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CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois fell one play and one point short on Saturday afternoon as the Panthers dropped a 24-23 decision to UT Martin on EIU's homecoming contest at O'Brien Field.

Trailing by a point with 1:54 remaining in the game and facing a fourth and two situation from its own 41 yard line, Jimmy Garoppolo found Chris Wright for a 49-yard strike to put the ball at the UTM 10 yard line.  However the gain was wiped out by a holding penalty and EIU faced a fourth and 12.  Jarvis McCann sacked Garoppolo and the Skyhawks took over to run the clock out.

EIU held the nation's second highest scoring offense to half of their season average, out gained UTM by 11 yards and dominated time of possession by 15 minutes.  Despite all those things in the Panthers favor three big special teams plays helped shape the final result and send EIU to 1-7 on the year, 0-6 in the OVC.

Garoppolo hooked up with Von Wise on a 14-yard pass with 10:06 to play in the third quarter as EIU took the lead 13-10 after trailing 10-7 at the half.  A mishandled snap resulted in a failed extra point.

The Skyhawks then took a 17-13 lead on a 1-yard rush by Tevin Barksdale with 5:08 left in the third.  UT Martin took over at the Panthers 25-yard line following a blocked punt.  Barksdale covered all 25 yards of the drive on the ground as he finished with 38 yards rushing.  Jason McNair led UTM on the ground with 111 yards.

Eastern Illinois responded from that score with a long drive of its own as Garoppolo found Sam Hendricks on a 12-yard touchdown pass.  Garoppolo had three touchdowns on the day as he moved into seventh on the Panthers career touchdown passes list.  He was 27-of-36 on the afternoon for 294 yards.  Hendricks put the Panthers up 20-17 with 13:22 left in the game as the tight end caught five passes for 42 yards.

Corey Jordan ripped off a 50-yard kick off return on the next play to set up the Skyhawks at the EIU 26 yard line.  Derek Carr hit Quentin Sims for his second touchdown reception of the game with 11:02 left to put UTM up 24-20.  Carr was 12-of-21 for 124 yards.

Cameron Berra would knock home a 24-yard field goal for EIU with 7:56 remaining to make it a one-point game.

UTM improved to 4-3 overall, 3-2 in the OVC as the Skyhawks defense limited EIU to negative five yards rushing.  Montori Hughes led UTM's defense with 10 tackles including 5.5 tackles for loss.  The negative five yards rushing is the third worst rushing performance for EIU in school history and the second time this season that EIU has finished a game with negative rushing yards.

The Panthers defense had an inspired effort led by Cory Leman with eight tackles.  Artavious Dowdell had two tackles for loss including a sack.  It was only the third time this season that an opponent had sacked a UTM quarterback.

Garoppolo's touchdown pass to Wright in the first quarter was the 18th career touchdown reception for the junior as he tied Ryan Voss for 8th on the Panthers career list.  Wright had five receptions for 65 yards.  Kenny Whittaker hauled in seven passes for 56 yards.

EIU returns to action next Saturday with a 4 p.m. game at Austin Peay.