EIU - UTM GAME INFORMATION
No. 13 Eastern Illinois (7-2, 5-1 OVC)
vs. UT Martin (4-5, 3-3 OVC)
O'Brien Field (10,000) • Charleston, Ill.
November 14, 2009 • 1:30 p.m. • TV: WEIU-TV
THE GAME
Eastern Illinois will close out the regular season with back-to-back home games against UT Martin and Tennessee State. A win in either contest would assure the Panthers of at-least a share of the Ohio Valley Conference title. EIU enters the contest following a bye week after winning back-to-back road games at Jacksonville State and Murray State.
EIU is 5-1 in the OVC race with a half-game lead over Eastern Kentucky in the OVC standings. The Colonels are 5-2 and end the regular-season at Jacksonville State on Nov. 21. EIU is 2-1 at home this season and is 6-1 in November regular-season games since the 2005 season.
UT Martin has won two straight OVC contests sandwiched around a bye week on Oct. 31. The Skyhawks have improved to 4-5 overall, 3-3 in the OVC race. UT Martin was predicted by some preseason polls to win the OVC title and is one of five teams still mathematically alive to win at least a share of the conference title.
THE SERIES
This will be 15th meeting between Eastern Illinois and UT Martin. The Panthers lead the all-time series 11-3 but the two schools have split the last six meetings with each team winning at their home field. Last season UT Martin picked up a 29-26 victory over the Panthers in Martin after EIU had won a 29-23 homecoming contest against the Skyhawks in 2007. Prior to the last six seasons, EIU had dominated the series winning the first eight games by an average of 27 points.
