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Eastern Illinois (1-1, 0-0 OVC) at Illinois State (2-0, 0-0 MVFC)
Hancock Stadium (8,000)   •   Normal, Illinois
September 15, 2012   •  1 pm   •   TV: None

THE GAME
Eastern Illinois and Illinois State meet for the 101st time in the Mid-America Classic Rivarly game.  The contest is the longest running rivalry for each school and ranks among the oldest in the FCS ranks.  This will mark the second year that the two schools will play for the traveling trophy.

EIU is coming off a loss at Mid-American Conference opponent Western Michigan.  The Panthers and Broncos were tied at 14-14 in the first quarter and EIU was driving to take the lead in the second quarter before being stopped on downs.  WMU scored four times in the second quarter to break open the game.

ISU is coming off a win at Mid-American Conference opponent Eastern Michigan as the Redbirds beat an FBS opponent for the first time since 1991.  ISU has climbed in both of the FCS polls ranking 15th and 17th.

THE SERIES
Illinois State holds a 51-40-9 lead in the all-time series which was first played in 1901 with EIU winning 28-0.  EIU won last year's centennial meeting between the two schools with a 33-26 win in Bob Spoo's final season.  EIU was the last road school to win a game in the series winning 25-21 at Hancock Stadium in 2008.  This will mark the 12th time in the series history that one of the two schools has been ranked.  ISU's highest ranking when playing EIU was 7th back in 1999.  EIU's highest ranking when playing ISU was 13th back in 2002.

• Erik Lora had five catches for 115 yards at Western Michigan.  Lora becomes the first EIU wide receiver since Micah Rucker in the opening two games of 2006 to have back-to-back 100-yard receiving days.

• Erik Lora's 115 yards receiving on Saturday gave him 266 yards for the season.  His 133 yards per game rank third in the NCAA.  The 115 yards moved Lora over 1,000 yards for his EIU career as he now has 1,064.

• Erik Lora was the Panthers top receiver in terms of catches with five at Western Michigan.  He now has 18 catches for the year which ranks fourth in the NCAA in receptions per game. 

• Jake Walker scored on a 17 yard run in the first quarter at WMU.  It was Walker's first rushing touchdown of the season and the 11th of his career.  Walker had 10 rushing TD's last year including a season high three at Southern Illinois.

• Jake Walker rushed for 69 yards in the loss at Western Michigan.  Walker now has 885 career rushing yards.   He needs 115 yards to become the 25th EIU running back to pass the 1,000 yard mark for his career.  The last was Mon Williams who joined the 1,000 yard club at Illinois State in November 2010.

• Eastern Illinois played its second game this season without a field goal attempt.  The Panthers have not kicked a field goal in a game since November 5 game against Tennessee State last season. 

• Cameron Berra knocked home all three of his extra point attempts on Saturday.  The junior kicker has now made 21 straight PAT's dating back the 2011 Murray State game.  For his career Berra has made 57-of-60.

• Artavious Dowdell picked up a sack at Western Michigan on Saturday moving him into a tie for 10th on the EIU career list with 26 tackles for loss.  He joins Keith Wojnowski in 10th place.  Dowdell now has 13.5 sacks and needs two more to move into the EIU career top ten where he would tie Pierre Walters.

• Chris Wright caught a touchdown pass for the eighth straight game.  He now has 24 career touchdown receptions.  The eight straight games is the second longest streak in EIU history trailing only Roy Banks streak of 11 straight games with a touchdown between the 1984-85 seasons.  Wright's one handed grab in the end zone at Western Michigan was featured as a top five play of the week by ESPN and Comcast SportsNet.

• Chris Wright's 24 career touchdown receptions rank him 4th on the NCAA active leaders list.  Wright's 24 TD's have come on 92 receptions so the senior is averaging a touchdown caught in one out of every four receptions.  Illinois State wide receiver Tyrone Walker is 5th on the NCAA active list with 23.

• Chris Wright hauled in four passes for 38 yards on Saturday at Western Michigan.  Wright now has 1,673 career receiving yards.  He needs 27 yards receiving to crack the 1,700 yard mark for his career and move into 10th on the EIU career list passing Mike Rummell who had 1,700 yards between 1989-92.

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.

ILLINOIS STATE HEAD COACH BROCK SPACK
  Brock Spack is in his fourth year as head coach of Illinois State coaching the Redbirds to a national ranking this season.  Spack is a former assistant coach at Eastern Illinois where he and current Panthers head coach Dino Babers were on the same staff under head coach Bob Spoo.  Spack is 1-2 in previous meetings against EIU and has a 21-14 overall record.  He was an All-Big Ten linebacker for the Boilermakers in the early 1980's before embarking on a coaching career that has included stops at Eastern Illinois, Wyoming and Purdue.

SCOUTING ILLINOIS STATE
Illinois State enters the weekend ranked No. 15 in the nation following a win over FBS member Eastern Michigan.  The Redbirds like to grind out the clock as the lead the nation in time of possession at 38:14 per game.  That attack is led by running back Darrelynn Dunn who ranks sixth in the nation at 128 yards per game.  The Redbirds defense which is Coach Brock Spack's staple is ranked fourth in total defense and 20th in scoring defense.  ISU is led by Evan Frierson who is 11th in the nation in sacks per game.

ON THIS DATE IN EIU HISTORY
September 15, 2001 - Due to the tragic events that shocked the nation on September 11, Eastern Illinois and Illinois State canceled their annual contest marking only the second time since World War II that the rivalry game had not been played.  EIU would go on to post a 9-1 record in the regular season with its only loss at FBS member San Diego State.  The Panthers climbed to No. 3 in the national rankings to end the regular season.

BABERS - SPACK TIES
Eastern Illinois head coach Dino Babers and Illinois State head coach Brock Spack will be coaching against each other as head coaches for the first time this Saturday.  Both coaches fall under the coaching tree of former EIU head coach Bob Spoo with both serving as assistant coaches on Spoo's first Panthers staff in 1987.  The two coaches would later serve as assistant coaches on the staff of Jim Colletto at Purdue from 1991-93.  Babers would move on to San Diego State for the 1994 season and then to Arizona.  Spack coached the 1994 season at Purdue before going to Wyoming on Joe Tiller's staff.  He would return to serve as the Boilermakers defensive coordinator until being hired by ISU in 2009.

PLAYING FOR BOTH SIDES
Eastern Illinois senior defensive lineman Pat Wertz has the distinction of being the only currently player to play for both Illinois State and EIU in the Mid-America Classic rivarly.  Wertz began his career at ISU and transferred to EIU in 2010.  Last season Wertz played for the Panthers as a reserve defensive lineman and on special teams.

• Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo moved up to 5th place on EIU's career passing list with 225 yards at Western Michigan.  He now has 4,827 career yards.  The top four passers on EIU's career list all have more than 6,200 passing yards.

• GAROPPOLO MOVES UP RECORD BOOK
Jimmy Garoppolo moved up one more spot on the EIU career total offense list and now ranks 6th all-time at EIU.  Garoppolo needs one more pass completion to move into 6th.  In the coming games Garoppolo will be chasing several more moves up the EIU career record book list.  Garoppolo is poised to move up in several of those categories at Illinois State.

Total Offense... needs 433 yards to move into 5th
Passing Yards... needs 123 yards to reach 5,000 for his career
Passing Attempts... needs 22 to move into 5th
Pass Completions... needs 1 to move into 6th, 7 for 5th
Touchdown Passes... needs 4 to move into 4th


• EIU's defense allowed 631 yards of total offense to Western Michigan on Saturday night.  The total is the fourth highest total offense by an opponent in EIU history.  The most was by Tennessee State on Nov. 2, 2002 when the Tigers had 675 yards.

• The Panthers defense forced four more turnovers at Western Michigan as EIU moved its turnover total to ten for the season.  EIU continues to rank first in the NCAA in turnovers gained.  Last season EIU forced nine total turnovers.

• On the season EIU has forced ten turnovers.  The Panthers have been able to convert those ten turnovers into 21 total points scoring three touchdowns.  The Panthers scored on two of their six turnovers against SIU and one of four turnovers against Western Michigan.

• Eastern Illinois will be playing a ranked team for the 65th time when the Panthers face No. 15 Illinois State on Saturday.  EIU's last win over a ranked team was on Oct. 24, 2009 when the Panthers beat No. 12 Jacksonville State on the road, 28-20.  EIU went on to win the OVC regular season title that year.

• Western Michigan kicked away from return man Tavares Crawford on several occasions on Saturday night as Crawford is currently 24th in the FCS and 4th in the OVC in kick returns at 25.8 yards per return.  Pete Houlihan returned four kicks on Saturday at WMU for a 18.8 yard average and redshirt freshman Trey Pendergrass had one return for 16 yards.

• Robert Haynes picked off a pass at Western Michigan giving the Panthers their third interception of the season.  The Panthers as a defense had only four interceptions all of last year.  The back-to-back games with an interception marks the first time since the Sept. 18 (UT Martin) and Sept. 25 (Jacksonville State) games of 2010 that EIU has had back-to-back games with an interception.

• Punter Scott Weatherford had a career nine punts at Western Michigan as the junior has been on the field 15 times this season with an average of 36.9 yards per punt.  He has pinned three inside the 20 yard line with one punt of 50+ yards.

• Eastern Illinois and Illinois State will play for the 101st time this Saturday which ranks tied for 14th among rivalry games at the FCS level tied with Cornell vs. Columbia and New Hampshire vs. Maine.  The most played FCS rivalry game is Lafayette vs. Lehigh which has been played 148 times since 1884.

• Nick Beard knocked away one pass on Saturday at Western Michigan as he tied D.J. Bland for the team lead in passes defended.  Both players are currently tied for 12th in the NCAA and tied for 1st in the OVC.

• Nick Beard was one of the Panthers leaders on the defense on Saturday finishing with a team high 13 tackles.  Nine of Beard's tackles were solo stops including one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. 

• Baylor transfer LeQuince McCall has been steady for the Panthers at one of the starting linebacker spots.  McCall tied for the team lead at Western Michigan with 13 tackles.  He is currently third on the team with 17 tackles this year.

• Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo has now thrown a touchdown pass in 17 straight games.  The last time Garoppolo did not throw a TD was Oct. 16, 2010 at Tennessee Tech.

• Redshirt freshman quarterback Ben Krol saw his first action as a back-up Saturday at Western Michigan.  Krol finished his time on the field going 2-for-4 for 19 yards.

• Taylor Duncan continues to get more carries on the ground after converting to a running back during the spring.  Duncan scored his second career touchdown at Western Michigan on a six yard run.  Last season Duncan scored at Northwestern on a short run playing as a back-up quarterback.

• Converted offensive lineman Eric Luhrsen caught his first pass as a Panthers tight end at Western Michigan hauling in a four yard pass from Ben Krol. 

• The Panthers added two players to the roster late last week which both made the trip to Western Michigan.  Kicker Cody Meyer (#41) from nearby Oakland, Illinois and long snapper Dakota Melson (#61) are now both on the active roster.

• Western Michigan's 52 points on Saturday night marked the highest point total an EIU team has allowed since the Panthers lost 52-3 at Penn State in Oct. 10, 2009.

• EIU held the ball for 21:14 minutes at Western Michigan marking the teams lowest time of possession since holding the ball for 22:30 in a 2010 game against Central Arkansas.