Eastern Illinois vs. Lindenwood
O'Brien Field (10,000) • Charleston, Ill.
September 28, 2024 • 2 pm • TV: ESPN+
GAME LINKS
EIU Game Notes |
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NOTES TO KNOW
• Eastern Illinois hosts Lindenwood as the Panthers open their 29th season playing football as an Ohio Valley Conference member and second as part of the Big South OVC Football Association. EIU is 20-8 in previous conference openers including 1-1 the last two years under head coach
Chris Wilkerson. EIU enters the Big South OVC opener with a 1-3 record after falling on Saturday night to nationally ranked Illinois State in the 112th Mid-America Classic game. Lindenwood enters the conference opener also with a 1-3 record but is coming off a 64-0 win over Pioneer League member St. Thomas (Minn.).
• Punter
Jacob Horvath was named the Big South OVC Special Teams co-Player of the Week sharing the honor with Lindenwood kicker Logan Seibert. Horvath averaged 51.2 yards per punt with three of his six punts covering 50-plus yards with a long of 66. He pinned three of the six punts inside the 20-yard line giving him eight punts inside the 20 this year. His season long punt was 76 yards against Indiana State which was one of ten punts in school history covering 70 or more yards. On the season Horvath is averaging 46.4 yards per punt which ranks sixth in the FCS. EIU's single season record for punting average is 44.6 set by Kevin Cook during the 2007 season.
• Eastern Illinois defense forced two turnovers on Saturday at Illinois State giving the Panthers six turnovers gained this season. That total leads the Big South / OVC and ranks 28th in the FCS despite the Panthers playing two games against Big Ten opponents without a takeaway. Last season EIU ranked second in the FCS in turnovers gained with 25.
Kaelin Drakeford was in on both turnovers for EIU on Saturday night picking off a pass (2nd of his career) and forcing a fumble (4th of his career) which EIU recovered in the end zone. Drakeford is sixth on the EIU team with 20 tackles this season.
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MJ Flowers finished with 117 yards and one touchdown on the ground on Saturday at Illinois State. It was his fourth career 100 yard rushing game. Flowers has 255 yards rushing this season which ranks 58th in the FCS and second in the Big South / OVC. In the season opener at Illinois, Flowers became the 31st player in program history to crack the 1,000 yard rushing mark at EIU. He currently has 1,227 yards which lands him 27th on the EIU all-time list.
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Nicholas Oliveira-Chace continues to be a force on the Panthers defensive line. On Saturday he added four tackles and a half sack to his season totals. Oliveira-Chace enters the conference opener as the Big South / OVC leader in sacks with 3.5 (36th in FCS) and third in tackles for loss with five (46th in FCS). He currently ranks seventh on the Panthers team with 14 total tackles.
