Eastern defensive coordinator Roc Bellantoni has one thing on his mind this week.

The Panthers’ defensive coordinator has to figure out a way to stop Jacksonville State running back Clay Green.

Bellantoni is not certain how he is going to do it.

“I have no idea,” he said. “I don’t know if we’ll even be able to slow him down. He’s really, really good.”

The Gamecocks travel to O’Brien Stadium on Saturday for the Panthers regular-season finale.

Green is a power runner and leads the Ohio Valley Conference’s top scoring offense.

He is only 10 yards shy of going over 1,000 yards for the second straight season and is fourth in the conference in rushing. He leads the OVC with 14 rushing touchdowns, three more than Tennessee State’s Javarris Williams.

Last season, he was second in the conference with 1,352 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns and was on the Walter Payton Award watch list in the preseason. The award goes to Division I-AA’s top offensive player.

“He doesn’t go down with the first tackle,” said Panthers’ senior safety Tristan Burge. “He’s also very good at evading tackles.”

JSU head coach Jack Crowe said Green’s talent is tremendous.

“He’s just really special,” he said. “I think he’s an NFL player.”

Crowe coached Kory Chapman, a running back who is in his third year with the Indianapolis Colts.

But Crowe said Green is even better.

“I think Clay is the best back we have ever had,” he said.

Bellantoni saw firsthand Green’s abilities last season.

In the final game of Eastern’s regular season, the Panthers forced the Gamecocks into a fourth-and-three situation.

JSU went for it and got the first down after Green ran two Panthers defenders over and spun out of a third defender’s tackle.

Green finished the game with 135 yards on 28 carries in Eastern’s 10-6 win.

“The guy’s running down hill all the time,” Bellantoni said. “Bounces off tackles, spins out of tackles. He’s just a champion. Of the guys we’ve played against, Clay Green is by far the best running back in the conference.”

Green is also the team’s kick returner and leads the team in touchdowns.

Panthers’ running back Vincent Webb Jr. said facing a team with a tailback like Green gives him more motivation to have a big game.

“It presents more of a challenge,” he said. “I’d say he’s the heart and soul of their offense. He’s the heartbeat of the offense.”

Burge said Green has “the whole package” and is the main person defenses want to stop when they face the Gamecocks.

“We just want to stop him and contain him,” he said. “If we can contain him, the odds are in our favor.”