Thirteen seniors will be honored as Eastern plays its final home game of 2005 regular season at O’Brien Stadium.

The No. 23 Panthers (7-2, 6-0) will look to stay undefeated in Ohio Valley Conference play and move a step closer to claiming the conference crown. Standing in Eastern’s way is Tennessee Tec, who has snapped a streak of its own lately.

The Golden Eagles snapped a three game losing streak with a 42-21 Homecoming win against Samford. TTU combined for just 53 points in the previous three games before they put up six touchdowns against a Bulldogs defense that was ranked in the top three in the OVC. Eastern head coach Bob Spoo and the coaching staff has been fully aware of how the young Tech roster may be peaking as the 2005 season ends.

“Tennessee Tech had not been scoring many points but then they put up 42 on Samford which indicates they can still be an explosive ball club,” Spoo said.

TTU’s best chance to move the ball efficiently against the Panthers defense is to give the ball to its pair of running backs. One of those tailbacks would be Anthony Ash, the OVC offensive player of the week after the junior gained 106 yards and scored three touchdowns against Samford.

The other danger in the backfield is Cameron Kirnes, who tallied the first 100-yard game of his career, carrying the ball 16 times for 102 yards last week. The problem is the duo will be facing the OVC-best team against the run, and held Tennessee State to 50 yards on the ground last week in its 27-3 win in Nashville.

“The defense was huge again,” Spoo said. “To play that way and win on the road is just tremendous. If you expect to be a champion, you have to do that.”

TTU comes into Charleston with a 10-game OVC road losing streak that dates back two years.

Tech quarterback Stephen Britton may want to watch as much film on defensive coordinator Roc Bellantoni’s system, or be prepared to add his name to the pair of signal callers Eastern has knocked out of the game (Murray State’s Ken Topps and Tennessee State’s Jerald Cook).

“As a defense, we try to make game-changing plays. When people watch film, we want them to know we’re a hard-hitting team,” Eastern linebacker Clint Sellers said.

Britton has averaged only 146 passing yards, but is completing over 54 percent of his passes.

The big key Saturday will be turnovers, which is a key element to the Panthers current six-game winning streak.

The Panthers recovered three fumbles at TSU to remain number one in the nation in turnover margin of +2.11 per game. The opposite end of the spectrum resides in Cookeville, Tenn., as the Golden Eagles are ranked 100 (out of 116 teams) in NCAA I-AA turnover margin (-.89) losing 29 (16 interceptions/13 fumbles) this year.

“Our defense has only allowed 10 points the past two games while still continuing to get the ball back to the offense through turnovers,” Spoo said. “Each week we play with more confidence.”