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CHARLESTON, Ill. – Eastern Illinois held the lead until early in the 4th quarter on Saturday afternoon but could not pull off the upset bid as No. 16 UT Martin scored twice in the final quarter to escape with a 28-17 win over the Panthers.
 
EIU fell to 1-6 overall and is now 1-1 in the OVC.  UT Martin improved to 5-1 overall and is now the only unbeaten team in the OVC with a 2-0 mark.
 
UT Martin jumped on the board first as the Skyhawks blocked a punt on a windy day at O'Brien Field with D'Carrious Stephens scooping up the loose football and returning it 34-yards for the score with 5:36 to play in the first half.
 
EIU's offense was unfazed by that play as they responded with a 33-yard Stone Galloway field goal on the next drive to cut the lead to 7-3 with 3:24 to play in the first.
 
The Panthers defense forced the issue on the next possession recovering a Skyhawks fumble.  Michael Young Jr., had the recovery for EIU putting the Panthers in business at the UTM 31 yard line.  Otto Kuhns cashed that turnover in six plays later to give EIU a 10-7 lead early in the second quarter.
 
Kuhns would connect with DeAirious Smith midway through the second quarter for a 6-yard touchdown pass as EIU jumped out to a 17-7 lead.   
 
UT Martin cut the margin to a field goal just before the half as Zak Wallace had a 3-yard touchdown run with 1:37 left in the half.  Wallace had 125 yards and two touchdowns on the day.  His second score would come with 2:35 left in the game pushing the Skyhawks lead out to 28-17.
 
In the third quarter UTM was able to hold EIU to just six offensive snaps as the Skyhawks held the ball for nearly 13 minutes in the quarter.  Howard would connect with Donnell Williams to cap an 11 play drive just a minute into the fourth quarter giving UTM a 21-17 lead. 
 
The Skyhawks defense was able to slow down EIU's offense in the second half.  Harrison Bey-Buie led EIU with 99 yards on the ground with 90 of them in the first half.  Kuhns passed for 145 yards going 13-of-29.
 
Jason Johnson was active once again on defense finishing with 14 tackles including nine solo stops and a half-tackle for loss.  It was his third straight double figure tackle game.  Tim Varga had eight tackles and combined with Colin Bohanek on a sack.  Bohanek had a eight tackles, two tackles for loss and a forced fumble.
 
John Ford led the Skyhawks defense with 12 tackles.