NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) _ Chris Perkins threw for a pair of touchdowns and ran for another Saturday to lead Tennessee State, NCAA Division I-AA's No. 2 team, to a 33-28 victory over Eastern Kentucky.

The Tigers (8-0, 4-0 Ohio Valley Conference) built a 19-3 lead in the first quarter on a 5-yard run by KaRon Key, a 44-yard touchdown pass from Perkins to Avion Black and a 9-yard toss from Perkins to Corey Sullivan.

Eastern Kentucky (6-2, 3-1) rallied in the second quarter to pull within 19-16 at the half.

Corey Crume scored on a 4-yard run for the 15th-ranked Colonels and place-kicker Jason Martin added field goals of 22 and 35 yards to a 42-yard 3-pointer in the first quarter.

Eastern Kentucky took a 22-19 lead with 11:47 left in the third quarter on a 4-yard run by Derrick Logan.

The Tigers responded with a 1-yard scoring run by Donnell Brantley and a 2-yard scamper by Perkins to lead 33-22 with 4:10 left in the third quarter.

Eastern cut its deficit to 33-28 on a 1-yard pass from Derrick Logan to Waylon Chapman late in the third quarter, but was unable to score in the final 15 minutes.

Perkins started Saturday's game in the place of Leon Murray, who's sidelined with a torn ACL. He hit 25 of 42 pass attempts for 346 yards and was intercepted once.

The victory is the 16th straight in the regular season for the Tigers, the second longest streak in Division I-AA.

Tigers defensive end Lamar Carter registered three-and-one-half sacks Saturday to pass Richard Dent as the school's career sack leader. Carter now has 41-and-one-half career sacks. Dent recorded 39 sacks from 1979-82.