Joseph Solomon (78) has started at both left guard and left tackle this season for EIU, following in the footsteps of his older brother, Ben. (Photo by EIUPanthers.com)
By Barry Bottino
Long before Joseph Solomon put on an Eastern Illinois football jersey this fall, he cheered on the Panthers from the O’Brien Field stands.
“I probably saw a dozen games before I got here as an athlete,” said Solomon, a junior offensive lineman who arrived this summer via the transfer portal. “I was familiar with the area already.”
That familiarity came from Solomon’s older brother Ben, a fellow lineman who played in 37 career games at center and guard from 2017 to 2021.
When the Panthers (1-4 overall, 0-1 Big South/Ohio Valley Conference Football Association) host No. 13 Southeast Missouri (2 p.m., ESPN-Plus), Joseph Solomon will start his fourth consecutive game in his first season on campus.
“Joe’s been a great addition to the group, not only his mentality but the way that he plays and how he interacts with the guys,” EIU head coach Chris Wilkerson said. “He’s a physical guy and he’s going to stay after you. He’s got the right demeanor for an offensive lineman.”
Solomon began his career at FBS Tulane, where he spent three seasons before transferring to Appalachian State. After not appearing in any games last fall, he decided to move on. When Eastern reached out, Solomon had a helping hand in Ben.
“He played an important role in getting me over here,” said the 6-foot-5, 295-pound Joseph Solomon, who grew up in Indianapolis and was in eighth grade when his brother’s five-year EIU career began. “He loved the school and said all the guys were awesome.”
Before each game, Ben calls or texts with advice and encouragement.
The younger Solomon has started two games and left guard thus far. His start today will be the second in a row at left tackle.
“I’ve had a bunch of O-line coaches in my college career, so I’ve been forced to play a bunch of different positions,” he said. “I’d say both guard spots and both tackles are pretty comfortable for me. It creates value for me. I’m able to tell the coaches, ‘Wherever you need me, I’m there.’”
Moving the ball
Despite last week’s 28-25 conference loss to Lindenwood, Wilkerson said the offense took a step forward by putting up 25 first downs and 458 total yards, including 326 passing yards and two touchdown passes from quarterback Pierce Holley. Running back M.J. Flowers added 123 rushing yards in his best game of the season.
“It was our most complete offensive performance of the season,” he said. “Pierce got going a little bit. We had M.J. established. We did about everything we wanted to do except finish some drives with points in the second half.
“We left a lot of points out there,” Wilkerson said. “But we possessed the football and ran a season-high total number of plays (79). That’s something we need to continue to do.”
This week’s opponent
The 13th-ranked SEMO Redhawks boast the second-most passing touchdowns in the country (13) and the seventh-best passing offense nationally at 281 yards a game behind QB Paxton DeLaurent, who has played in more than 40 career games. … The Redhawks have plenty of weapons at receiver with 6-foot-7 Dorian Anderson (32 catches, 463 yards, five TDs), 5-11 Cam Pedro (29-308-2) and 6-5 Tristan Smith (18-205-1). … Two-time, first-team all-conference linebacker Bryce Norman leads the team in tackles (47), just ahead of senior safety Khalani Riddick (43) for a defense that has 13 sacks and has forced six turnovers. … Southeast Missouri head coach Tom Matukewicz said penalties have been one of the biggest issues this season. “For some reason, our penalty thing has not gotten better,” he said. “It’s been an issue.” The Redhawks are third-worst in the league with 78.4 penalty yards a game. … With the departure of star running back Geno Hess, who completed his eligibility, true freshman Payton Brown has taken over and leads the team with 51.2 yards a game. Brown’s best game of the season came against Southern Illinois, when he rushed for 124 yards, including a key 52-yard run on a scoring drive against the Salukis. He averages 5.2 yards per carry.
Kickoff: 2 p.m.; TV: ESPN-Plus; Radio: WEIU.net/hitmix
Key matchup to watch
EIU secondary vs. SEMO QB Paxton DeLaurent: The SEMO QB ranks fifth in FCS with 1,305 passing yards in five games and is completing 58% of his passes. He has passed for 43 touchdowns in 22 starts with the Redhawks. “Paxton does everything well,” Wilkerson said. “He’s arguably the best quarterback in FCS right now. He gets the ball out of his hand extremely quick, knows exactly where to go with the football. He’s a capable runner. The kid is as tough as a boot.”
What’s at stake?
With one of the nation’s most prolific passing offenses coming to town, EIU will try to avoid an 0-2 start to the conference season.
Quick hits
Junior linebacker Phoenix Porter will start his second consecutive game, and third this season, in place of Elijawah Tolbert, who left the program last week after playing four games with plans to redshirt and use his final year of eligibility elsewhere. Porter had a season-high nine tackles against Illinois State in a reserve role and eight against Lindenwood. He is only six tackles away from surpassing his career-best 34 stops last season. “He’s a guy who’s got high energy, high intensity,” Wilkerson said. “This is a guy that’s paid his dues. He’s never been afraid to compete. He has earned everything he’s ever gotten.” … Junior cornerback Moses Alexander has made a quick impact as a transfer from FBS Houston. Alexander intercepted a pass against Lindenwood and has also recovered two fumbles. … With back-to-back 100-yard games over the past two weeks, Flowers now ranks fourth in the league with 75.6 yards a game. As a team, however, EIU has the lowest rushing output (82.4) in the Big South-OVC. … Wide receiver Eli Mirza has caught two or more passes in 16 consecutive games for EIU. … The Panthers are hosting SEMO for their annual Homecoming game. … Sophomore punter Jacob Horvath ranks sixth in FCS with 46.8 yards per punt this fall, including eight punts over 50 yards and a long of 76. … Eastern has lost six consecutive games to the Redhawks in the series.
Barry Bottino is a co-founder of Prairie State Pigskin and a 19-year veteran of three Illinois newspapers. He has covered college athletics since 1995.
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