This week marks midway point of the Ohio Valley Conference season and a trio of unknown performers are pushing for stardom.

Fans have been able to throw out the preseason teams and have been looking in obscure places to find talent.

As coaches begin to ponder where their OVC Player of the Year vote will go, they ultimately look to Tennessee State and Samford for guidance.

The Samford Bulldogs have a pitch-and-catch combination that are vying for the honor with incredible performance in the first half of the 2003 season.

Quarterback Ray Nelson is leading the eighth-oldest conference in passing and total offense by averaging about 240 yards per game.

The junior signal caller is a big reason Samford has already matched its win total (4) from 2002.

“The complexion would change in a hurry without Ray,” Bulldog head coach Bill Gray said.

“He’s the heart and soul of this football team.”

Nelson has completed nearly 60 percent of his passes with 12 touchdowns and three interceptions and will take his show to Tennessee-Martin who was the worst defense in the OVC.

“We simply can’t play without him very well,” Gray said.”It’s no coincidence that we lost the only game that we were without him.”

The main target for Nelson is junior Efreme Hill who is averaging seven catches for 104 yards and a touchdown.

Hill was named OVC Player of the Week in week five and is major reason the Bulldogs are averaging nearly 30 points per game and attempting to air it out on opposing defenses.

“That big receiver out of Samford is a hell of a football player,” Eastern Kentucky head coach Danny Hope said.

“We simply couldn’t cover them.”

Arguably, the leading candidate to join Eastern’s Tony Romo as one of three players to win back-to-back player of the year titles is junior Tennessee State tailback Charles Anthony.

Most coaches in the OVC have stated it wouldn’t be improbable for the Orlando, Fla. native to win the award this year and in 2004.

“Everything comes off what he creates offensively for them,” Jacksonville State head coach Jack Crowe said.

Crowe has been studying film on the tailback and feels he’s easily the best talent in the league.

“Without a question, he’s consistently created more opportunities than anybody else in the league,” Crowe said.

Of course, some OVC coaches are still holding out to see a late-season run by an experienced player and won’t claim that they’ve found the diamond of the conference just yet.

“I honestly believe there are good players on every team,” Hope said.

“And I wouldn’t want to do that to anybody right now.”