Eastern Illinois (5-3, 5-0 OVC) vs. No. 1 Jacksonville State (7-1, 5-0 OVC)
O'Brien Field (10,000) • Jacksonville, Ala.
November 7, 2015 • 1 p.m. • TV: ESPN3EIU GAME NOTES | JSU GAME NOTES | LISTEN LIVE | LIVE STATS | WATCH LIVE - ESPN3 |THE GAME• Eastern Illinois remained undefeated in the Ohio Valley Conference at 5-0 as the Panthers beat Murray State 34-20 to go 5-0 in the month of October. The win set up a first place showdown with No. 1 ranked Jacksonville State this Saturday. JSU is also 5-0 one of 14 teams that are still unblemished in FCS conference action this season.
• The 5-0 start by Eastern Illinois marks the sixth time the Panthers have started OVC play with a 5-0 record. The last time was in 2013 when EIU ran the table going a perfect 8-0 in conference play.
• Eastern Illinois and Jacksonville State will play on ESPN3 as the Ohio Valley Conference Game of the Week. It is the second time this season that EIU has appeared as the OVC Game of the Week with the previous appearance a 33-28 win over Southeast Missouri on Oct. 10. This is EIU's seventh televised game this season and third on ESPN3.
• Senior
Dino Fanti had six solo tackles with four tackles for loss and two sacks in the 34-20 win over Murray State. During the game Fanti became the Panthers career leader in tackles for loss with 46 passing former EIU greats Pete Catan and Nick Ricks. Fanti has 13 tackles for loss this season which ranks 11th in the FCS and 3rd in the OVC. He now has 167 career tackles with nine sacks, five forced fumbles and five fumble recoveries.
THE SERIES• This will be the 13th meeting between Eastern Illinois and Jacksonville State with the series tied 6-6. JSU won 27-20 last season in Jacksonville State snapping a two game win streak by EIU in the series. The Panthers and Gamecocks have won the last four OVC regular season championships and nine of the 12 league titles since JSU joined the league in 2003. JSU last won at O'Brien Field in 2010. Only once in the series has a team won by more than 14 points, that was an EIU 52-14 win in 2013 in Charleston.
