Eastern Illinois punter Mason Miller ranks fourth in FCS with a 47.69 yards per kick average. Miller led the NAIA last season at Marian (Ind.) University. (Photo by Sandy King, EIUPanthers.com)
By Dan Verdun
How impressive has Eastern Illinois punter Mason Miller been this year?
Without being prompted, Charleston Southern head coach Gabe Giardina shared his reaction to Miller on this week’s OVC-Big South Football Association Zoom call.
“Can I say this? The punter is incredible! That guy is killing the ball,” Gardina said. “The ball jumps off his foot and he jumps off the tape.”
Giardina will get a first-hand look Saturday when EIU (3-4, 2-2) plays at Charleston Southern (2-6, 1-3).
Eastern head coach Chris Wilkerson said consistency has been Miller’s biggest attribute.
“He’s showed up every single day. He’s continued to make plays. He’s continued to improve,” Wilkerson said. “Certainly, the distance (on his punts) is good, but the hang time has really allowed us to attempt to cover kicks.”
Miller attributes that consistency to his kicking coach at Marian (Ind.) University, where he was an NAIA All-American. The 6-foot, 185-pound Miller entered the transfer portal last winter and posted videos on social media.
“Eastern was really the only school that was consistent in that process,” Miller told Prairie State Pigskin. “That’s how I ended up here.”
Through seven games, Miller has punted 32 times for a 47.69 per kick average, fourth best in FCS. He has produced 13 punts over 50 yards and placed 12 kicks inside the opponents’ 20-yard line. His longest punt is 65 yards.
Libertyville native Kevin Cook, who prepped at Carmel Catholic High School, set the EIU single-season record (44.6) in 2007.
Miller said he had “no clue” about the record.
“I’ve just got to keep doing what I’m doing,” Miller said.
A deeper dive
Digging deeper, Cook averaged 45.4 yards per kick through the first seven games of the 2007 season. The freshman punted nine more times that fall, the last coming on Nov. 10 at Jacksonville State, where he sustained a right knee injury and missed the remainder of the season.
Cook’s last two games – in Nashville and Jacksonville – were both played in mild, 62-degree weather, according to the box scores. After Saturday’s game in South Carolina, Miller will play two more home games as well as road contests at Lindenwood (St. Charles, Mo.) and FBS Alabama (Tuscaloosa).
“Weather definitely is a big factor, especially in the kicking game,” Miller said. “Not so much coldness, but wind is obviously the biggest thing. I know that’s going to start picking up here, but that’s where I resort back to my fundamentals and what my coaches have taught me.”
Miller ranks second in the OVC-Big South. Brady Braun of Gardner-Webb leads the nation with a 49.61 average.
Though the two played high school sports just a short distance from each other – Braun at Bishop Chartard in Indianapolis and Miller at suburban Avon – the punters had never met until after the GWU-EIU game Oct. 11 in Charleston.
“We did have a postgame conversation,” Miller said. “We had a lot of mutual (acquaintances), but I had no clue who he was. A lot of my teammates at Marian actually knew him.”
Parental Influence
Miller played football, basketball and baseball in high school.
“I started out as a quarterback,” he said. “My best friend, who is now at Miami of Ohio (Henry Hesson), ended up beating me out senior year. When that happened, I thought about quitting football.”
His parents thwarted that notion.
“They were like, ‘No, we’re not letting you quit. You’ve got to find a way,’” he said.
Miller said that he “just picked up a football and started kicking it and happened to be decent at it.”
Last year’s chaotic finish
Eastern slipped past CSU, 16-13, in overtime in the Panthers’ final game at O’Brien Field a year ago.
The game featured one of the wildest finishes many have ever witnessed. CSU appeared to have been given a huge break when EIU’s snap on a field goal attempt sailed over the holder’s head. However, a Buccaneer illegally kicked the ball to advance the errant snap, drawing a penalty.
“I remember us going a little World Cup (soccer) at the end there, kicking the football,” Giardina said.
The flag gave the Panthers a first down inside the CSU 10-yard line. EIU kicker Julian Patino won the game with an 18-yard field goal.
“Last year, it was a knock-down, drag-out weird ending (with) some random rule,” Wilkerson said.
“Not particularly fond memories, but a learning moment for us,” Giardina said.
This week’s opponent
Charleston Southern broke a 13-game OVC-Big South losing streak with a 29-24 road win at Western Illinois last weekend.
Quarterback Zolten Osborne was named the OVC-Big South Offensive Player of the Week after throwing four touchdown passes – two in the fourth quarter – against the Leathernecks. Osborne has passed for 1,213 yards and seven touchdowns this season.
Buccaneer running back Ke’Marion Baldwin tops the team with 526 yards and six touchdowns. Wide receiver Rashawn Cunningham has 16 catches and four touchdowns.
Meanwhile, linebacker Steve Zayachkowsky was chosen as the OVC-Big South Defensive Player of the Week after the win at WIU. He leads the conference with 77 tackles.
Linebacker Justin Waters ranks second on the team with 59 tackles and has created an FCS-high seven forced fumbles this season.
Kickoff: 1 p.m.; TV: ESPN-Plus; Radio: WEIU.net/hitmix
Key matchup to watch
EIU offense vs. CSU defense
Eastern Illinois turned the ball over six times in last week’s 42-13 loss at Southeast Missouri.
“Disappointed, frustrated, upset with the way we started the football game as a team,” Wilkerson said. “It’s really inexcusable at this time – week eight, game seven – to turn the ball over six times and give up the number of massive big plays that we did.”
The last time EIU turned the ball over six or more times occurred in a 42-26 loss at Austin Peay Nov. 5, 2021. Eastern led 10-0 before six interceptions – four by Zach Weir and two by Otto Kuhns – doomed the Panthers.
What’s at stake
A win would snap a two-game EIU losing streak and put the Panthers back over the .500 mark in OVC-Big South games.
Quick hits
Eastern redshirt freshman quarterback Connor Wolf has been plagued by sore ribs the past two games. Wolf left the Oct. 11 homecoming game with Gardner-Webb and did the same after starting last week against Southeast Missouri. His status is “day-to-day,” according to Wilkerson, heading into Saturday’s game. Redshirt sophomore Cole LaCrue, part of the Panthers’ two-QB system, could get his first starting nod since Sept. 6 at Indiana State. If Wolf is unavailable, true freshman Brady Ford — who saw his first game action last week — would be LaCrue’s backup. … This will be the second all-time meeting between EIU and CSU. … Wilkerson lauded the punt coverage by redshirt sophomore Christopher Sharp. “He’s done a really nice job getting downfield and trying to make some plays and force some disruptions,” Wilkerson said. … While Eastern had three takeaways against SEMO, the Panthers only generated three points as a result.
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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