Making his first career start against Illinois State, quarterback Connor Wolf earned OVC-Big South Freshman of the Week honors after passing for an EIU freshman record 411 yards and four touchdowns. (Photo by Sandy King, EIUPanthers.com)
By Dan Verdun
Eastern Illinois head coach Chris Wilkerson outlined four goals for his team as it uses its bye week to prepare for the remainder of the season.
“We’ve got some situational things that we’ve got to improve on,” the fourth-year EIU coach said during Tuesday’s OVC-Big South Football Association media address.
Wilkerson then identified his list for both sides of the ball: tempo, two-minute drills, third-down execution and the blitz situations.
Those scenarios have all bitten the Panthers (1-2) at various times, especially in consecutive non-conference losses to Indiana State and Illinois State.
“We’re still trying to figure out who we are as a team this year,” Wilkerson said. “I think we have a much better idea of who we are and what we can be. Now we’ve got to learn from all these mistakes and lessons that we’ve had in these first three weeks.”
Wilkerson, a former EIU player and assistant coach, added that practice this off week will focus on continuing to develop fundamentals.
“We have a lot of things that we need to clean up,” he said. “We’ll go back and reteach some things and will take a deeper dive into our self-scout.”
Eastern will also begin preparations for its Sept. 27 league opener at rival Western Illinois. The Leathernecks (1-2), coached by former EIU offensive coordinator Joe Davis, travel to Eastern Washington Saturday.
Record-setting QBs
Eastern has featured a pair of record-setting quarterbacks this season.
Redshirt sophomore Cole LaCrue ran for a program QB record 193 yards in the season-opening victory against Dayton.
With LaCrue sidelined with an injury, redshirt freshman Connor Wolf took over the position last weekend against Top 10-ranked Illinois State.
Wolf passed for a freshman school record 411 yards and four touchdowns in EIU’s 42-30 loss. Wolf surpassed Jimmy Garoppolo’s 341 yards against Murray State in 2010. He was named the OVC-Big South Freshman of the Week.
“They’re both outstanding football players. They’re both competitors. They’re both winners,” Wilkerson said of LaCrue and Wolf, noting that each had led teams to high school state championships.
Wilkerson also said, “There’s going to be some (quarterback) competition there. If I had to guess, they’re both probably going to play, and maybe even some together. It’s a good problem to have.”
Punting for the Panthers
For the third time in Wilkerson’s four-year EIU tenure, his staff has found a quality punter.
In 2022, junior college transfer Trey Wilhoit averaged 44 yards per punt. He earned Stats Perform third-team All-American status and first-team All-OVC honors. Wilhoit subsequently transferred to Florida A&M, where he spent two seasons. The redshirt senior is now at FBS Florida Atlantic, where he is on the Ray Guy Award Watchlist for the nation’s top punter.
Australian Jacob Horvath arrived at EIU in 2023 and punted for the Panthers for two seasons. After averaging 44.3 yards per punt last fall, Horvath transferred to FBS North Carolina.
Enter Mason Miller, a graduate transfer from NAIA Marian University in Indiana. Through EIU’s first three games, Miller has averaged 48.4 yards a punt. He has six punts of more than 50 yards, including a 65-yarder against Illinois State.
“He’s been steady. The biggest thing is he’s been very consistent. (It’s) very rare that he has the odd drop or off punt,” Wilkerson said.
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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