Eastern Illinois receiver C.J. Nelson caught a pair of touchdowns against rival Illinois State Saturday at O’Brien Field . (Photo by Sandy King, EIUPanthers.com)
By Dan Verdun
CHARLESTON – On the verge of heading into halftime with momentum, Eastern Illinois made two key errors that proved costly in Saturday’s 42-30 loss to nationally ranked Illinois State at O’Brien Field.
After scoring a second-quarter touchdown and field goal, EIU (1-2) trailed ISU (2-1) by a mere four points with 42 seconds left before halftime.
Then came the miscues.
Moments after drilling a 43-yard field goal, EIU sophomore Drew Schiller booted his kickoff out of bounds. The penalty allowed ISU to start its drive on its 35-yard line and no time ran off the clock.
Four plays later came the back breaker.
Illinois State quarterback Tommy Rittenhouse stepped up from the EIU pass rush and found receiver Luke Mailander for a 46-yard touchdown. The score, coming with just eight seconds left on the clock, grabbed back momentum and gave the Redbirds a 21-10 halftime lead.
“(Our) situational execution was extremely poor at the end of the first half,” EIU head coach Chris Wilkerson said.
Eastern did manage to score 20 fourth-quarter points and put a scare into ISU, which entered the game ranked fourth in the American Football Coaches Association poll and seventh in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25.
EIU receiver C.J. Nelson reeled in his second touchdown with 8 minutes, 30 seconds left to slice ISU’s lead to 28-23. Nelson scored Eastern’s first touchdown on a 75-yard pass from redshirt freshman Connor Wolf in the second quarter.
Wolf, making his first career start in place of the injured Cole LaCrue, passed for an EIU freshman record 411 yards and four touchdowns. He was sacked twice and intercepted twice.
“Connor certainly impressed the hell out of me,” Wilkerson said. “I always knew that he had great skill but to be able to get the ball out on time and his ability to avoid the pass rush was something.”
Illinois State head coach Brock Spack shared his counterpart’s appreciation of Wolf’s performance.
“I like him. He throws the ball pretty well. He’s got a nice release,” Spack said.
ISU linebacker Tye Niekamp added, “He made some good throws on us today. I was on defense in one of our coverages and he threw a dart to the receiver. It was impressive.”
Wolf, listed at 6-foot-3 and 210 pounds, completed 28 of 44 passes.
Game changers
13:30, 2nd quarter: Wolf found Nelson wide open and the receiver raced 75 yards down the right sideline for a touchdown. It was Wolf’s first career touchdown pass and the first Eastern TD pass this season.
1:54, 2nd quarter: ISU defensive back Cam Wilson was flagged for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after taking Nelson out of bounds. The penalty, which came on a third down and long, gave EIU a first down at the ISU 24.
That penalty led to a Drew Schiller 43-yard field goal, cutting ISU’s lead to 14-10.
0:08, 2nd quarter: Rittenhouse avoided the EIU pass rush and connected with Mailander for a 46-yard touchdown. The score gave the Redbirds a 21-10 halftime lead.
Prime Time Panthers
Prairie State Pigskin chooses the the top three Eastern Illinois players in the game:
Wolf, QB: The Michigan native passed for an EIU freshman record 411 yards and four touchdowns. The previous mark was set by current NFL quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo (341) in 2010.
Nelson, WR: The redshirt junior caught seven passes for a career-high 194 yards and two touchdowns. His TDs were 75 and 51 yards long.
Ja’Wuan Nickson, LB: The junior led the team with 12 tackles, one for loss. He also was credited with a pass breakup.
What it means
Eastern Illinois has lost two of the last three in the Mid-America Classic series. The Panthers have dropped nine of the last 11 games against Illinois State.
What’s next
Eastern Illinois enters its bye week. The Panthers have two weeks to prepare for their Sept. 27 OVC-Big South league opener at rival Western Illinois. It’s a 3 p.m. kickoff at Hanson Field in Macomb.
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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