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Eastern Illinois (7-4, 6-1 OVC) at South Dakota State (8-3, 6-2 MVFC)
Coughlin Alumni Stadium (16,000)   •   Brookings, S.D.
November 24, 2012   •  2 p.m.   •   TV: ESPN3

THE GAME
Eastern Illinois will be making its 14th FCS playoff appearance and first since the 2009 season when the Panthers travel to South Dakota State for a first round playoff contest.  EIU enters as the champion of the Ohio Valley Conference having won four of its last five games.  The Panthers fell at No. 10 Central Arkansas in a non-conference game to end the regular season.

Eastern Illinois is making its 9th FCS playoff appearance as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference (joined in 1996).  EIU has twice advanced to FCS quarterfinal round with the last time taking place in 1986.  This marks the third straight playoff appearance that EIU has opened with a road game.  It is also the seventh straight playoff appearance that EIU has faced a Missouri Valley Conference team in the first round.

South Dakota State is making its second FCS playoff appearance as the Jackrabbits placed second in the Missouri Valley Conference with an 8-3 record.  SDSU finished the regular season with a win over South Dakota in a rivalry game. 

The winner of this first round game plays at No. 1 seed North Dakota State in the second round.

THE SERIES
This will be the first meeting between Eastern Illinois and South Dakota State.  EIU is 1-1 this season against Missouri Valley Conference schools.  EIU is 4-0 all-time against schools from the state of South Dakota with a 3-0 record against South Dakota and a 1-0 record against Augustana.  EIU played all four of those games between 1979 and 1981 making one trip to play at South Dakota in 1981, a 19-17 EIU victory.

• Junior wide receiver Erik Lora set the FCS single season reception record with nine catches on Saturday at Central Arkansas.  Lora has 124 catches this season passing the previous record of 123 set in 2009.

• Erik Lora has 1,531 yards receiving this year which ranks 11th on the FCS single season receiving yards list.  Lora needs 181 yards in any remaining games this year to break the FCS record of 1,712 set by Eddie Conti of Delaware in 1998.  Only 13 receivers in FCS history have ever had more than 1,500 yards receiving in a season.

• Erik Lora is one of two Walter Payton Award finalists on the Eastern Illinois roster joining quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.  EIU is the only FCS school with two finalists on the Walter Payton Award list.  Zach Zenner of South Dakota State is also a Payton finalist.

• Head coach Dino Babers was named one of 20 finalists for the Eddie Robinson FCS Coach of the Year Award on Monday.  Babers led the Panthers to a 7-4 overall record and 6-1 OVC mark as the team won the OVC Championship to make a 14th FCS playoff appearance, eighth most in FCS history.

• Head coach Dino Babers becomes the fifth Eastern Illinois coach to guide the Panthers to an FCS playoff appearance.  Darrell Mudra, Al Molde, Bob Spoo and Mark Hutson all led EIU into the FCS playoffs.  Mudra also led the Panthers to the 1978 NCAA Division II National Championship and a 1980 Division II National Runner-up title.  Spoo led EIU to 9 playoff appearances while Hutson led EIU in 2006 as the interim head coach.

• Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo threw four touchdown passes on Saturday at Central Arkansas giving him 31 on the season.  The 31 touchdowns is the second highest single season total in OVC history trailing only former Panther great Tony Romo with 34.  Garoppolo has had four games this season with four or more touchdown passes.  He has passed for at least one touchdown in 26 straight games dating back to EIU's game at Tennessee Tech in 2010, his freshman season.

• Wide receiver Chris Wright caught three passes all for touchdowns at Central Arkansas.  The three touchdown receptions gave him 32 for his career as he became the OVC career leader in touchdown receptions.  Wright ranks second on the EIU career list trailing Roy Banks who hauled in 38 touchdowns in his career, most from signal caller Sean Payton.  It was Wright's seventh career game with multiple touchdown receptions and his second with three touchdowns (Tennessee State, 2010).

• Chris Wright had 128 yards receiving on those three catches at Central Arkansas marking the sixth time in his career he has had over 100 yards receiving.  Wright is fifth on the EIU list for 100-yard receiving games and fourth all-time at EIU with 2,389 yards receiving.  Teammate Erik Lora has nine career 100-yard games to rank fourth on that list at EIU.  Lora is fifth all-time at EIU with 2,329 career yards.  Lora had an OVC record seven straight 100-yard games this season.

• Running back Jake Walker reeled off 66 yards at Central Arkansas to eclipse the 1,000 yard mark for the season.  Walker is the tenth different individual running back to post a 1,000 yard season and first since Travorus Bess in 2008.  Walker's 1,000 yard season is the 20th 1,000 yard rushing season in the history of Panther football.  Walker is 15th on EIU's career rushing list with 1,768 yards.

• Erik Lora and Chris Wright both hauled in touchdown passes on Saturday to climb up the EIU single season touchdown reception list.  Lora has 12 touchdowns this year to rank fifth on the EIU list and eighth on the OVC single season touchdown receptions list.  Wright has 11 touchdowns to rank sixth at EIU.  This is Wright's second straight year with 11 touchdowns.

EASTERN ILLINOIS HEAD COACH DINO BABERS
A New ERA of Eastern Illinois football began on December 9, 2011 as Dino Babers was hired as the Panthers head football coach replacing 25-year veteran Bob Spoo.  Babers had been an assistant coach at EIU in 1987 as a member of Spoo's first Panthers coaching staff.  After one season as an assistant at EIU Babers moved on to coach at nine other programs, most recently as the receivers and special teams coach at Baylor.  Last season he was on an offensive staff that helped coach Robert Griffin III to the Heisman Trophy while ranking as one of the nation's most explosive offenses.  Baylor beat Washington in the Alamo Bowl as Babers coached in his 12th bowl game as a coach.  In addition to his time at Baylor, Babers has coached at UCLA, Pittsburgh, Texas A&M, Arizona, San Diego State, Purdue, Northern Arizona, UNLV, Eastern Illinois, Arizona State and Hawai'i.  He was the assistant head coach at UCLA while serving as the offensive coordinator at Texas A&M and Arizona.  Babers has coached numerous players who have played in the NFL including 27 wide receivers who have made NFL rosters.  A native of San Diego, Calif., Babers attended Hawai'i where he was a four-year starter (1979-80, 82-83) earning his degree in 1984.  He earned a master's from Arizona State in 1988.  EIU beat Southern Illinois 49-28 in Babers opener as the Panthers head coach.  Babers was named the OVC Coach of the Year after leading EIU to the 2012 OVC title.  He is currently a finalist for the 2012 Eddie Robinson FCS Coach of the Year award.

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE HEAD COACH JOHN STIEGELMEIER
John Stiegelmeier is in his 16th season as the head coach at South Dakota State.  He has seen the successful transition of the program from Division II to the FCS ranks.  The Jackrabbits are making their second FCS playoff appearance under Stiegelmeier in their fifth season as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference.  Stiegelmeier is an alumnus of SDSU with a career record of 101-75.

SCOUTING SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
South Dakota State is led by the nation's second leading rusher Zach Zenner with 1,703 yards on the ground as the Jackrabbits average 168.1 yards per game rushing.  Zenner has 252 of the team's 407 rushes and all but 146 of the team's rushing yards.  Quarterback Austin Sumner has passed for 2,101 yards and 14 touchdowns.  On defense linebacker Ross Shafrath ranks eighth in the nation in tackles with 125 on the season.  Linebacker T.J. Lally has six sacks and eight tackles for loss as SDSU has 30 sacks on the season.  SDSU's defense is ranked eighth in total defense and fourth in scoring defense.

ON THIS DATE IN EIU HISTORY
November 24, 2007 - Eastern made its 3rd straight appearance in the FCS playoffs but lost at Southern Illinois 30-11 in a first round game.  The Salukis scored 10 points off Panther turnovers in building a 20-0 halftime lead.  EIU played most of the game without All-American wide receiver Micah Rucker, who was injured.  Linebacker Donald Thomas had 15 tackles in his final game as a Panther.

LORA IS THE FCS SINGLE SEASON RECORD HOLDER
Junior wide receiver Erik Lora broke the FCS record for single season receptions with nine catches at Central Arkansas.  He passed Terrell Hudgins (Elon) record of 123 set in 2009 in 12 games.  During the season Lora has passed Jerry Wright (76 in 1984) for the EIU single season receptions record with his 11 catches against Jacksonville State.  The Walter Payton Award candidate passed Samford's Efrem Hill (92 in 2003) for the OVC record with ten catches at Eastern Kentucky.  Lora broke Southeast Missouri's Willie Ponder's record for season receiving yards (1,453 in 2002) against Southeast Missouri.  Lora did have his streak of seven straight games with 100-yards receiving snapped with 97 yards receiving at EKU. The seven games was the longest streak in the NCAA since 2000.  Earlier this season Lora broke the EIU and OVC record for single game receptions with 21 against Murray State.  Lora is currently 11th on the FCS all-time single season receiving yards list with 1,531 yards.

OVC SINGLE SEASON TOP TEN RECEPTIONS
1. ERIK LORA (EASTERN ILLINOIS).....124 (2012)
2. Efrem Hill  (Samford).....92  (2003)

FCS SINGLE SEASON RECORD FOR RECEPTIONS
1. ERIK LORA (Eastern Illinois).....124 (2012)
2. Terrell Hudgins (Elon).....123 (2009)
3. Stephen Campbell (Brown).....120 (2000)
4. Duane Brooks (Stephen F. Austin).....118 (2009)
5. Terrell Hudgins (Elon).....117 (2007)


GAROPPOLO MOVES UP RECORD BOOK
Jimmy Garoppolo continues to chase EIU legends Tony Romo and Sean Payton in the EIU record book as he now can list playoff participant to that list.  Garoppolo needs 52 yards of total offense and 241 passing yards to break Payton's single season records.  He needs three touchdown passes to tie Romo for the single season mark.

• Kicker Cameron Berra knocked home a 23-yard field goal at Central Arkansas giving him 11-of-12 this season including 5-of-5 from beyond 40 yards.  Berra's 11 field goals move him into ninth on the EIU single season list.  He is 26-of-32 for this career, his 26 field goals ranking third all-time at EIU.  This season he has 47 PAT's, he needs two more to match Bill Besenhofer's single season school mark of 49 from the 2000 season.

• Artavious Dowdell led the OVC in sacks for the second time in his career as he finished with 7.5 sacks on the season.  Dowdell needs one sack and a half tackle for loss to move into the single season top ten at EIU in both categories.  He already ranks in the career top ten for both (5th in tackles for loss - 37.5) and (7th in sacks - 20).

• Eastern Illinois defense will be facing one of the nation's top rushers on Saturday.  The Panthers have held their own when facing top rushers this season.  EIU limited Illinois State Darrelynn Dunn to just 52 yards as he was in the top ten in the nation in the first five weeks of the year, 60 yards below his average.  More recently EIU has held Eastern Kentucky's Matt Denham and Southeast Missouri's Levi Terrell to 30 yards below their season average with each rushing for less than 100 yards.  EIU's rushing defense is 2nd in the OVC this season allowing 146 yards per game.

• EIU's defense made nine tackles for loss at Central Arkansas as the team just missed recording double digit tackles for loss for the fourth time this season.  EIU leads the OVC with 7.55 tackles for loss per game which is 10th in the FCS.  Artavious Dowdell leads EIU and the OVC with 13.5 tackles for loss while Greg Mahan has 10.  Roosevelt Holliday had four tackles for loss at UCA.

• Nick Beard was one of three players to lead the Panthers with double figure tackles on Saturday at Central Arkansas.  Beard made eight solo tackles as he finished with ten tackles.  Beard leads EIU with 60 solo tackles, which ranks second in the OVC.  He is second on the team with 82 tackles.

• EIU's defense forced three first half turnovers at Central Arkansas with the offense converting all three into touchdowns.  On the season EIU has scored 13 times on the 25 turnovers gained.  Ten of those 13 scores have resulted in touchdowns giving EIU just over 3 points per turnover gained this season.

• EIU's defense recorded 101 tackles on Saturday at Central Arkansas.  It was only the third time this season that EIU has made 100 or more tackles in a game.  EIU's season high was 108 tackles at Western Michigan. 

• Punter Scott Weatherford averaged 40.6 yards per punt at Central Arkansas.  It was the third straight game the junior has averaged over 40 yards.  On the season he is averaging 38.7 yards per kick with 8 of 47 pinned inside the 20 with 11 fair catches.

• Sophomore Jourdan Wickliffe continues to provide tackles at one of the safety positions.  The converted wide receiver has made 68 tackles in the last eight games after moving full time to the defensive side of the ball.  He has three double figure tackle games and 34 tackles in EIU's last three contests. 

TIME OF POSSESSION DOESN'T EQUAL POINTS
Eastern Illinois ranks second from the bottom of the FCS in time of possession with just over 24 minutes per game.  EIU is seventh in the nation in scoring offense at 38.9 points per game and second with 938 total plays.  Those numbers equal EIU scoring 1.6 points per minute or a touchdown ever 4 minutes.  EIU is running 3.7 plays every minute and 85 plays per game.  EIU's longest scoring drive this season was 4:16 at Illinois State.  EIU has 42 scoring drives of less than 2-minutes this season and only six that have lasted longer than 3 minutes.

EIU IN THE POST-SEASON
Eastern Illinois will be making its 14th FCS playoff appearance this Saturday at South Dakota State which ranks eighth among FCS schools.  The Panthers have a 3-13 record in previous FCS playoff appearances having reached the quarterfinals on three occasions.  The last quarterfinal was in 1989 when EIU beat Idaho to open the playoffs and lost at Montana.  EIU is 1-9 in road playoff games.

OVC IN THE POST-SEASON
The Ohio Valley Conference will be sending only one team (Eastern Illinois) to this year's FCS playoffs after sending multiple teams in 2010 and 2011.  The OVC has an all-time FCS playoff record of 24-47 and has not won a playoff game as a league since 2000 when Western Kentucky beat Florida A&M in the opening round.  Among the current OVC membership, the last team to win an FCS playoff game was Murray State in 1996 with a win over Western Illinois.  The OVC does have two FCS National Championships to its credit with Eastern Kentucky winning in 1979 and 1982.

PANTHERS VERSUS RANKED TEAMS
Eastern Illinois will be facing a ranked team for the fourth time this season when the Panthers visit South Dakota State this Saturday.  SDSU is ranked No. 19.  EIU is 1-2 in games against ranked teams this year losing in double overtime at No. 15 Illinois State, winning at No. 18 Eastern Kentucky and dropping the final regular season game at No. 10 Central Arkansas.  EIU is 17-50 all-time against ranked teams.  EIU is ranked No. 25 and has a 98-53 mark as a ranked squad.

TWO WIN OVC WEEKLY AWARDS FOR UCA GAME
Senior defensive end Artavious Dowdell and junior linebacker Alex Helms collected OVC weekly awards following the Central Arkansas game.  Dowdell was named the Defensive Player of the Week after making seven tackles with four tackles for loss, two sacks and two forced fumbles which resulted in EIU touchdowns.  Helms was named the OVC Newcomer of the Week as he made 16 tackles filling in for the injured Robert Haynes.  Helms had 14 solo stops and one fumble recovery.  He was the first EIU player to record 15 or more tackles since Cory Leman made 15 tackles in 2010 at Illinois State.

WERTZ GRANTED 6TH YEAR BY NCAA
Senior defensive lineman Pat Wertz was granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA and he will return to EIU in 2013.  Wertz started his career at Illinois State redshirting one season and missing a majority of the next with an injury.  He sat out one season as a transfer to EIU and has played the last two seasons.  This year as a starter he is seventh on the team with 51 tackles including 7.5 tackles for loss and 2 sacks.