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MARTIN, Tenn. – With three starters out of the line-up, Eastern Illinois offense did not miss a beat as the Panthers scored 28 first quarter points to post a perfect Ohio Valley Conference record with a 70-22 victory over UT Martin.

EIU finished the regular season at 11-1, 8-0 in the OVC as the Panthers find out their post-season seed in the FCS playoffs at 10:30 a.m. (Central) on Sunday with the announcement of the 2013 field on ESPNU.

The 11 regular season wins are the most for EIU in school history.

The 70 points was the third highest total in school history behind an 82 point game against Merom Academy in 1920 and 73 points against Kentucky State in 1982. EIU racked up 704 yards of total offense the second highest total in school history.

UT Martin finished the regular season at 7-5, 5-3 in the OVC.

The Panthers took advantage of a short punt on UTM's first possession and converted when Jimmy Garoppolo hit Adam Drake for a 33-yard score. It was one of three times Garoppolo and Drake connected for scores. Drake had 14 catches for 225 yards and three scores. The 225 yards ranks as the fourth highest receiving total in school history.

"All of our guys stepped up today and made plays," said Drake following his career afternoon. "We knew Erik and Keiondre were not available so it was up to the other guys to step up. Jimmy (Garoppolo) once again threw great balls for us to catch."

Drake had all three touchdown grabs in the first quarter scoring from 33, 9 and 40 yards. Jeff LePak added three touchdown grabs with one each in the first, second and third quarters. LePak finished with seven catches for 196 yards as EIU fell four yards shy of having two 200-yard receivers.

Garoppolo finished his campaign for the Walter Payton Award with a 477 yard passing day and six touchdowns. It was the fourth best single game passing total in school history while the six touchdowns was the second highest total. Garoppolo threw seven touchdowns against Illinois State earlier this season.

"This might have been our best game of the year," head coach Dino Babers said after he became the OVC record holder for best 2-year career start in the conference with a 14-1 record. "We had already locked up the FCS playoff bid last week so our team could have lost focus. Instead they showed intensity and finished out the regular season strong."

EIU's defense was just as strong on the day limiting UTM to no first downs in the first quarter and just five rushing yards in the first half. The Skyhawks finished with 295 total yards in the game with only 47 on the ground.
Jourdan Wickliffe was the Panthers leading tackler with seven stops. LeQuince McCall had five tackles including three for loss. EIU forced five turnovers in the game.

"You have to credit the defensive line and linebackers for creating pressure and stuffing the run," Wickliffe said. "The numbers today show that all that hard work by our defense has paid off."

EIU led 47-9 at the half with two of the UTM points coming on a safety when the Panthers snapped the ball over the punters head through the end zone. The Skyhawks other first half score came on a Jeremy Butler 28-yard pass from Jarod Neal.

The Panthers ran a school record 112 plays in the game with 203 yards rushing and 501 yards passing. EIU should retain its spot as the nation's number one scoring and total offense when NCAA statistical rankings are released on Sunday morning. Shepard Little rushed for 123 yards and two touchdowns as he won the OVC rushing title with 1,309 yards, eighth best in school history.

EIU has now scored in 28 straight quarters as the Panthers won their 12th straight OVC game, posting their third perfect OVC season (2005 and 2001 the other two).