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Eastern Illinois (1-3, 0-2 OVC) vs. Southeast Missouri (0-3, 0-1 OVC)
Houck Stadium (10,000) • Cape Girardeau, Mo.
October 1, 2011 • 6 pm • TV: None

THE GAME
In a meeting of the last two regular season Ohio Valley Conference champions, Saturday night's contest between Eastern Illinois and Southeast Missouri will have both teams searching for their first OVC win. EIU won the OVC title in 2009, its fifth OVC crown since 2000. SEMO broke through and won its first OVC title last year with a 7-1 record.

The Panthers come into the game off the heals of a second straight OVC loss, falling 28-21 at Jacksonville State. The loss dropped EIU to 1-3 on the season and 0-2 on the year. The Panthers most likely have to win out in order to have hopes of securing a 14th NCAA FCS appearance.

The Redhawks lost 14 starters from last year's NCAA playoff team and have shown signs of that youth with an 0-3 start. SEMO rallied to tie Tennessee Tech in last week's game in Cookeville, Tenn., but TTU scored with 2:38 remaining to win 38-31.

THE SERIES
This will be the 19th meeting between Eastern Illinois and Southeast Missouri. The Panthers hold a 13-5 series advantage including a 6-3 record at Houck Stadium in Cape Girardeau. SEMO won last year's meeting 28-13 in Charleston snapping a six game win streak by EIU in the series. The only back-to-back wins by the Redhawks in the series date back to 1956 and 1957.

• Eastern Illinois had a pass picked off with 2:09 left in the fourth quarter that ended any hopes of a Panthers rally during a 28-21 loss to Jacksonville State. EIU was able to rush the ball for 107 yards on the ground but JSU picked up 294 behind a tandem of running backs. It marked EIU's first loss at Jacksonville State since the 2003 season.

• Jake Walker returned to the Panthers line-up on Saturday and turned in the best individual rushing effort of the year for EIU. Walker finished with a career high 88 yards on 19 carries including a touchdown. Walker has 107 yards on the season after getting injured in the opener versus Illinois State and having just one carry against Tennessee Tech. EIU has not had a 100-yard rusher in a game since Jimmy Potempa had 101 yards against Jacksonville State on Sept. 25, 2010.

• Chris Wright added another touchdown reception to his career total as he hauled in a 47-yard pass from Jimmy Garoppolo in the third quarter. It was Wright's four touchdown reception this year and 14th of his career. Wright now sits in 10th place on the EIU career list by himself after previously being tied with Jason Cook (1988-91) and Calvin Pierce (1983-86) with 13 touchdown receptions. Wright needs two more touchdown receptions for catch Frank Cutolo (1998-2001) for 9th place.

• On that same touchdown grab by Chris Wright, sophomore quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo moved into the Panthers career top ten for touchdown passes. Garoppolo now has 23 career touchdown passes as he is tied with Bodie Reeder (2007-09) and Roger Haberer (1962-65) on that list. Garoppolo needs one more touchdown pass to move into a tie for 9th with Pete Mauch (1992-95). Garoppolo has nine touchdown passes this season which is tied for 7th in the FCS ranks. His 1,028 passing yards ranks 15th among FCS quarterbacks.

• Junior wide receiver Kenny Whittaker had nine catches for 53 yards on Saturday at Jacksonville State to move his season total to 21 receptions. He currently ranks 40th in the FCS in total receptions this season and is 53rd in receptions per game. Whittaker needs 23 more receptions to catch Mike Rummell (1989-92) for 10th on the EIU career receptions list at 115.

• Nick Beard had a team high 10 tackles on Saturday at Jacksonville State. It was a career high for the redshirt sophomore who now ranks third on the Panthers team with 29 total tackles. He is second on the team with 21 solo tackles. Beard became the fourth player to record a double digit tackles game this season and the third different player to lead EIU in tackles for a game. Cory Leman has led the team in two games while Antonio Taylor had a team season high 14 tackles to lead EIU at Northwestern.

• Chris Wright and Kenny Whittaker became the two newest members of the 1,000 yard receiving club on Saturday night at Jacksonville State. Wright now has 1,008 yards after catching three passes for 71 yards. Whittaker ended his night at JSU with exactly 1,000 yards. The Panthers now have three 1,000 yard receivers on the roster as Lorence Ricks has 1,042 career yards.

...Lorence Ricks 69 receptions for 1,042 yards (15.1 yds per catch)
...Chris Wright 54 receptions for 1,008 yards (19.6 yds per catch)
...Kenny Whittaker 92 receptions for 1,000 yards (10.8 yds per catch)

• Cameron Berra tacked on three more extra points on Saturday at Jacksonville State as the sophomore has now made 30 straight point after attempts. Berra did miss a 27-yard field goal attempts in the second quarter which was only the fourth miss of his EIU career and second from inside 30-yards. Berra still has a long way to go to challenge the school record of 73 straight made PAT's by Steve Largent from 1992-94.

• Eastern Illinois has now scored 20 or more points in nine straight games dating back to Panthers game at Tennessee Tech in 2010. It matches the longest 20-plus point scoring streak for the EIU offense since the 2007 season when EIU scored 20 or more points in nine straight games.

• Eastern Illinois took the round about way to get home from Jacksonville State on Saturday night as the charter flight back home was diverted to Rockford, Illinois based on heavy fog. Following a four-hour stay in the airport, EIU was able to bus back home arriving in Charleston just after 9 a.m. This is not the first time EIU has had this happen as they were also diverted on a return trip home in 1990 from Northwestern (La.) State. EIU had won that game 23-22 but then lost a home contest to McNeese State the following Saturday. EIU was 5-6 in 1990.

• Sophomore Tavares Crawford stepped in to return kicks for the injured Lorence Ricks on Saturday at Jacksonville State and the Panthers may have found their kick returner of the future. Crawford had four kick returns for a 104 yards to average 26 yards per return. His long kick return was 29 yards. Crawford had one earlier return this season at Northwestern and is now averaging 24.4 yards per return to rank 50th in the FCS and 6th in the OVC. Ricks is currently 35th in the FCS and 4th in the OVC averaging 25.6 yards per return. As a team EIU is first in the OVC in kick off return average and 24th nationally.

• Eastern Illinois defense forced two turnovers on Saturday at Jacksonville State as the Panthers increased their turnover number to six for the season (4 fumbles and 2 interceptions). Antonio Taylor, Gordy Kickels and Tavares Crawford were credited with the forced fumbles while Taylor and Pat Wertz recovered the two loose balls on the ground. EIU has now forced 174 fumbles since the 2005 season recovering 95 of them for a 54 percent recovery rate.

• Artavious Dowdell picked up 1.5 tackles for loss at Jacksonville State on Saturday as the junior should be making a run at the EIU career top ten in the coming weeks. Dowdell now has 20 tackles for loss resulting in 98 lost yards. He needs six more tackles for loss to catch Keith Wojnowski (1980-82) for tenth on the career list with 26. Pete Catan (1976-80) is EIU's career leader with 45 tackles for loss.

• Eastern Illinois put up 100 yards rushing on the ground at Jacksonville State to mark only the second time this season that EIU has rushed for more than 100 yards in a game as a team. The Panthers have 296 yards rushing on the ground this year to rank 108th in the FCS. EIU is one of nine FCS teams that have not cracked the 300 yard rushing mark for the season with four games played. Of those nine schools EIU is one of three that do rank among the FCS Top 25 in passing yards (Idaho State is 2nd, Eastern Washington is 5th and EIU is 25th).

• Eastern Illinois has played the toughest schedule in the Ohio Valley Conference to open the season as the Panthers currently rank 40th among FCS schools in strength of schedule. Rhode Island is the national leader in strength of schedule followed by Villanova, Western Carolina and Maine. EIU's opponent this week, Southeast Missouri, is second in the OVC in strength of schedule ranked 42nd in the FCS.

• The start of the month of October has not been kind to the Panthers in recent years as EIU has lost the first game of October in each of the last four seasons. The last EIU win to open the month of October was in 2006 when EIU beat Southeast Missouri 21-0. This will be the seventh time that EIU has played SEMO to open October play. EIU is 4-2 in the previous six meetings.

• Sophomore punter Scott Weatherford continues to rank in the FCS top 40 for punting as he averages 40.4 yards per punt. Weatherford has pinned seven out of 19 punts inside the 20 yards line and has two punts over 50 yards. As a team EIU is allowing just over seven yards per punt return to rank 85th in the FCS in net punting.

• Senior Cory Leman added eight tackles to his career total on Saturday at Jacksonville State. Leman now has 264 career stops as he is chasing the Panthers career top ten this season. Leman needs 36 more tackles to tie Donald Thomas (2004-07) and Jason Dorsey (1992-95) for 10th on the career list with 300 tackles. Leman has also made 120 solo tackles and needs 36 more solo tackles to catch Thomas for 10th on the career solo tackles list. Leman is currently 14th in the FCS and 2nd in the OVC in tackles per game. Blake Peiffer of Southeast Missouri is the OVC leader in tackles per game at 12.33.

 EASTERN ILLINOIS HEAD COACH BOB SPOO
The dean of Ohio Valley Conference Coaches, Eastern Illinois head coach Bob Spoo returns to the sidelines for his 24th season on the sidelines and 25th season overall. Spoo missed the 2006 season with a medical illness. His career record is 143-125-1 at EIU including a 67-38 mark in OVC action. In November of 2010 Spoo announced that the 2011 season would be his final year of coaching ending a 25-year run as the Panthers head coach and a 50-year span of coaching at both the high school and collegiate level. Since taking over the program in 1987, Spoo has become one of the most respected coaches in the game with numerous assistants moving on to succeed at all levels of the coaching business. He was the 1995 Football Gazette I-AA Coach of the Year and runner-up for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award in 2000. In 2009 he was named OVC Coach of the Year for the third time in his career and one of five finalists for the Liberty Mutual FCS Coach of the Year. A 1960 graduate of Purdue University, Spoo has coached the Panthers to 9 NCAA FCS playoff berths and eleven Top 25 national rankings. Spoo is currently tied for fourth among longest tenured active coaches at the NCAA Division I level and is fifth all-time in FCS playoff appearances.

• 2011 marks 25th season as EIU head coach
• 2011 marks 50th season in coaching profession
(started at Fenwick HS in Chicago in 1961)
• Ranks 5th in NCAA FCS playoff appearances with 9
• Ranks 5th among active FCS coaches with FCS (only) wins
• Ranks 4th in OVC wins with 67
• OVC Coach of the Year - 2001, 2005, 2009
• Football Gazette I-AA Coach of the Year in 1995
• Runner-up for Eddie Robinson FCS Coach of the Year in 2000

SOUTHEAST MISSOURI HEAD COACH TONY SAMUEL
Tony Samuel turned around the Southeast Missouri program in 2010 as the Redhawks went 9-3, 7-1 in the OVC. Samuel was named the Eddie Robinson FCS National Coach of the Year as SEMO lost to eventual national champion Eastern Washington in the NCAA FCS playoffs. Samuel has compiled a 22-38 record during his six years leading the SEMO program including a 13-27 record in OVC play. A former head coach at New Mexico State, Samuel's career record is 56-95.

SCOUTING SOUTHEAST MISSOURI
Southeast Missouri is the defending Ohio Valley Conference champion as the Redhawks made their first FCS playoff appearance in 2010. This season SEMO is off to a 0-3 start including a 38-31 loss at Tennessee Tech to open the OVC season last week. Quarterback Matt Scheible is one of the few offensive pieces returning from last year's championship squad as he leads the team in rushing at 194 yards and has passed for 380. Blake Peiffer leads the defense with 37 tackles.

ON THIS DATE IN EIU HISTORY
October 1, 1927 - Under head coach Charles Lantz, Eastern Illinois put together a string of seven straight seasons in which they picked up a shut out win over rival Illinois State. The 1927 contest was in the middle of that seven year run with the Panthers picking up a 6-0 win over the Redbirds in Normal. During the seven year run between 1924 and 1930, EIU out scored ISU 97-0.