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Eastern Illinois (2-2, 1-0 OVC) vs. Austin Peay (0-4, 0-2 OVC)
O'Brien Field (10,000)   •   Charleston, Illinois
September 29, 2012   •  1:30 pm   •   TV: WEIU & OVCDigitalNetwork

THE GAME
Eastern Illinois is coming off of back-to-back 50 point performances and back-to-back overtime games as the Panthers host Austin Peay for Family Weekend this Saturday. 

The Panthers rank fourth nationally in passing offense, seventh in scoring offense and eighth in total offense.  EIU has scored 49 or more points in three of its contests including 99 points in two home games this season.  Erik Lora is the nation's top receiver both in terms of catches per game and receiving yards per game.  Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo is third in the nation in total offense.

Austin Peay has scored 37 total points in four games as the Governors are 0-4 entering the weekend including two OVC losses to Tennessee State and UT Martin.  APSU relies on the ground game as they rank fourth in the OVC in rushing yards.  Tailback Wesley Kitts is 20th in the nation with 105.7 yards per game.  APSU has allowed more than 30 points in four of its games this season.

THE SERIES
Eastern Illinois holds a 9-3 all-time series lead over Austin Peay as the two teams will meet for the 13th time on Saturday.   EIU is 5-1 against APSU in Ohio Valley Conference games as the Governors moved to the non-scholarship Pioneer League from 1998-2006.  The Panthers have won three straight over APSU including last year's 19-10 victory in Clarksville.

• Erik Lora was named the OVC Offensive Player of the Week following the Panthers overtime win over Murray State.  Lora caught 21 passes for 269 yards and three touchdowns.  He is the second EIU player this season to win that honor joining Jimmy Garoppolo from week one.

• Erik Lora's 21 pass receptions broke both the EIU and OVC record for receptions in a game.  Lora broke the EIU record of 15 held by Willie White in 1971 against Illinois State.  He broke the OVC record of 20 held by Harold Roberts of Austin Peay in a 1969 contest against Murray State.

• Erik Lora set the school record for receiving yards in a game with 269 breaking the previous record of 239 set by Frank Cutolo in 2001 against Tennessee State.  He becomes just the sixth EIU player with 200 or more yards receiving in a game.

• Erik Lora's 21 receptions moved him into the EIU career top ten for career receptions as he now has 121.  He reached the century mark at Illinois State last week and moved into 8th on the EIU career list against Murray State with the 21 receptions.

• Erik Lora's 269 yards against Murray State gave him four straight games with more than 100 yards receiving which sets a school record.  Lora is currently first in the nation in receptions (48) and receiving yards (647) while ranking fifth nationally in scoring and 12th nationally in all-purpose yards.

• Erik Lora's game winning two-point conversion to Von Wise in overtime was the second successful two-point conversion of the night for EIU.  Jimmy Garoppolo found Chris Wright for a two-point conversion in the fourth quarter.  EIU's last successful two-point conversion was on Sept. 25, 2010 when Brandon Large hit Lorence Ricks against Jacksonville State.

• Jake Walker rushed for 102 yards in the win over Murray State including 19 yards in the overtime period.  It was Walker's third career 100-yard game.  His career high of 124 was set last season in a win at Austin Peay. 

• Jake Walker moved over the 1,000 yard mark for his career late in the fourth quarter Saturday night as he became the 25th EIU running back to pass that milestone in his career.  Walker now has 1,026 rushing yards with 13 rushing touchdowns.

• Eastern Illinois scored on all five of its red zone possessions on Saturday night giving the Panthers 16 scores in 17 red zone appearances.  That conversion rate ranks 11th in the FCS and 1st in the OVC.  Of note is that EIU has scored a touchdown on all 16 red zone scores.  Only 12 FCS schools in the nation have scored all touchdowns in red zone points, Alabama A&M is the only other school with ten or more (12).

• Cameron Berra knocked home all four extra point attempts on Saturday extending his streak to 31 straight made PAT's dating back to the 2011 Murray State game.  Berra is 67-of-70 on PAT's for his career.

• Taylor Kerr took over punting duties on Saturday against Murray State with five punts for a 38.8 average.  Kerr's first collegiate punt was Sept. 15 at Illinois State when he had one punt for 51 yards. 

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.

AUSTIN PEAY HEAD COACH RICK CHRISTOPHEL
Rick Christophel returned to his alma mater in 2007 as the Governors returned to playing scholarship football in the Ohio Valley Conference.  APSU made an immediate splash finishing at 7-4, 5-3 in the OVC during that first season back in the league.  His career record is 18-41 including a 13-30 mark in the OVC.  Christophel graduated from APSU in 1975 and was a long time assistant coach under Watson Brown at UAB before taking over at Austin Peay.

SCOUTING AUSTIN PEAY
Austin Peay has built its program around the ability to run the ball with talented running backs.  This season is no different as the Governors are led by Wesley Kitts who is 20th in the nation at 105.7 yards per game.  The remainder of the team averages just 37 yards per game with back-up tailback Terrence Oliver averaging close to 36 of that.  Defensively APSU is led by Craig Salley with a team-high 30 tackles.  The Governors lost defensive back Antwaun Majors with a season ending injury.

ON THIS DATE IN EIU HISTORY
September 29, 1973 - Running back Nate Anderson became the second player in school history to score four touchdowns in a game as he found the end zone from 1, 2, 3 and 31 yards out during a 40-8 win over Illinois-Chicago.  Anderson scored three of his touchdowns in the first half as he finished the game with 179 yards rushing, the third highest total in school history at the time.

LORA NAMED NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Junior wide receiver Erik Lora was named the National co-Offensive Player of the Week by the Sports Network and College Sporting News.  Lora set a school and Ohio Valley Conference record with 21 catches.  He had a school record 269 yards with 172 of those coming in the first quarter on 13 catches with three touchdowns.  Lora's biggest play of the game was a two-point conversion pass to Von Wise in overtime that gave EIU a 50-49 win over Murray State.  Lora leads the nation in receptions per game and receiving yards per game.  He is 5th in scoring.

LOTS OF PLAYS
Eastern Illinois and Murray State combined to run 210 offensive plays on Saturday night smashing the previous FCS record of 196 set by Villanova and Connecticut in 1989.  The Racers ran 110 plays in the game breaking the OVC record of 106 set by EIU in their Sept. 15 game at Illinois State. 

Records For Combined Plays Run In A Game
NCAA III -214 by Gustavus Adolphus (112) vs. Bethel (102) - 11/2/1985
FCS - 210 by Eastern Illinois (100) vs. Murray State (110) - 9/22/2012
FBS - 209 by Houston (115) vs. Louisiana Tech (94) - 9/8/2012

GAROPPOLO MOVES UP RECORD BOOK
Jimmy Garoppolo passed Poke Cobb for fifth place on the EIU career total offense list on Saturday night.  Garoppolo also moved up to fourth on the career touchdown passes list with five.  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 against Austin Peay.

Passing Yards... needs 343 to reach 6,000 for his career
Pass Completions... needs 5 to move into 4th
Touchdown Passes... needs 4 to move into 3rd

• Jimmy Garoppolo threw five touchdown passes on Saturday night marking the second time this season that he has accomplished that feat, both times at home.  In EIU's two home games this year Garoppolo is 71-of-109 (65 percent) for 762 yards, ten touchdowns and no interceptions.

• Jimmy Garoppolo completed a career high 39 passes against Murray State which is the second best single game total in school history.  Sean Payton holds the school record with 40 completions against Saginaw Valley in 1985.

• As a team EIU set the school record for pass attempts in a game with 62 against Murray State.  Jimmy Garoppolo had 60 attempts, his second straight week with 60 or more throws while Chris Wright had two pass attempts.  Garoppolo set the school record with 61 passing attempts at Illinois State on Sept. 15.

• Jimmy Garoppolo threw for a career high 393 yards on Saturday which ranks as the 11th best single game total in EIU history.  It was Garoppolo's third 300-yard game this season and seventh of his career as he moved into a tie for third on the EIU list for career 300-yard games with Jeff Christensen.

• Wide receiver Chris Wright became the third EIU receiver to throw a touchdown pass this season when he connected with Erik Lora in the first quarter.  Wright joins Lora and Sam Hendricks who both threw TD passes against Southern Illinois.

• Chris Wright caught ten passes on Saturday night moving him over the 100 catch mark for his career.  Wright now has 107 career catches and needs nine more to join the EIU career top ten for receptions.

• Chris Wright moved up to 8th on the EIU career receiving yards list on Saturday night with 98 yards.  His career total is now 1,865 yards.  He needs 55 yards to move into seventh and 60 yards to move into sixth.

• EIU played only its sixth overtime game in program history on Saturday night beating Murray State, 50-49, to improve to 2-4 all-time.  EIU has played three overtime games against OVC opponents with a 2-1 record in those games.

• EIU scored 50 or more points in a game for the 27th time in program history on Saturday.  It was the third time in school history that EIU had scored 50 or more points in back-to-back games.  The two previous times were 2001 and 2002 in back-to-back games against Tennessee State and UT Martin both times.  EIU has never scored 50 or more points in three games during one entire season.

• First year player Jourdan Wickliffe made an impact on Saturday playing in the nickel and dime defensive packages.  Wickliffe, a converted wide receiver, finished with ten tackles including a forced fumble which set up EIU's second touchdown.

• Senior Greg Mahan recorded both of EIU's sacks on Saturday night against Murray State's offensive line which was rated by one magazine as the best in the OVC.  The Panthers lead the OVC in sacks this season registering 2.25 per game.

• LeQuince McCall led the Panthers defense with 12 tackles (10 solo) on Saturday marking the third straight game the Baylor transfer has finished with double digit tackles.  McCall had two pass break-ups and 1.5 tackles for loss.  He is second on the team in total tackles with 39.

• Senior Pat Wertz had 2.5 tackles for loss on Saturday as he now leads the team with five tackles for loss.  Wertz has 22 tackles for the season and is tied for the team lead with two sacks.

• Four EIU defensive players finished with double digit tackles on Saturday led by LeQuince McCall's 12 tackles.  He was joined in double digits by Jourdan Wickliffe, Robert Haynes and Pete Houlihan all with ten tackles.  Haynes is the Panthers tackles leader this year with 41.

• Both of EIU's Hawaiian players have now seen action this season as Pono Choy played in his first game of the season on Saturday.  Choy appeared on special teams.  Kamu Grugier-Hill played a more extensive roll on defense this week finishing with four tackles.

• EIU was 4-of-4 on fourth down conversions on Saturday against Murray State including two overtime fourth down runs by Jake Walker and Jimmy Garoppolo.  EIU is now 5-of-8 on fourth down this season which is 36th in the nation.

• The Panthers defense forced a turnover for the fourth straight game this year.  EIU now has 12 turnovers gained on the year which ranks fourth nationally and second in the OVC.  Southeast Missouri is the national leader with 16.  EIU has four interceptions and eight fumble recoveries this season.

EIU TO PLAY TWO GAMES ON FOX COLLEGE SPORTS
EIU will play two games on national television this season as part of the OVC's six game package on FOX College Sports.  EIU will play on the road at Eastern Kentucky on Oct. 27 and host Southeast Missouri on Nov. 10.  Both games are 11 a.m. (central) kick offs.