Jayden Childers (92) celebrates after a sack of EIU quarterback Connor Wolf on Saturday in the Panthers’ 38-14 loss in Terre Haute, Ind. (Photo by GoSycamores.com)
By Barry Bottino
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Big plays, penalties, ejections and a touchdown.
All of those things happened against Eastern Illinois Saturday at Indiana State, and all of it took place on one second-quarter drive.
The drive served as a microcosm of the Panthers’ wildly inconsistent day in a 38-14 loss to ISU (2-0).
EIU head coach Chris Wilkerson was brutally honest in his critique of the Panthers, who trailed 17-0 at halftime.
“We started slow and that’s two weeks in a row that we have come out and not started very fast as a team,” Wilkerson said. “That’s something we’ve got to address. That’s on me and our coaching staff. We’ve got to make sure that we’re more prepared to come out and play more efficient, complimentary football in the first half.”
While the offense managed only 80 yards and six first downs in the first half, the defense allowed three scoring drives.
During a 12-play, 57-yard drive in the second quarter that led to a 17-0 ISU halftime lead, the Sycamores used a 23-yard trick play – a double pass involving wide receivers Rashad Rochelle and Larry Stephens III – to move the ball to Eastern’s 3-yard line.
What followed over the head-spinning next seven plays was three 15-yard penalties, two ejections (targeting by EIU linebacker Tylan Foster and two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties on Eastern defensive end Samuel Robles), an EIU sack by Drake Van Hyfte, an intentional grounding call on Indiana State and a 4-yard TD pass to Stephens from backup QB Keegan Patterson.
The backup replaced ISU starter Elijah Owens, who left the game five plays before the touchdown holding his right shoulder after being gang tackled for a 4-yard loss.
Despite forcing four punts and a turnover on downs on Indiana State’s first eight drives, the EIU defense gave up 412 total yards Saturday and allowed ISU to go 4-for-4 in the red zone.
“We’ve got to communicate a lot better for sure,” said EIU defensive back Kaleb Lyons, who had a team-high three tackles for loss. “It was just people not knowing what exactly we’ve got going on. So one side of the field is doing one thing, the whole other side is doing another thing. It was a good possession here, big plays there.
“It’s just communication. We’ll get that figured out.”
After rushing for 193 yards last week against Dayton, Eastern QB Cole LaCrue struggled against an aggressive Indiana State defense. He finished the game 7-for-12 passing for 38 yards and an interception, managed three yards rushing on 12 carries and was sacked three times.
Redshirt freshman Connor Wolf replaced LaCrue late in the third quarter and finished 9-for-13 for 112 yards. Four of Wolf’s completions went for 13 yards or more.
“I feel like we’ve got such a good receiving corps,” Wolf said. “I just tried to let those guys get open and get them the ball. (ISU) did a good job mixing up looks, bringing pressure.”
Wilkerson said LaCrue “was banged up a little bit” and the QB change allowed Wolf valuable playing time. The coach also said the Panthers need to be more aggressive and productive on early downs.
“We’ll continue to evaluate every position,” Wilkerson said. “These are all preseason games for us. We’ve still got 10 more games.”
The biggest offensive contributor for EIU was running back Charles Kellom, who rushed for a game-high 86 yards and two touchdowns.
“My role is just to go out there and make plays,” Kellom said. “(Indiana State) played a good game, but we shot ourselves in the foot for the most part.”
Game changers
7:00, 2nd quarter: On a third-and-15 play, Indiana State TE Lance Rees caught an 11-yard pass, setting up fourth down. But EIU linebacker Tylan Foster was flagged for targeting, giving the Sycamores first-and-goal for the fourth time on the same drive. Two plays later, they scored on a 4-yard TD pass.
4:57, 2nd quarter: On a short pass play intended for EIU WR Quenton Rogers, LaCrue was intercepted by ISU defensive lineman Jayden Childers. The play led to a Sycamores field goal and a 17-0 halftime lead.
10:20, 4th quarter: Kellom charged in from two yards out for his second touchdown of the game, trimming ISU’s lead to 10 points. The Sycamores scored a touchdown just over 90 seconds later, however.
Prime Time Panthers
Prairie State Pigskin chooses the top three players in Saturday’s game:
Kellom, RB: The Akron transfer rushed for 86 yards and both Eastern touchdowns in the game.
Saipeti Maiava Jr., DB: The EIU safety piled up 11 tackles in the game.
Wolf, QB: In the first game action of his career, the redshirt freshman was 9-for-13 for 112 yards passing.
What it means
The Panthers lost for only the sixth time in the past 21 games to Indiana State since 1996. The Sycamores are 2-0 for the first time since 1986.
What’s next
Eastern hosts Illinois State in the 113th Mid-America Classic rivalry game. Kickoff is 2 p.m. at O’Brien Field.
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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