For the entire 85-day season, it has seemed like the Eastern football team had some distraction, issue or physical injury to overcome.

This defined the 2006 season.

“It was the longest season of my career,” Eastern defensive coordinator Roc Bellantoni said.

On the season-long road to the NCAA Championship game in Chattanooga, Tenn., there were many roadblocks including the season-long illness of head coach Bob Spoo, Ohio Valley Championship defensive player of the year Clint Sellers laying on the turf at Illinois never to play again, a midseason quarterback change and a second straight home playoff loss.

Now the realization that they don’t have a practice, meeting or schedule date to meet anymore this season is starting to hit the coaches and players.

“There’s a awkward void there because we are creatures of habit,” Eastern head coach Mark Hutson said. “It’s like traveling on the freeway and then having to get on the onramp. We’re in the 35 miles per hour zone right now.”

Eastern ended its season with a 8-5 record, ranked 15th in the country, according to the Sports Network Poll, and won a share of the OVC title for the third time in seven years. But because of the 24-13 defeat in Saturday’s playoff game to rival Illinois State, there were more disappointments than expected.

“We had everything we wanted this year and I don’t have a whole lot of answers as to what went wrong,” Bellantoni said.

The Panthers have now gone 18 seasons without winning a playoff game and the program leaders are fully aware of the time gap.

“It’s been since 1989 since we’ve won one, and with the expectations going in, the season didn’t finish the way we wanted,” Hutson said.

Eastern quarterback Cole Stinson and the offensive returnees will now have the 41 weeks until the Panthers suit up to play at Purdue on Sept. 8, 2007, to think about the three-turnovers, six-point performance in the playoff game last Saturday.

The transfer from Ball State started the final eight games of the season after taking over for incumbent Mike Donato. Stinson guided the Panthers to a 6-2 record in those eight starts with 12 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Eastern ended the season ranked 38th in the nation in total offense, 52nd in scoring and 83rd in passing.

“I think we lacked consistency on offense (in the playoff game) and most of the season,” Panthers tailback Vincent Webb Jr., said.

Webb was named OVC co-offensive player of the year after gaining 1,405 yards and rushing for seven touchdowns this season.

“After being a walk-on five years ago, I’m very happy with the amount of success I had,” Webb said.

On the defensive side of the ball, junior linebacker Donald Thomas was named OVC defensive player of the year after leading the league in total tackles with 127. The St. Louis native is the third Panthers linebacker to win the award in the last five years.

“He came into my office last year and said ‘Coach I’m so disappointed with the way I played this season,'” Bellantoni said. “If we had ten more of him we’d never lose a game.”

Eastern now starts recruiting with the mystery of whether or not Spoo will be on the Eastern sidelines for the start of the 2007 season. That specific question has been asked by numerous high school prospects and coaches contacted by the Panthers program.

“Coach Spoo says he wants to coach longer than Joe Paterno, so coach is 70 (years old) and Joe is 80,” Huston said.

“He has no plans to go anywhere,” Bellantoni said. “It’s easier to do with that when you’re telling the truth instead of making up a lie.”

With consecutive playoff berths and the OVC being a two-bid league for the first time since 2001, the program sees the road to a three-peat as less than a given. However, they are hoping to receive a better chance to advance deep in the postseason.

“It seems to me that we always get matched up with the Gateway champion and I’d like to see a Patriot League champ or MEAC champion,” Bellantoni said. “I think we become a victim of the regionalization.”