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Eastern Illinois vs. No. 13 Southeast Missouri 
O'Brien Field (10,000)  •   Charleston, Ill.
October 5, 2024  •   2 pm   •   TV: ESPN+ 

GAME LINKS
EIU Game Notes  |  SEMO Notes  |  Watch ESPN+  |  Live Stats  |  Listen Panther Radio Network  

NOTES TO KNOW
• Eastern Illinois hosts No. 13 Southeast Missouri on Saturday for the Panthers 2024 homecoming contest.  This will be EIU's second game this season against a nationally ranked opponent.  The Panthers lost at home last weekend to Lindenwood dropping their Big South - OVC opener falling to 1-4 overall, 0-1 in the conference.  Southeast Missouri has won three in a row with a non-conference shutout win over Northwestern State.  The Redhawks enter at 4-1 overall, 1-0 in the conference.  

• Pierce Holley passed for 326 yards and two touchdowns on Saturday against Lindenwood marking the third time in Holley's EIU career that he has passed for 300 or more yards.  Last season Holley eclipsed the 300-yard mark in back-to-back weeks throwing for 359 against UT Martin and 346 against Southeast Missouri.  Earlier this year he became the 16th player in school history to pass for 3,000 or more yards in a career.  Holley currently ranks 12th on the EIU career list with 3,721 yards needing 99 passing yards to crack the Panthers top ten.  He has 7,898 career passing yards including his three seasons at Georgetown.

• MJ Flowers posted his second 100-yard rushing game this season finishing with 123 yards on the ground against Lindenwood.  It was the fifth time in his EIU career with a 100 or more yards including a career high 272 last season against McNeese.  Flowers ranks 25th on the EIU career rushing chart with 1,350 yards joining the 1,000 yard club in the season opener at Illinois.  Flowers is 34th in the FCS in rushing this season and second in the Big South OVC.

• Moses Alexander has been around the football all season on the defensive side of the ball.  On Saturday he picked off a pass for the lone turnover by either team in the game against Lindenwood.  It was the third turnover gained by the transfer corner from Houston to go along with his two fumble recoveries.  One of those fumble recoveries he took to the house 60-yards for a touchdown in the home win over Indiana State.  Alexander ranks second in the FCS this season in fumbles recovered and his 30 tackles rank him fourth on the team.

• Punter Jacob Horvath continues to be a weapon for the Panthers special teams as he averaged 48.4 yards per punt on Saturday against Lindenwood.  For the season Horvath ranks sixth in the FCS with a punting average of 46.8 yards per punt.  He has eight punts over 50 yards with a long of 76.  He has also pinned eight punts inside the 20-yard line.  He was the Big South OVC Special Teams Player of the Week two weeks ago.  The EIU single season punting average record is 44.6 by Kevin Cook in 2007.