Eastern Illinois (0-3) at Murray State (0-3)
Stewart Stadium (16,800) • Murray, Ky.
September 24, 2022 • 4 p.m. • TV: ESPN+
EIU Game Notes | MUR Game Notes | Listen Live | Live Stats | Watch on ESPN+
NOTES TO KNOW
• Eastern Illinois and Murray State prepare to open the Ohio Valley Conference portion of the schedule against each other on Saturday night. Both teams enter at 0-3 season on the year with EIU coming off a 35-7 loss at Illinois State in the 110th Mid-America Classic. Murray State is coming off a 31-0 loss at Ball State. This will be the final time the two schools will meet as Ohio Valley Conference foes with Murray State moving to the Missouri Valley Football Conference next season.
• Eastern Illinois prepares to open its 27th season as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference. The Panthers are 19-7 all-time in OVC openers including a 28-14 win at Tennessee Tech last season to open conference play. Last year's OVC opening win snapped a three game losing streak in conference openers. Prior to that EIU had reeled off six straight wins to open OVC play from 2012-17. This will be only the second time that EIU and Murray State have faced each other to open OVC play. EIU beat Murray State 50-49 in overtime to open the 2012 OVC season.
• Punter
Trey Wilhoit was named the Ohio Valley Conference Special Teams Player of the Week following his efforts against Illinois State in the Mid-America Classic. Wilhoit punted six times for an average of 44.8 yards per punt. He had two punts over 50 yards with a long of 56 yards with two punts pinned inside the 20-yard line. For the season Wilhoit ranks fourth in the FCS in punting average at 46.1 yards per punt. He is the second EIU player to win OVC Special Teams Player of the Week honors joining kicker
Stone Galloway who won after week one.
• Eastern Illinois had a pair of interceptions on Saturday against Illinois State with
Elijawah Tolbert and
Tyris Harvey both coming up with picks. EIU now has three interceptions this season which ranks second in the OVC. It was Tolbert's first career interception while it was the second career pick for Harvey who last season returned an interception 29 yards for a score at Austin Peay.
•
DeWayne Cooks Jr. hauled in an 11-yard touchdown in the first quarter against Illinois State to become the sixth different EIU wide receiver with a touchdown reception this season. Cooks is third on the team with eight receptions for 83 yards. It was his third career touchdown catch.
