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Eastern Illinois (5-3, 4-1 OVC) at Tennessee Tech (2-6, 0-5 OVC)
Tucker Stadium (16,500)   •   Cookeville, Tenn.
November 3, 2012   •  1:30 p.m.   •   TV: OVC Digital Network

THE GAME
Eastern Illinois moved into a tie for first place in the Ohio Valley Conference race with a 24-7 win over No. 18 Eastern Kentucky last weekend in Richmond, Ky.  It was the Panthers first win over a ranked opponent since October 2009.  EIU is now tied for the OVC lead at 4-1 with UT Martin and Tennessee State.  EIU does not play TSU this season and UT Martin and Tennessee State face each other in the final game of the year.

EIU's defense was the story of the game against EKU as the Panthers held the Colonels to only 81 rushing yards during the win.  Erik Lora set the OVC single season record for receptions with 93.  EIU is looking for back-to-back road wins for the first time since Oct. 24 and Oct. 31 of 2009.

Tennessee Tech is looking to snap a six game losing streak including a five game losing streak in the OVC.  The Golden Eagles have had several injuries this season including one to starting quarterback Tre' Lamb in the loss to Eastern Kentucky. 

THE SERIES
Eastern Illinois and Tennessee Tech will be meeting for the 19th time on Saturday with the Panthers holding a 12-6 series lead.  TTU has won the last two meetings with their 2010 win in Cookeville snapping a five game losing streak to EIU.  TTU won 31-20 in Charleston last year en route to TTU's first OVC title since the 1970's.  As OVC members EIU has won 12 of 16 meetings including a 6-2 record at Tucker Stadium.  EIU's last win in Cookeville was Nov. 22, 2008, a 38-20 victory.

• Artavious Dowdell was named the OVC Defensive Player of the Week as he helped spearhead the Panthers defense in the win over No. 18 Eastern Kentucky.  Dowdell finished with seven tackles, two tackles for loss and one sack.

• Artavious Dowdell moved up slightly on the career lists for sacks and tackles for loss at Eastern Kentucky.  Dowdell is 8th with 31.5 career tackles for loss and 8th with 17 career sacks.  His 4.5 sacks this season lead the OVC.

• EIU's defense limited Eastern Kentucky to only 81 yards rushing on Saturday.  It was the fourth time this season that EIU has held an opponent to less than 100 yards rushing.  The season low is 60 yards by Illinois State.

• EIU held Eastern Kentucky running back Matt Denham to less than 100 yards as the Panthers have allowed only one 100-yard individual rusher all season.  Denham finished with 95 yards, more than 25 less than his season average.

• Wide receiver Erik Lora set the OVC record for single season receptions on Saturday at Eastern Kentucky with 10 catches.  He now has 93 catches on the season passing Samford's Efrem Hill who held the record of 92 during the 2003 season.  Lora tied Hill's record with his fourth quarter touchdown and broke it on the next drive.

• With his 93 catches on the season Erik Lora moved into 25th on the FCS single season record list for catches.  Only 16 players in FCS history have ever caught 100 or more passes.  The Walter Payton Award candidate is on pace to challenge the FCS single season record of 123 catches by Terrell Hudgins of Elon in 2009.

• Erik Lora had his streak of seven straight games with 100-yards snapped at Eastern Kentucky as he finished with 97 yards on ten catches.  Lora has 1,226 receiving yards this season.  He needs 43 yards to break Roy Banks single season record of 1,269 receiving yards. 

• While Erik Lora's 93 receptions this year have broken both the OVC and EIU single season record, Lora now has 166 career receptions and is closing in on Roy Banks record for career receptions of 184.  Lora has already climbed to No. 8 on the OVC career receptions chart.

• Erik Lora moved over the 2,000 yard receiving mark for his career at Eastern Kentucky joining teammate Chris Wright in the 2,000 yard club.  Wright has 2,159 yards and ranks sixth on EIU's career list.  The pair of receivers over 2,000 yards makes EIU one of only three FCS teams with two active receivers over the 2,000 yard mark.  The other two schools are Eastern Washington and Stephen F. Austin.  Wright is currently 16th on the FCS active career leaders receiving yards list while Lora is 20th.

• Jake Walker pounded out another 100 yard day on the ground finishing with 119 yards in the win over Eastern Kentucky.  It was Walker's third straight 100-yard day and the sixth of his career.  The last running back with three straight 100-yard rushing games was Ademola Adeniji back in the 2007 season.

• Jake Walker moved his career rushing total to 1,509 yards on Saturday at Eastern Kentucky as he closes in on the Panthers career top 15.  Walker needs 25 yards to pass Ken Werner for the number 15 spot.  Werner had 1,536 yards from 1969-71 and finished his playing career as the Panthers leader in rushing yards.

• In addition to his big day on the ground, Jake Walker scored his ninth rushing touchdown of the season as he now has 19 rushing touchdowns in his career.  Walker and Erik Lora are currently tied for the team lead with 10 touchdowns.  Walker had a receiving touchdown in the season opener with Southern Illinois.

EASTERN ILLINOIS HEAD COACH DINO BABERS
A New ERA of Eastern Illinois football began on December 9, 2011 as Dino Babers was hired as the Panthers head football coach replacing 25-year veteran Bob Spoo.  Babers had been an assistant coach at EIU in 1987 as a member of Spoo's first Panthers coaching staff.  After one season as an assistant at EIU Babers moved on to coach at nine other programs, most recently as the receivers and special teams coach at Baylor.  Last season he was on an offensive staff that helped coach Robert Griffin III to the Heisman Trophy while ranking as one of the nation's most explosive offenses.  Baylor beat Washington in the Alamo Bowl as Babers coached in his 12th bowl game as a coach.  In addition to his time at Baylor, Babers has coached at UCLA, Pittsburgh, Texas A&M, Arizona, San Diego State, Purdue, Northern Arizona, UNLV, Eastern Illinois, Arizona State and Hawai'i.  He was the assistant head coach at UCLA while serving as the offensive coordinator at Texas A&M and Arizona.  Babers has coached numerous players who have played in the NFL including 27 wide receivers who have made NFL rosters.  A native of San Diego, Calif., Babers attended Hawai'i where he was a four-year starter (1979-80, 82-83) earning his degree in 1984.  He earned a master's from Arizona State in 1988.  EIU beat Southern Illinois 49-28 in Babers opener as the Panthers head coach.

TENNESSEE TECH HEAD COACH WATSON BROWN
  A veteran coach with more than 28 years of collegiate experience, Watson Brown is in his 6th season as the head coach of Tennessee Tech.  A native of Cookeville, Brown played college football at Vanderbilt before later embarking on his coaching career.  Brown is in his second stint in the Ohio Valley Conference having coached at Austin Peay in the late 1970's.  He has a 25-33 all-time OVC mark  after leading TTU to the OVC title last season and the school's first FCS playoff appearance.  His head coaching mark stands at 121-188.  He was the head coach and athletic director at UAB before taking over at TTU in 2007.  He has a 27-37 record at TTU.

SCOUTING TENNESSEE TECH
Tennessee Tech opened the season right where the Golden Eagles picked up last season winning their first two games with more than 40 points scored in each contest.  TTU lost at FBS top five Oregon the next game and is currently on a six game losing streak including an 0-5 OVC record.  Veteran quarterback Tre' Lamb was injured in the game against Eastern Kentucky and may be lost for the season.  Tennessee transfer Da'Rick Rogers has been a receiving threat with 45 catches for 716 yards and eight touchdowns.  Tra'Darius Goff and Will Johnson lead the defense with each over 65 tackles.

ON THIS DATE IN EIU HISTORY
November 3, 1928 - Eastern Illinois scored two early touchdowns en route to a 26-0 win over St. Viator College.  The game was the first of four straight shut outs by the Panthers defense as EIU completed the season with a 7-0-1 record to win the Little 19 Conference title.  EIU's lone tie was in the season opener, a 12-12 contest with Millikin as the Panthers allowed only 21 points all season.

LORA CHASING NCAA RECEIVING RECORDS
Junior wide receiver Erik Lora passed Jerry Wright (76 in 1984) for the single season receptions record with his 11 catches against Jacksonville State.  The Walter Payton Award candidate passed Samford's Efrem Hill (92 in 2003) for the OVC record with ten catches at Eastern Kentucky.  Lora did have his streak of seven straight games with 100-yards receiving snapped with 97 yards receiving at EKU. The seven games was the longest streak in the NCAA since 2000.  Earlier this season Lora broke the EIU and OVC record for single game receptions with 21 against Murray State.  He is currently ranked 25th in the FCS single season list with 93 catches.  Only 16 FCS players have ever hauled in 100 or more passes in a season.

GAROPPOLO MOVES UP RECORD BOOK
Jimmy Garoppolo moved over the 7,000 passing yard mark for his career at Eastern Kentucky.  In the coming games Garoppolo will be chasing several more moves up the EIU career record book list as well as landing in the single season top ten in several categories.  Garoppolo moved into the EIU single season top ten for passing yards against JSU and already has cracked the single season top ten for pass completions and touchdowns.  Garoppolo is poised to hit several other career milestones at Tennessee Tech.

CAREER LISTS
Total Offense... needs 87 yards for 7,000 for his career
Pass Completions... needs 12 to move into 2nd
Pass Attempts... needs 17 to move into 2nd
SINGLE SEASON LISTS
Has already cracked EIU single season Top 10 for touchdowns, pass completions, yards.
Passing Yards... needs 259 to reach 3,000 for the season

• Jimmy Garoppolo threw his 22nd touchdown of the season on Saturday at Eastern Kentucky as he moved into 6th on the EIU single season list.  Garoppolo has 56 career touchdowns and ranks third on that list behind Sean Payton and Tony Romo.

• Jimmy Garoppolo moved up to fifth on the EIU single season passing list as he now has 2,741 yards this season.  Garoppolo needs 259 yards passing to become only the fifth EIU quarterback to ever throw for 3,000 yards in a season.  Sean Payton did it three times and Tony Romo once.

• Jimmy Garoppolo needs 87 yards of total offense to reach 7,000 for his career as he ranks third on the EIU career list trailing Sean Payton and Tony Romo.  Garoppolo needs 241 yards of total offense to reach 3,000 for this season.

• Jimmy Garoppolo's touchdown pass to Erik Lora extended his current streak of throwing a touchdown pass to 23 games.  Garoppolo's last game without a touchdown pass was his start at Tennessee Tech as a freshman in 2010.

• Cameron Berra knocked home a 41-yard field goal at Eastern Kentucky on Saturday making him 7-of-7 in field goals this season.  Berra has made all four of his attempts from beyond 40 yards with a long of 44 at Illinois State.  Berra's last miss was the 2011 game at Murray State.

• With his made field goal Cameron Berra moved up to fifth on the EIU career field goals list having made 22.  He is the Panthers leader in career field goal percentage at 81.4 percent having made 22-of-27. 

• EIU welcomed back tight end Sam Hendricks on Saturday after the sophomore missed four games.  Hendricks finished with seven catches for 44 yards.  Despite missing four games this season, Hendricks is fourth on the team with 21 catches.

• Tavares Crawford picked off a pass for the second straight game with his fourth quarter interception at Eastern Kentucky.  He joins Robert Haynes for the team lead with two interceptions.  Haynes had interceptions in back-to-back games earlier this year against Western Michigan and Illinois State.

• Eastern Illinois is the only school with two Walter Payton Award candidates on its roster with junior quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and junior wide receiver Erik Lora.  The OVC as a league has four of the 20 mid-season candidates with Eastern Kentucky's Matt Denham and Murray State's Casey Brockman.

• EIU's defense picked up 12 tackles for loss and five sacks against Eastern Kentucky on Saturday.  The Panthers rank first in the OVC and 18th in the nation with 7.13 tackles for loss per game.  They are second in the OVC in sacks per game.

• Three EIU players finished with double figure tackles on Saturday at Eastern Kentucky led by Pete Houlihan and LeQuince McCall with 11 tackles.  Robert Haynes added ten to his season total as he leads EIU with 76 tackles to rank 36th in the nation.

• EIU limited EKU to only 3-of-18 on 3rd down conversions on Saturday during the Panthers win.  EIU is now second in the OVC in 3rd down defense.

• The Panthers offense scored on three of four red zone possessions on Saturday at Eastern Kentucky as the Panthers lead the OVC in red zone offense scoring 32-of-38 times this season.  30 of the 32 scores have been touchdowns with EIU averaging 4.9 points per red zone appearance.

• Eastern Illinois ran 93 plays on offense at Eastern Kentucky as the Panthers lead the nation in offensive plays per game at 90.5.  The Panthers are one of only four teams with more than 700 plays this season with EIU leading the way at 724.

• Eastern Illinois had 26 first downs at Eastern Kentucky as the Panthers rank third in the nation in first downs with 225 on the season.  EIU trails Old Dominion and Stephen F. Austin by one first down for the season while Murray State ranks fourth with 223 first downs. 

• EIU scored first to open a game for the fourth time this season as the Panthers beat No. 18 Eastern Kentucky, 24-7.  EIU is 4-0 when scoring first this season.  EIU trailed Jacksonville State 14-0 before rallying to win that contest 31-28.  It was the first time this season that EIU had been tied at the half with the score 7-7.

EIU TO PLAY TWO GAMES ON FOX COLLEGE SPORTS
EIU will played the first of two games on FOX College Sports when the Panthers beat No. 18 Eastern Kentucky, 24-7 in Richmond, Ky.  EIU will also host Southeast Missouri on Saturday, Nov. 10 on FOX College Sports with an 11 a.m. (Central) kick at O'Brien Field.