Running back M.J. Flowers had 280 total yards – including 194 on the ground – Saturday in EIU’s 45-38 victory against Western Illinois. (Photo by Sandy King, EIUPanthers.com)
By Barry Bottino
Glancing at the stat sheet after Saturday’s 45-38 victory against Western Illinois, M.J. Flowers quickly noticed his impact.
The numbers showed 194 rushing yards on 27 carries, three receptions for 86 yards and three total touchdowns.
“Wow, I did a little bit of everything,” he said.
That also summed up Flowers’ season for EIU.
With three games remaining for the Panthers (2-7 overall, 1-4 Big South-Ohio Valley Conference Football Association), the sophomore running back has surpassed 1,000 all-purpose yards and already has career highs in total touchdowns (nine), rushing yards per game (80.7), receptions (41) and receiving yards (323).
He needs 129 rushing yards to outpace his career high of 854 last season and is 274 rushing yards from becoming Eastern’s first 1,000-yard rusher since Devin Church in 2016 (1,066 yards).
Flowers continues that quest Saturday, Nov. 9 when Eastern travels to Gardner-Webb for a 12:30 p.m. kickoff. (ESPN-Plus)
“He’s a workhorse. He’s a competitor. He’s a strong leader,” EIU head coach Chris Wilkerson said. “He has really improved his game.”
Wilkerson specifically pointed to Flowers being better in pass protection and receiving, two things he was heavily involved in against Western.
“One of the areas that is a little more challenging for the backs at times is pass protection,” Wilkerson said, noting that communication plays a big part in the process as well as the fact blocking assignments can change rapidly based on the defense. “M.J. has been a very hard worker from day one. He’s developed himself physically in the weight room. He’s almost 220 pounds.
“He’s very durable. He’s a guy who’s an every single down running back now,” Wilkerson said. “Some guys are going to play on first and second down and they’re not really third-down backs. Either they struggle to catch or they don’t really understand spatial awareness or don’t understand the protections.”
Flowers’ durability showed midway through the fourth quarter at O’Brien Field just after Western trimmed the EIU lead to 38-31.
On the first play from scrimmage after a WIU touchdown, Flowers took a pitch from quarterback Pierce Holley and headed toward the east sideline.
“It was supposed to go outside. It was supposed to hit the perimeter,” he said. But Western safety Cordell Wilson eluded a block, cut off Flowers’ path and made first contact.
“I cut it in, he hit me in my stomach, then I spun off and it was green from there,” Flower said.
The spin created plenty of open space, which Flowers turned into a 65-yard run down to the WIU 10-yard line.
One play later, Eastern took a 45-31 lead on tight end Alex Ginnever’s second TD catch of the day.
Wilkerson noted that Flowers broke four tackles on the play, but also got blocks from wide receivers Cooper Willman at the line of scrimmage and Quenton Rogers downfield, along with Ginnever and fellow tight end Alex Herrera.
“He did break a ton of tackles,” Wilkerson said. “(The blockers) were battling. It epitomizes what this group has been all about this year.”
This week’s opponent
In last week’s 17-14 conference win against Charleston Southern, Gardner-Webb’s three-man running back rotation of graduate student Edward Saydee, freshman Christian Vann and senior Quasean Holmes combined for 130 yards and a touchdown. Wilkerson called the group “a three-headed monster.” The trio has rushed for 975 yards and seven touchdowns. … Quarterback Tyler Riddell has thrown for 12 TDs and nine interceptions while completing 64% of his passes. … Linebacker Trevor Moffitt leads the team with 49 tackles and 7.5 tackles for loss. …. Gardner-Webb is the back-to-back conference champion and won the league’s automatic playoff bid two years in a row. However, the team underwent a big roster turnover under first-year coach Cris Reisert. The new coaching staff brought in 46 transfers during the off-season, including 6-foot-6 tight end Camden Overton, who played against EIU in 2022 when he was on the UT Chattanooga roster. … Four of the Bulldogs’ six losses have been by seven points or fewer.
Kickoff: 12:30 p.m.; TV: ESPN-Plus; Radio: WEIU.net/hitmix
Key matchup to watch
EIU offensive line vs. Gardner-Webb pass rush: The Bulldogs lead the Big South-OVC and rank 16th nationally with 24 sacks. Seven different players have at least two sacks, led by junior defensive end Robert Holtz’s 4.5. The Panthers have allowed 21 sacks this season, including 10 in the past two weeks combined. Eastern gave up seven sacks at UT Martin Oct. 26.
What’s at stake?
Eastern is seeking a two-game winning streak and a win against a first-time opponent in the Big South-OVC.
Quick hits
Eastern makes its first-ever trip to the state of North Carolina this week to face Gardner-Webb, a first-time opponent. Wilkerson said the team will fly into Greenville, S.C., on Friday then make the one-hour drive to Boiling Springs, N.C., the following day. “It’s exciting,” Wilkerson said of his team’s first flight of the season. “We have a ton of players who’ve never been to North Carolina. It’s exciting to see a new place and experience new stuff.” … Ginnever became the fourth different player to have a 100-yard receiving game this season for EIU. Ginnever, who caught his first two career TDs against Western, had six catches for 100 yards in the victory. He became the first EIU tight end to have a 100-yard receiving day since 2013, when Jeff Lepak had seven receptions for 196 yards against UT Martin. Among Eastern’s various injuries this season was to fifth-year tight end Anthony Manaves. “We may get Manny back, maybe the last game of the season,” Wilkerson said. “I hope he does get that chance to finish the way he wants to finish, on the field.” … Defensive end Nicholas Oliveira-Chace had his first sack in a month against Western. The senior ranks second in the conference with 5.5 sacks and ninth in tackles for loss (7.5). Oliveira-Chace had only 2.5 sacks last season. His 5.5 sacks this fall is the most by an EIU player since Jarvis Williams had 5.5 in 2016. … Quarterback Pierce Holley, who surpassed 300 passing yards for the fifth week in a row against Western, now has 5,111 passing yards in his two-year career at EIU. That ranks sixth all-time in school history. Holley’s 35 passing TDs rank eighth. Holley’s five TDs against WIU made him only the seventh QB in school history to achieve that feat. The last player with five touchdown passes was Harry Woodbery in 2018 against Tennessee Tech.
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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