. Carter, a redshirt senior, has scored a touchdown in eight straight contests. He’s only 61 yards shy of reaching 2,000 yards rushing for his college career and 78 yards short of rushing for a 1,000 this season.
Eastern Kentucky is allowing an average of only 18 points during its three-game winning streak.
But during his weekly press conference this week, Wells wanted nothing to do with the idea that his team is playing to its maximum potential. He said the Colonels can reach another level.
“You know the mistakes that are there. You know the mistakes that can be exposed, and you know that the tape is being put out there so that people can see it,” Wells said. “So, we’ve got to correct those mistakes. I don’t really want to talk about that until the end of the year. Hopefully, it’s a long time from now.”
EKU has legit reason to believe it can reach the FCS playoffs for the first time since 2022.
The UAC football standings are crowded right now. Leading the way is No. 14 Abilene Christian (7-3, 6-1), followed by No. 13 Tarleton State (8-2, 5-1). EKU is in third place.
The end-of-year FCS playoffs will include 24 teams: 10 conference champions who automatically qualify and 14 at-large selections. The winner of the UAC regular-season championship will earn one of those automatic slots in the national postseason.
The UAC regular-season championship and the conference’s automatic bid to the FCS playoffs could be decided Saturday. Abilene Christian plays at Tarleton State on Saturday night, and Abilene Christian can lock up the UAC regular-season title and a spot in the FCS playoffs with a win.
A Tarleton State win coupled with an EKU win in the Colonels’ road game at longtime rival Austin Peay (4-6, 3-4) would continue to give the Colonels hope for a UAC championship entering the final week of the season.
Even if the UAC championship and the league’s spot in the postseason is decided this weekend, there’s reason to think EKU could play its way into the playoffs as an at-large selection.
The Colonels aren’t appearing in any major top-25 polls yet, but EKU did receive votes in both the AFCA FCS Coaches poll and the Stats Perform FCS poll this week. The Colonels are 27th in the Stats Perform FCS poll.
EKU closes the season with Saturday afternoon’s road contest at Austin Peay and a home game on Nov. 23 against North Alabama (3-8, 3-4).
Whether a Colonels team with an 8-4 overall mark and 6-2 record in UAC games — assuming EKU wins out — could crack the playoff field is a question Wells and his players are hoping to ask.
“I hope (our players) understand that the core values that we instill in them … and that we believe in, stayed true,” Wells said. “And if you’ll just keep battling, and keep fighting, that you got a chance.”
Regardless of what happens over the final two weeks of the season, it has already been a historic campaign for the Colonels.
For the first time since 2008 (Jacksonville State and UT Martin), EKU has defeated two ranked opponents in the same season.
Saturday
Eastern Kentucky at Austin Peay
When: 2 p.m.
Where: Fortera Stadium in Clarksville, Tennessee
Online: Watch ESPN
Records: Eastern Kentucky 6-4 (4-2 UAC); Austin Peay 4-6 (3-4 UAC)
Radio: WCYO 100.7 FM
Series: Eastern Kentucky leads 46-9
Last meeting: Austin Peay won 33-30 in overtime on Nov. 4, 2023, in Richmond
Notes: Austin Peay won the UAC last season with a perfect 6-0 record in conference games.
The Governors are under the direction of first-year head coach Jeff Faris, who replaced former coach Scotty Walden, who is now the head coach at FBS school Texas-El Paso.
