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Eastern Illinois vs Tennessee Tech
O'Brien Field (10,000)   •   Charleston, Ill.
March 21, 2021   •  1 p.m.   •   TV: ESPN+

EIU Complete Game Notes  |  Live Stats  |  Listen Live  |  Watch on ESPN+

NOTES TO KNOW
• Superback Jay Vallie hauled in a pair of second quarter touchdown passes on Sunday at Tennessee State from quarterback Otto Kuhns.  Vallie, a graduate transfer from Dayton, made touchdown catches of four and 13 yards.  It was the second straight year that a Panther had caught a pair of touchdown passes against TSU as last season superback James Sheehan had two touchdown receptions.  Vallie has eight catches for 86 yards this season and his two touchdown receptions are 26th in the FCS.

• Freshman quarterback Otto Kuhns made his first career start on Sunday at Tennessee State becoming the first true freshman quarterback to start a game at that position since 2010 when Jimmy Garoppolo started against No. 4 ranked Jacksonville State.  In that game Garoppolo was 8-of-19 for 106 yards leaving the game with an injury on Sept. 25, 2010.  In his debut as a true freshman starter Kuhns was 19-of-30 for 145 yards with two touchdown passes.  

• Freshman defensive lineman Jordan Miles has made an impact on the Panthers front line as he finished with two tackles including a sack, tackle for loss and forced fumble on Sunday at Tennessee State.  On the season Miles leads the team with 4.5 tackles for loss and had made eight total tackles.  He has the lone sack on the Panthers roster and is one of four players with a forced fumble this season.  He ranks 36th in the FCS in tackles for loss and second in the OVC.

• Jason Johnson had big day making tackles at Tennessee State as he finished with 14 tackles (eight solo) against the Tigers.  It was his second career double figure tackles game after posting a 12 tackle day last year against Southeast Missouri.  Johnson now has 29 tackles on the year to lead EIU, that total ranks 41st in the FCS and second in the OVC.   Johnson earned All-OVC Newcomer honors last year and was the Panthers leading tackler over the final five games of 2019.

• With the 2020 schedule still underway, EIU announced this week that it will play its 2021 season opener in a Week Zero game on August 28, 2021 at Indiana State.