The Lindenwood defense held Eastern Illinois to 263 total yards Saturday and only 86 rushing yards. (Photo by LindenwoodLions.com)
By Barry Bottino
During its current six-game losing streak, the Eastern Illinois offense has managed only eight touchdowns.
On Saturday, the defense didn’t fare much better, allowing a season high-tying point total in a 42-12 OVC-Big South Football Association loss at Lindenwood.
“We started a little slow in the first half. We had penalties and sacks, and those are drive killers,” EIU head coach Chris Wilkerson said. “We weren’t able to put the ball in the end zone. We had to settle for three.”
Over the past six games, EIU has scored one first-half touchdown.
The Panthers (3-8 overall, 2-6 OVC-Big South) compiled just 263 yards – an average of 3.8 per play – while being outrushed, 200-86. Eastern punted on six of its first nine drives.
Down 7-3 late in the second quarter, EIU punter Mason Miller had a kick blocked, which led to a one-play Lindenwood scoring drive and a 14-3 halftime advantage.
The Lions (5-6, 4-3) piled up 21 fourth-quarter points to pull away.
Eastern’s lone TD came on a 16-yard pass from quarterback Connor Wolf to wide receiver DeAirious Smith late in the third quarter. EIU kicker Nico Carrier made 25- and 26-yard field goals for the Panthers on his first two attempts of the season.
The Panther defense collected two interceptions – by cornerbacks Isaiah Houi and Moses Alexander – yet allowed Lindenwood to rush for 5.8 yards per carry and four TDs.
“We got ourselves a couple takeaways, but we didn’t get any points off of those,” Wilkerson said. “Defensively, we just wore down at the end and gave up some explosive plays.”
Lindenwood QB Nate Glantz threw for 280 yards and two touchdowns. He added 44 rushing yards and a TD.
Game changers
3:15, 3rd quarter: Rhodes rushed for a 39-yard touchdown to extend an eight-point lead to 21-6 for the Lions.
0:19, 3rd quarter: Wolf’s 16-yard pass to Smith provided EIU with its only TD of the game.
8:54, 4th quarter: Glantz’s 44-yard TD pass gave him three total touchdowns on the day.
Prime Time Panthers
Prairie State Pigskin chooses the top three Eastern Illinois players in Saturday’s game:
Smith, WR: The sixth-year player led all receivers with five catches. His day included EIU’s lone TD.
Wolf, QB: The redshirt freshman completed 17 of 29 passes and threw his team-best eighth TD of the season.
Alexander, CB: The senior grabbed his third interception of the season.
What it means
The Panthers lost their sixth game in a row and fell to 3-8 on the season.
What’s next
Eastern travels to FBS Alabama for a 1 p.m. game on Nov. 22 to end its season. The Panthers will receive a $560,000 guarantee for playing the Crimson Tide.
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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