Eastern Kentucky Colonels
UACRichmond, KYRoy Kidd Stadium
2026: 2–5 (1–1 UAC). Last: lost at Tennessee Tech 49–20. Next: West Florida, Saturday, Oct 24, 3 p.m. ET.
- L 21–45at Western Carolina
- L 7–49at Jacksonville State
- W 22–17Chattanooga
- L 14–17Dayton
- L 16–20North Alabama
- W 30–20West Georgia
- L 20–49at Tennessee Tech
- Oct 24West Florida
- Oct 31at Tarleton State
- Nov 7at Austin Peay
- Nov 14Central Arkansas
- Nov 21at Abilene Christian
Eastern Kentucky has played football since 1891 and is officially 612–398–38; 281 of its 1,048 games are in our file. They have won 21 Ohio Valley Conference titles (the last in 2011) and one Atlantic Sun Conference title, counting shared titles. Since 1968, the NFL Draft has taken 20 players from here in its first seven rounds, 2 of them in the first round. The AAFC draft also took one player from here. The College Football Hall of Fame holds 1 player and 1 coach from Eastern Kentucky. This season, they’re 2–5.
Résumé
- All-time record
- 612–398–38 official; 151–129–1 on file; how we count
- Postseason
- 0–1 bowls, title games, playoff
- AP No. 1 finishes
- 0
- Weeks at No. 1
- 0 of 0 ranked
- Elo now
- 1259
- Computer rankings
- Massey No. 68 · Composite No. 75 in FCS, Oct 17; down 4 since Oct 11. From Massey Ratings
- Conference titles
- 22 last in 2022
- Bowl record
- 4–3 official, bowls only
- Seasons
- 42 since 1954, 281 games
Identity
- Fight song
- Hail, Hail and Yea, Eastern
- Band
- Eastern Kentucky Colonel Marching Band about 150 members
2026 season 2–5
RosterFull 2026 season| Date | Opponent | Result | Elo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 29 | at Western Carolina | L 21–45 | 37% |
| Sep 5 | at Jacksonville State | L 7–49 | 17% |
| Sep 12 | vs Chattanooga | W 22–17 | 53% |
| Sep 19 | vs Dayton | L 14–17 | 53% |
| Oct 3 | vs North Alabama | L 16–20 | 60% |
| Oct 10 | vs West Georgia | W 30–20 | 56% |
| Oct 17 | at Tennessee Tech | L 20–49 | 24% |
| Oct 24 | vs West Florida | Preview | 49% |
| Oct 31 | at Tarleton State | Preview | 13% |
| Nov 7 | at Austin Peay | Preview | 21% |
| Nov 14 | vs Central Arkansas | Preview | 63% |
| Nov 21 | at Abilene Christian | Preview | 29% |
Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.
This season, game by game
Players
The 2026 rosterThe moneyOn the 2026 team
- Brady Hensley602 rushing yards, 5 TD (leads Eastern Kentucky in rushing yards)
- Cam Jessee53 tackles, 2 sacks (leads Eastern Kentucky in tackles)
- Jeffrey Kinley45 tackles, 1 INT
- Jordyn Potts645 passing yards, 2 TD (leads Eastern Kentucky in passing yards)
- Brayden Latham250 rushing yards, 1 TD (leads Eastern Kentucky in receiving touchdowns)
- Kaden Smith38 tackles, 0.5 sacks
Program greats See all
Heisman finalists, College Football Hall of Famers, consensus All-Americans, national award winners and first-round picks, for what they did at Eastern Kentucky.
Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.
Program strength since 1954
Best seasons everMost-played series
All rivalries- Jacksonville State
8–11 in 19
- 2012 W 51–21
- 2014 L 6–20
- 2015 L 0–34
- 2016 L 7–24
- 2017 L 25–41
- 2018 L 7–56
- 2019 W 29–23
- 2021 W 39–31
- 2022 L 17–42
- 2026 L 7–49
Lost the last two.
- Tennessee Tech
12–5 in 17
- 2010 W 42–29
- 2011 L 21–28
- 2012 W 42–28
- 2014 L 31–39
- 2015 W 48–17
- 2016 L 30–33
- 2017 W 24–21
- 2018 W 37–6
- 2019 W 22–10
- 2026 L 20–49
Lost the last one.
- Eastern Illinois
10–6 in 16
- 2009 W 36–31
- 2010 W 35–7
- 2011 W 48–16
- 2012 L 7–24
- 2014 W 36–33
- 2015 L 7–21
- 2016 L 0–24
- 2017 L 20–23
- 2018 W 31–23
- 2019 W 33–6
Won the last two.
| Opponent | Games | EKU record |
|---|---|---|
| Jacksonville State | 19 | 8–11 |
| Tennessee Tech | 17 | 12–5 |
| Eastern Illinois | 16 | 10–6 |
| Southeast Missouri State | 16 | 12–4 |
| Murray State | 16 | 13–3 |
| Austin Peay | 16 | 11–5 |
| Tennessee State | 14 | 9–5 |
| UT Martin | 14 | 10–4 |
Rivals the program names: Western Kentucky, Morehead State.
The trophy it holds: Old Hawg Rifle (Morehead State). Who holds each comes from the games on file; the trophies from Wikipedia.
Every opponent (70)
Every program Eastern Kentucky has played, A to Z, with Eastern Kentucky’s record against it. Each links to the series, game by game.
- Abilene Christian 1–2
- App State 1–3
- Austin Peay 11–5
- Ball State 0–1
- Bowling Green 1–2
- Cal State Fullerton 1–0
- Central Arkansas 5–2
- Central Michigan 0–2
- Charleston Southern 1–0
- Chattanooga 2–2–1
- Cincinnati 0–3
- Coastal Carolina 1–1
- Dayton 2–3
- East Carolina 1–0
- East Tennessee State 1–1
- Eastern Illinois 10–6
- Eastern Michigan 0–1
- Florida 0–1
- Gardner-Webb 0–2
- Houston Christian 1–1
- Indiana 0–1
- Indiana State 0–3
- Jacksonville State 8–11
- James Madison 0–1
- Kansas State 0–1
- Kennesaw State 1–0
- Kent State 1–0
- Kentucky 0–6
- Kentucky State 1–0
- Lamar 1–0
- Louisville 1–6
- Marshall 1–4
- Miami (OH) 1–0
- Mississippi State 0–1
- Missouri State 1–1
- Morehead State 6–0
- Murray State 13–3
- Navy 0–1
- NC State 0–2
- Nebraska–Omaha 0–1
- Nicholls 1–0
- North Alabama 3–2
- Oregon State 0–1
- Pikeville 1–0
- Presbyterian 1–0
- Purdue 0–2
- Richmond 0–2
- Robert Morris 4–0
- Saint Francis 1–0
- Sam Houston 0–2
- Samford 5–0
- Southeast Missouri State 12–4
- Southern Utah 1–2
- Stephen F. Austin 1–2
- Tampa 1–0
- Tarleton State 3–1
- Tennessee State 9–5
- Tennessee Tech 12–5
- The Citadel 1–0
- Troy 0–1
- UCF 0–1
- UT Martin 10–4
- Utah Tech 3–0
- Valparaiso 2–0
- Vanderbilt 0–1
- Villanova 0–1
- West Georgia 2–1
- West Virginia 0–1
- Western Carolina 3–4
- Western Kentucky 1–7
Conference titles
22, counting shared titles- Atlantic Sun Conference 1
- 2022 (shared)
As the program counts them in its Wikipedia article, shared titles included, and listed under each conference’s current name (a Western Conference title of the 1900s counts as a Big Ten title); season pages use the name the conference had that year. A title the article files under a conference the team wasn’t in that season is listed under the one it was. Division titles include years the team tied for its division.
Conferences
- Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference 1927–1947
- OVC 1978–2020
- AWC 2021
- Atlantic Sun Conference 2022
- UAC since 2023
- 2021Joined the Atlantic Sun Conference from the OVC, announced January 29, 2021. Source
- 2023Joined the UAC from the Atlantic Sun Conference in football. Source
Eastern Kentucky’s football conferences by season, from CollegeFootballData.com’s memberships (renamed conferences keep the name of the time). The moves and their announcement dates from Wikipedia’s lists of NCAA Division I conference changes; the year is the first season in the new conference. Conference realignment: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
In the Hall of Fame
Every inductee- Players
- 1
- Coaches
- 1
| 2003 | Roy Kidd coach, career 1964–2002 |
| 1999 | George Floyd S |
In the draft
By college- NFL picks, rounds 1–7
- 20 since 1968
- First-round picks
- 2
- AAFC picks
- 1 1949
| 1988 | Aaron Jones DE | No. 18, Pittsburgh Steelers |
| 1973 | Wally Chambers DE | No. 8, Chicago Bears |
The school
Eastern Kentucky University- Enrollment
- 15,673 13,448 undergraduates, fall 2024
- Where
- Richmond, Kentucky
- Public or private
- Public
- Founded
- 1874
- Graduates’ median earnings
- $45,795 10 years after starting
Enrollment, place and Carnegie research tier from the National Center for Education Statistics (IPEDS, public domain). Earnings from the US Department of Education’s College Scorecard (CC BY 4.0): the median for students who received federal aid and were working, not in school. Founding year from Wikidata. Every school’s in the data.
Season by season
National champions| Season | Record | Conf. | AP pre | AP final | Coach | Elo | SP+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 2–5 | 1–1 | 1259 | ||||
| 2025 | 5–7 | 3–5 | 1308 | ||||
| 2024 | 8–5 | 6–2 | 1369 | ||||
| 2023 | 5–6 | 4–2 | 1349 | ||||
| 2022 | 7–5 | 3–2 | 1359 | ||||
| 2021 | 7–4 | 2–1 | 1360 | ||||
| 2020 | 3–6 | 1292 | |||||
| 2019 | 7–5 | 5–3 | 1339 | ||||
| 2018 | 7–4 | 5–2 | 1286 | ||||
| 2017 | 4–7 | 3–5 | 1231 | ||||
| 2016 | 3–8 | 2–6 | 1215 | ||||
| 2015 | 6–5 | 5–3 | 1355 | ||||
| 2014 | 9–4 | 6–2 | 1366 | ||||
| 2013 | 2–2 | 1373 | |||||
| 2012 | 8–3 | 6–2 | 1430 | ||||
| 2011 | 7–5 | 6–2 | 1359 | ||||
| 2010 | 6–5 | 5–2 | 1347 | ||||
| 2009 | 3–5 | 3–2 | 1303 | ||||
| 2008 | 8–4 | 7–1 | 1405 | ||||
| 2007 | 8–3 | 7–0 | 1417 | ||||
| 2006 | 6–5 | 5–3 | 1347 | ||||
| 2005 | 7–4 | 7–1 | 1386 | ||||
| 2004 | 6–5 | 6–2 | 1336 | ||||
| 2003 | 7–5 | 6–2 | 1338 | ||||
| 2002 | 0–1 | 1275 |
Every season back to 1954 (17 more)
Officially 612–398–38 since 1891 (per Wikipedia, rechecked weekly); game by game here, 151–129–1 (281 of its 1,048 games are on file). Our file starts in 1954; the program began in 1891. Some games are missing from our source.
No season on file for 1955–64, 1968–71, 1977–78, 1982–84, 1986–90, 1992–97, 1999: the program may not have played, or our source may be missing them.
Records are computed from every game on file at CollegeFootballData.com, whose coverage of the earliest seasons can be incomplete. Elo is this site’s own rating; see how it works on the records page.