RICHMOND, Ky. – Eastern Kentucky's football team announced its 2021 captains, selected by a team vote. Leading the Colonels will be junior tight end Dakota Allen, senior linebacker Kyle Bailey, junior linebacker Matthew Jackson, and sophomore quarterback Parker McKinney.

The Colonels open the 2021 campaign on Saturday night, traveling to Western Carolina for a 6:00 p.m. showdown.

Allen appeared in six games last season, making two starts at quarterback. On the season, Allen passed for 319 yards and one touchdown on 30 completions, while also rushing for 65 yards and one touchdown. He led EKU to a win over No. 11 Central Arkansas, engineering an 8-play, 77-yard drive that ended with a 21-yard go-ahead touchdown pass with six seconds left in the game. Allen finished the win over UCA 9-for-14 through the air for 85 yards and a touchdown, with nine rushes for 59 yards and a touchdown.

Bailey earned Conference USA Honorable Mention recognition last season at Western Kentucky, where he played in and started 11 games. Bailey finished the season with 76 tackles, including 8.5 for a loss while also tallying three sacks and one interception. He registered 10 tackles at Middle Tennessee and totaled nine tackles and a sack at UAB.

Jackson played in eight games in 2021, starting at linebacker six times. He led the team with 79 tackles, including 8.0 tackles for a loss, 2.5 sacks, two fumble recoveries and two pass deflections. Jackson led the nation in the fall in fumbles recovered, ranked ninth in tackles per game (9.9) and was 15th in tackles for a loss per game. He posted double-digit tackles in five contests, including a season-best 15 tackles, 11 solo, and two pass break-ups against Houston Baptist.

McKinney started the first six games of last season, completed 64 percent of his passes for 1,358 yards and 12 touchdowns, averaging 226 yards per game. Despite missing the final three games of the season with an injury, he ranked fourth in the nation in passing touchdowns. McKinney was chosen as the STATS Perform National Player of the Week after throwing four touchdown passes while completing 16-of-26 passes for 274 yards in a win at The Citadel.


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