Redshirt junior Alex Ginnever, who caught 22 passes and two touchdowns last season, is part of a veteran tight end group at Eastern Illinois. (Photo by Barry Bottino, PrairieStatePigskin.com)
By Barry Bottino
CHARLESTON — When Alex Ginnever needs a lift during a strenuous fall camp practice, he doesn’t have to look very far.
“It starts with the people around me,” the Eastern Illinois tight end said Saturday after the team’s evening practice at O’Brien Field. “We’ve really built up our tight end room. You get that boost when the people around you make you want to compete and make you want to drive and be relentless with your effort every single day.”
Ginnever, a redshirt junior who caught 22 passes and two touchdowns last season, is among a veteran tight end group that provides the EIU offense with some enticing matchup opportunities.
“It gives us some flexibility,” Eastern head coach Chris Wilkerson said. “All the guys can block on the line of scrimmage or if they’re in a slot position. They’re also all very athletic in the passing game and we can flex them out. We can motion them out.”
Ginnever has the most experience of the group, which includes a graduate student, two seniors and two juniors. He started EIU’s final six games last season and made at least four receptions in three of those games. Ginnever’s six receptions in a win against Western Illinois last November featured his first career 100-yard game and first two collegiate touchdowns.
“It brought back a lot of confidence,” said Ginnever, who redshirted in 2022 and missed the entire 2023 season after sustaining a broken collarbone on the first day of fall camp. “Not playing football for 2 ½ years, you can get in the dumps about it.”
This season, the 6-foot-4, 245-pound Missouri native is carrying 15 extra pounds.
“I’m moving pretty well,” he said. “I’ve felt it in the first three steps of the run game. Any time I get hit, I feel a little more stability.”
Junior Alex Herrera was limited to four games last season to preserve his redshirt season but had seven receptions for 80 yards and a TD in October against FCS playoff qualifier UT-Martin.
“I could see that I can compete on this level,” he said. “It gives me that confidence to keep rolling.”
Another veteran is Trayvon Moore, a 6-4, 235-pound graduate student who played in 21 games over the past two seasons at Division II Nebraska Kearney.
“He’s also a threat in the passing game,” Wilkerson said.
Recent addition Joey Sprinkle (6-4, 240) was a quarterback for his first three college seasons, including a redshirt year – his first at EIU – in 2024. Sprinkle made an impressive catch along the sideline during Saturday’s practice session.
“That’s brought another cerebral guy into that room,” Wilkerson said.
Joe McNab, a 6-6, 260-pound senior, started one game last season and primarily served in a blocking role and was a core special teams player.
QB timeline
During the scrimmage portion of Saturday’s practice, EIU played five different quarterbacks.
Wilkerson said three of those players – redshirt sophomores Blainey Dowling and Cole LaCrue, along with redshirt freshman Connor Wolf – “have kind of separated themselves.”
“It’s a great group of people, and every one of them wants to be QB1,” Wilkerson said. “There’s nothing wrong with that. We prefer it that way.”
This week, Wilkerson said he hopes the competition narrows to two for the No. 1 job to replace two-year starter Pierce Holley.
Next week, Wilkerson’s goal is to have the competition to the player – or players – who will take snaps in the Aug. 28 season opener against Dayton in Charleston.
“I would love to have the top two by this time next week,” he said Saturday. “Then that (following) week, if we’re going to play two, that’s great. If there’s one that separates himself, that’s great too.”
All three showed “flashes” Saturday.
“Blainey’s got a really good grasp of our offense,” Wilkerson said. “He can run the system exactly how it’s supposed to be run.”
As for LaCrue, a Wisconsin transfer who hails from Colorado, “he showed some explosive, breakaway speed,” according to Wilkerson. “Cole is a phenomenal athlete. He’s getting better with our system.”
Like Dowling, Wolf led a team to a state championship as a high school senior. “Connor’s got a rocket arm and he’s a better athlete than people think he is,” Wilkerson said.
EIU’s head coach said all five quarterbacks have been part of regular conversations with the staff about where they stand, along with discussions on their strengths and weaknesses.
“(Saturday) was probably one of the better nights for that room of camp,” Wilkerson said.
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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