Receiver Quenton Rogers was named the Big South-Ohio Valley Conference Football Association Freshman of the Week. (Photo by Sandy King, EIUPanthers.com)
By Dan Verdun
Perhaps Eastern Illinois head coach Chris Wilkerson has never welcomed a bye week more in his career than he does this season.
The Panthers (1-6 overall, 0-3 in Big South-OVC) have been decimated by injuries and stumbled through a five-game losing streak.
Coming off a 41-17 loss at Tennessee State, EIU returns to its league schedule Oct. 26 at UT Martin.
The Panthers played without five of their top seven receivers as well as starting cornerback Moses Alexander in Saturday’s loss.
Starting receivers Eli Mirza and Terrance Gipson, along with tight end Anthony Manaves, missed the game with injuries.
EIU’s revamped lineup included first-time starters Alex Ginnever at tight end and Quenton Rogers, Aaron Rice and C.J. Nelson as receivers. Redshirt freshman Kiwaun Davis took Alexander’s spot.
“Unfortunately we are banged up, but there are no excuses,” Wilkerson said.
Going into the Tennessee State game, EIU had played without 12 players who have been starters at some point this season.
“We’ve sustained a ton of injuries, especially up front on defense,” Wilkerson said. “We’ve got the bye week. We’re going to try to heal up and get back to work.”
Anatomy of a loss
Saturday’s Big South-Ohio Valley Conference Football Association game began fairly well for Eastern.
“We certainly gave ourselves a chance initially in the first quarter,” Wilkerson said. “We got the (Julian Patino) field goal (and) the defense was playing well. We were playing some complimentary football.”
Trailing 20-10 at halftime, Wilkerson’s message to his team was simple.
“We talked about scoring each possession and getting a stop each possession,” he said.
That plan worked initially as the Panthers trimmed the Tennessee State lead to three points with a 9-play, 75-yard touchdown drive.
TSU, however, had plans of its own. The Tigers scored on three consecutive drives and pulled away for the victory.
“I’m very proud of the guys’ efforts,” Wilkerson said. “We took care of the football. We (only) allowed two sacks against a very talented (TSU) front four.
“(Our offense) certainly had a ton of yards (435), but we just didn’t score enough points.”
Rookie recognition
Rogers was named the Big South-Ohio Valley Conference Football Association Freshman of the Week.
Rogers, who redshirted last season after appearing in four games, caught five passes for 103 yards against Tennessee State.
A Mahomet-Seymour High School graduate, Rogers reeled in a 39-yard touchdown on his first career reception Oct. 5 against Southeast Missouri.
News & notes: Eastern Illinois ranks 89th out of 123 FCS teams in total offense. The Panthers are averaging 318.5 yards per game. EIU is tied for 113th in scoring offense with a 15.7 points-per-game average. … The Panthers rank 103rd in team defense (433 yards per game) and 100th in scoring defense (33.43 points per game). … Senior quarterback Pierce Holley has thrown for the sixth most yards in FCS. Holley has passed for 1,684 yards and seven touchdowns. He has been intercepted seven times. His 240.57 yards-per-game average places him 14th among FCS quarterbacks. … Sophomore running back M.J. Flowers has rushed for 483 yards, which puts him 40th among the FCS leaders. … EIU has five remaining games, all of which are league contests: at UT Martin (Oct. 26), Western Illinois (Nov. 2), at Gardner-Webb (Nov. 9), Charleston Southern (Nov. 16) and at Tennessee Tech (Nov. 22).
Dan Verdun is a co-founder of Prairie State Pigskin. He has written four books: NIU Huskies Football, EIU Panthers Football, ISU Redbirds Football and SIU Salukis Football.
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