Photo Galley (by Sandy King)

Eastern Illinois offensive unit opened with scores on two first quarter drives before the Panthers defensive unit took control of the remainder of the 2026 EIU Football Spring Game posting a 41-28 win over the offense on Saturday at O'Brien Field.
 
In the simulated scoring system that rewarded normal offensive plays along with points for big offensive & defensive plays and turnovers gained – it also penalized teams with points taken away for penalties.
 
Transfer quarterback Jeremiah Salem set the Panthers offense up on its first drive with a long pass connection with Landers Green.  The offense then pushed across for a short Charles Kellom touchdown run.  Kellom was one of two Panthers named team captains following the spring game joining linebacker Ja'Wuan Nickson.
 
The defense turned in a pair of turnovers on the next two offensive possessions with Trevon Piggie recovering a fumble and Josh Brown picking off a pass.  Those were four of the turnovers gained by the defense in the game.  Maximo Vaughn recovered a fumble in the second quarter and Carmine Ficher picked off a pass in the second half.
 
EIU's other offensive touchdown came late in the first quarter with Cole LaCrue hitting Eli Evans for a 42-yard touchdown pass.  The final offensive score was a short Drew Schiller field goal late in the third quarter.
 
"This is the culmination of a long spring with 15 hard practices against each other and our focus was to improve with each practice as we continue to build," said head coach Chris Wilkerson.  "We took steps in the right direction of improvement with our defense probably a little farther along than our offense right now."
 
EIU opens the 2026 season with an FCS Week Zero game on August 27 at Murray State before a game at Big Ten member Minnesota the following week.  The Panthers home opener at O'Brien Field is set for Saturday, Sept. 12 against Indiana State.