Micah Rucker said he was blocked out of bounds.

The officials disagreed with him.

The 6-foot-6, 221-pound senior wide receiver recovered Eastern Illinois’ onside kick attempt at the Panthers 46-yard line with Eastern Illinois trailing Eastern Kentucky 28-21 with 1 minute, 30 seconds left in the game.

The controversial call ended in a re-kick for the Panthers. The second onside kick attempt was unsuccessful and Eastern Kentucky left O’Brien Stadium with a 28-21 win in front of a Family Weekend crowd of 9,861.

The win allows Eastern Kentucky (4-2, 3-0 Ohio Valley Conference) to have sole possession of first place in the OVC. The loss for the Panthers (3-3, 2-1) was the first conference home loss since 2004, a span of 10 games.

It also leaves them needing help from other conference teams if they want to make their third straight Football Championship Subdivision playoff appearance.

“We’ve got to get ourselves ready for Murray State,” said Eastern Illinois head coach Bob Spoo. “That’s our next game. Make sure we don’t stumble there and keep going. Hope that somebody knocks off Eastern Kentucky along the line. Or at least we finish second with an 8-3 record. I think that would give us a great opportunity to make the playoffs again.”

Rucker went out of bounds, whether he was blocked out or went out on his own is unclear, around Eastern’s 42 or 43 yard line on the kick. He returned to the field and recovered Tyler Wilke’s on-side kick at the 46.

The kick hit the ground early, then rose up over the seven EKU defenders on the left side of the field. By the time it came down, it came into the waiting arms of Rucker, who was by himself when he recovered the kick.

No flag was thrown on the play, but officials deliberated for about five minutes before announcing Rucker was out of bounds and Eastern would have to re-kick it.

“I went from high to low in about three seconds,” Panther defensive tackle Jeff Sobol said. “As soon as I saw them deliberating, I knew they were going to take it from us.”

Eastern Kentucky head coach Danny Hope, who is a member of the NCAA Rules Committee, said the Panthers having to re-kick was the only option.

“He ran out of bounds on his own and recovered the kick,” he said. “If we had forced him out of bounds and he recovered it, it would have been Eastern Illinois’ ball.”

Spoo said the officials told him Rucker went out of bounds voluntarily.

“We’re contending that he was blocked out of bounds, and therefore had the right to come back in and make the play,” he said. “But, (the officials) didn’t see it that way.”

According to the 2007 NCAA Football Rules and Interpretations Book, under the category

“Kicks,” Section 1, Article 2f says a “player who goes out of bounds during a free kick down may not return inbounds during the down (Exception: This does not apply to a player who is blocked out of bounds and attempts to return inbounds immediately).”

Rucker said he just wanted to get down the field quickly on the kick and have a chance to recover it.

“Somebody was in front of me, trying to ward me off and knock me off,” he said. “I just tried to push them out of the way and I guess, in the play, I got pushed out of bounds, came back in and got the ball.”

Even if the Panthers would have been awarded the recovery of the onside kick, the offense still had to travel 54 yards in less than 1:30 to score a game-tying touchdown.

The offense didn’t get into any rhythm until trailing 28-14 with 4:55 left in the game. The Panthers proceeded to go 90 yards in 13 plays before running back Travorus Bess scored from one-yard out to cut the lead to 28-21 with 1:30 to play.

Eastern quarterback Bodie Reeder finished 20-of-33 for 247 yards, but didn’t get into rhythm until late in the game.

“I just didn’t execute,” the sophomore said. “I was all over the place today. It’s embarrassing. I had people open and I just didn’t hit it.”

Senior running back Ademola Adeniji, the only healthy Eastern Illinois running back because of injuries to Ron Jordan (ankle), Bess (leg), Norris Smith (knee) and fullback Chip Keys (ankle), had a career game.

The 5-foot-10, 215-pound Adeniji had 25 carries for a career-high 186 yards, including a 73-yard touchdown run that put the Panthers ahead 14-10 with 2:54 left in the second quarter. He also caught three passes for 58 yards.

“You can basically put (the loss) on the offense,” Adeniji said. “The longer the defense is on the field, the more it makes them harder to stop it. But the defense, I tip my hat to them. They gave it all. We just didn’t come to play.”

EKU quarterback Allan Holland completed 30-of-44 passes for a career-high 321 yards. The Colonels rushing attack, which came into the game second in the conference, managed only 74 yards.

But run or pass, the win was EKU’s first against the Panthers since 2004.

“It feels great to finally be 3-0 (in the OVC) and beat Eastern Illinois and have that under our belt,” said EKU’s Kyle Barber, who finished with seven catches for 128 yards, including a 47-yard touchdown reception that put EKU ahead 28-14 in the fourth quarter. “I’ve been here for four years and this team has always been a stumbling block for us.”

To see the 2007 NCAA Rules and Interpretations book click here.

Bobson Mercier, redshirt freshmen, attempts to make a tackle vs. Eastern Kentucky University Saturday afternoon at O’Brien Stadium. Amir Prellberg/The Daily Eastern News

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