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THE GAME
Eastern Illinois looks to rebound from an Ohio Valley Conference opening loss to Tennessee Tech on Saturday night. The Panthers are set to hit the road in back-to-back weeks against the OVC's two playoff teams from last year visiting Jacksonville State this week and Southeast Missouri next week.

EIU is looking to avoid a 0-2 start to the OVC season which could essentially eliminate them from the OVC title chase. EIU has had some success in recent years at Jacksonville State winning three straight on the road over the Gamecocks. The Panthers wins in 2005 and 2009 captured the OVC regular season title for EIU while the 2007 win helped lock up an FCS playoff appearance.

JSU has been the most successful team in the OVC since joining the league with 49 OVC wins since the 2003 season. JSU has made three post season appearances and is off to a 1-0 start in conference play this season following a 24-23 win over UT Martin in the opening weekend.

THE SERIES
This will be the ninth meeting between Eastern Illinois and Jacksonville State with the series tied at 4-4. The Panthers and Gamecocks have met four times in the series that have determined the OVC regular season champion. EIU has won the league title three times and JSU has won it twice since the Gamecocks entered the league in 2003. JSU won last year 28-23 in Charleston.

• Eastern Illinois was held to negative six yards rushing on Saturday against Tennessee Tech as the Panthers fell 31-20 to the Golden Eagles. EIU made a late rally but could not overcome four turnovers that were converted into 10 points. After leading 7-0 in the first quarter, EIU gave up 31 straight points to fall behind.

• Eastern Illinois game on Saturday at Jacksonville State will be available on ESPN3.com for fans to view. The game is being televised live by local station WJXS and the game will be made available via satellite feed to ESPN3.com viewers.

• Eastern Illinois will face No. 15 ranked Jacksonville State on Saturday marking the 64th time that EIU has faced a ranked FCS opponent. The Panthers have a 16-47 all-time record in those games including a 1-2 record against JSU when the Gamecocks are ranked. The last victory over a ranked opponent was the 28-20 win at JSU on Oct. 24, 2009 when JSU was ranked 12th.

• The Panthers played their second straight game without forcing a turnover as EIU is now averaging negative one turnover per game to rank 89th in the FCS. The last time EIU went back-to-back games without securing a turnover was Oct. 9 and Oct. 16, 2004 in games against Eastern Kentucky and Murray State. That is a string of 78 straight games.

• The Panthers three touchdowns against Tennessee Tech on Saturday extended their consecutive games with a touchdown streak to 20. That total ranks second in the OVC behind Jacksonville State with 53. Murray State is third on that list with 19 straight games.

• EIU had its first punt return of the season on Saturday as Pete Houlihan had a return of five yards against Tennessee Tech. EIU had been the only FCS school in the country without a punt return in its first two games of the season. With that one return EIU is now 87th in the FCS in punt returns. Four teams currently have negative return yardage this season while McNeese State is the FCS leader at 35 yards per punt return.

• Junior Artavious Dowdell added another sack to his season total on Saturday night as he now leads the Panthers with two sacks this season. Dowdell, a preseason All-OVC selection, led the Panthers with 4.5 sacks last season. He now has 9.5 sacks for his career. Dowdell needs six more sacks to catch Pierre Walters in tenth place on the Panthers career sacks list at 15.5.

• Senior Nick Martinez is ranked 12th in the nation with his two interceptions heading into the Jacksonville State game. Steve Wirkus of Dayton is the national leader with 4. Martinez is tied for the OVC lead with Corey Watson of Tennessee Tech.

• Lorence Ricks added 134 yards to his all-purpose career total on Saturday night as he now needs 773 yards to crack the Panthers career top ten in all-purpose yardage. Ricks enters the Jacksonville State game averaging 177 yards per game which is 1st in the OVC and 11th in the FCS ranks. Ricks is currently 60th in the nation in receiving yards per game at 69.6 per game while ranking 33rd in kick return yardage at 25.6 per game. Ricks did move into third on the Panthers career kick return list passing Daryl Holcombe (1986-89).

Career Kick Off Return Yards
1. Andre Raymond (2000-03).....     1968
2. Quinten Ponius (2005-08).....      1815
3. Lorence Ricks (2008-present)... 1408
4. Daryl Holcombe (1986-89)......    1379

• Cameron Berra tacked on two more extra points on Saturday against Tennessee Tech as the sophomore has now made 27 straight point after attempts. EIU went for a two-point conversion on its other touchdown and was stopped on a pass attempt. Berra still has a long way to go to challenge the school record of 73 straight made PAT's by Steve Largent from 1992-94.

• Jimmy Garoppolo added three more touchdown passes to his career total as the sophomore is closing in on cracking a Panthers career top ten list. Garoppolo needs two more touchdown passes to tie Bodie Reeder (2007-09) and Roger Haberer (1962-65) for tenth place on the EIU career charts. Garoppolo's favorite target for touchdowns has been Chris Wright who had nine TD receptions from Garoppolo.

• Chris Wright did join the Panthers career list this weekend with his second touchdown grab in the fourth quarter against Tennessee Tech. The junior wide receiver moved into a tie for 10th place on the career touchdown receptions list with 13. Wright joins Jason Cook (1988-91) and Calvin Pierce (1983-86) in that spot. Wright now has 51 career receptions for 937 yards.

• Cory Leman racked up his fourth straight game with double digit tackles as he made a team high 14 tackles against Tennessee Tech. Leman currently leads the OVC and ranks 7th in the FCS with 37 tackles. Leman has now made 256 career tackles and needs 44 more tackles this season to join the Panthers career top ten list. Donald Thomas (2004-07) and James Dorsey (1992-95) are currently tied for tenth with 300 career tackles. 116 of Leman's career tackles have been solo stops as he needs 40 more solo tackles to join Thomas in tenth on that career list.

• Eastern Illinois has now scored 20 or more points in eight straight games dating back to Panthers game at Tennessee Tech last season. It is the longest 20-plus point scoring streak for the EIU offense since the 2007 season when EIU scored 20 or more points in nine straight games.

• Eastern Illinois had 52 passing attempts on Saturday against Tennessee Tech. It was the highest passing attempt total for the Panthers since Oct. 9, 2004 when EIU had 51 passing attempts in a loss to Eastern Kentucky.

• EIU continues to be perfect in the red zone this year scoring on all seven red zone possessions. EIU has six touchdowns and one field goal in seven chances. EIU is tied with Jacksonville State for the OVC lead as JSU is 9-of-9 in the red zone.

EASTERN ILLINOIS HEAD COACH BOB SPOO
The dean of Ohio Valley Conference Coaches, Eastern Illinois head coach Bob Spoo returns to the sidelines for his 24th season on the sidelines and 25th season overall. Spoo missed the 2006 season with a medical illness. His career record is 143-124-1 at EIU including a 67-37 mark in OVC action. In November of 2010 Spoo announced that the 2011 season would be his final year of coaching ending a 25-year run as the Panthers head coach and a 50-year span of coaching at both the high school and collegiate level. Since taking over the program in 1987, Spoo has become one of the most respected coaches in the game with numerous assistants moving on to succeed at all levels of the coaching business. He was the 1995 Football Gazette I-AA Coach of the Year and runner-up for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award in 2000. In 2009 he was named OVC Coach of the Year for the third time in his career and one of five finalists for the Liberty Mutual FCS Coach of the Year. A 1960 graduate of Purdue University, Spoo has coached the Panthers to 9 NCAA FCS playoff berths and eleven Top 25 national rankings. Spoo is currently tied for fourth among longest tenured active coaches at the NCAA Division I level and is fifth all-time in FCS playoff appearances.

• 2011 marks 25th season as EIU head coach
• 2011 marks 50th season in coaching profession
(started at Fenwick HS in Chicago in 1961)
• Ranks 5th in NCAA FCS playoff appearances with 9
• Ranks 5th among active FCS coaches with FCS (only) wins
• Ranks 4th in OVC wins with 67
• OVC Coach of the Year - 2001, 2005, 2009
• Football Gazette I-AA Coach of the Year in 1995
• Runner-up for Eddie Robinson FCS Coach of the Year in 2000

JACKSONVILLE STATE HEAD COACH JACK CROWE
Jack Crowe is in his 11th season as the head coach at Jacksonville State having guided the Gamecocks to being a consistent title contender in the Ohio Valley Conference. Crowe has compiled a 63-42 record with JSU and boasts a 49-15 mark in OVC games since JSU joined the OVC in 2003. A 1970 graduate of UAB, Crowe has a career record of 91-80 which also includes head coaching stops at Arkansas and Livingston.

SCOUTING JACKSONVILLE STATE
Jacksonville State entered the season as the preseason Ohio Valley Conference favorite after posting a 6-2 record in OVC action last season. The Gamecocks are already 1-0 in OVC action this year having won on the opening weekend over UT Martin. Sophomore Coty Blanchard has taken over the quarterback duties after a season opening injury to Marques Ivory. Blanchard has passed for 452 yards while running for 102 yards. The Gamecocks strength has been its defense led Rodney Garrott who ranks 35th in the NCAA in tackles for loss with 5.

ON THIS DATE IN EIU HISTORY
September 24, 1955 - Eastern Illinois forced a safety and recovered a fumble for a touchdown as they scored nine points in the third quarter during a 15-0 win over Kalamazoo College. Howard Current recovered the fumble for EIU as the Panthers won the contest despite being out gained by the Kalamazoo offense on the day.