Eastern Illinois vs. UT Martin
O'Brien Field (10,000)  •   Charleston, Ill
November 1, 2025  •   2 pm   •   TV: ESPN+ 

GAME LINKS
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NOTES TO KNOW
• Eastern Illinois returns home following back-to-back road games as the Panthers host UT Martin for Family Weekend on the Charleston campus.  EIU is looking to snap a three-game losing skid as they lost at home to Gardner-Webb and then suffered tough road losses at Southeast Missouri and Charleston Southern.  The Panthers enter the month of November at 3-5 overall, 2-3 in the OVC-Big South.  EIU hosts a UT Martin team still in the hunt for the OVC-Big South title at 3-5 overall, 3-1 in the conference.  The Skyhawks have won or shared four straight conference titles advancing to the second round of the FCS playoffs last season.

• Eastern Illinois and UT Martin will battle for time of possession on Saturday as the two schools rank among the nation's leaders in time of possession.  The Skyhawks are currently fifth in the FCS in time of possession and first in the OVC-Big South at 33:33 per game.  The Panthers have been among the FCS leaders all season and currently rank sixth at 33:17 per game.  On the season EIU has had the ball for more than its opponents in six of eight games this year including a 40:17 minute time of possession in the home opening win over Dayton.  The Panthers held the ball for 39:48 in another home win over Tennessee State.  

• Sophomore corner Isaiah Houi finished with seven solo tackles on Saturday at Charleston Southern while adding two pass break-ups to his season total.  Houi now has nine pass break-ups this season which ranks him 21st in the FCS and first in the OVC-Big South.  He needs one more pass break-up to crack the EIU single season top ten for pass break-ups.  The EIU single season record is 18 set by Russell Dandy in 2023.  Last season Houi became a regular in the defensive secondary late in the season finishing the year as the team leader with seven pass break-ups.  

• Punter Mason Miller continues to hover around the FCS leaders in punting average as the graduate transfer had three punts at Charleston Southern over the weekend for an average of 53.7 yards per punt with a long of 64 yards.  Miller is currently third in the FCS in punting average at 48.2 yards per punt with 15 of his 35 punts traveling 50 or more yards and 14 landing inside the opponents 20-yard line.  Miller is chasing the EIU single season punting average record of 44.6 set by Kevin Cook during the 2007 season.  He is on pace to become the fourth punter in school history to average 44 yards or better for the season.