CHAMPAIGN – Eastern red-shirt junior free safety Seymour Loftman picked off Illinois junior quarterback Juice Williams on the Fighting Illini’s first offensive drive of the game.

Williams dropped back into the pocket looking to pass after faking a handoff, but apparently he was looking just a little too hard. His focus on his wide receiver of choice proved to be his downfall.

“He basically just stared at him,” Loftman said about Williams’ intent gaze on his would-be receiver. “I felt like I read the quarterback, and as soon as he pulled the trigger to try to throw I jumped it.”

Loftman finished the game with 15 tackles (nine solo) and one pass defended to go with his first quarter interception. He was named the Ohio Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts. Loftman also leads the Panthers with 22 tackles this season.

“To come against a Big Ten team, who’s a big favorite in the game, and get turnovers early and keep playing hard and finishing the game was important,” Loftman said. “It was exciting for us to get off the field that early in the game.”

Loftman was all over the field early in the game, picking up the majority of the Panthers’ tackles and spearheading the pass defense. Williams threw for 451 yards and five touchdowns against Missouri in the Fighting Illini’s season opener. His passing numbers against Eastern: 124 yards and one touchdown.

Williams might have had more success on the ground, but he struggled with his passing game against Eastern’s secondary.

“The No. 1 thing we have to work on this week is the turnovers,” Williams said. “We had two interceptions and put the ball on the ground. That is something that we cannot continue to do.”

Eastern senior cornerback Adrian Arrington was the other thorn in Williams’ side. Arrington intercepted Williams in the first quarter and then scooped up Williams’ fumble near the end of the third quarter.

Eastern senior free safety Irvin Jean-Charles wrapped up the Panthers’ takeaway game with a fumble recovery for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

“Adrian Arrington had a great day,” Eastern red-shirt junior quarterback Bodie Reeder said. “Jean-Charles scored a touchdown, and I’m sure we’ll be hearing about that for weeks.”

Reeder said the Panthers’ defense is Eastern’s biggest strength so far this season. And the Panthers’ defense kept them in the game when Eastern’s offense sputtered in the first two quarters.

“You can’t talk about how much those takeaways mean when the offense isn’t going real well,” Reeder said. “We can count on the defense to keep us in the ball game.”

A strong defense has been one of the main tenets of Panther football in past seasons. That has continued through the first two games this season. The Panthers’ defensive line played well against Central Michigan last week, and the secondary shined against the Fighting Illini.

The Panthers get back to Football Championship Subdivision competition Saturday with a game at home against Indiana State.

Indiana State is the doormat of the Missouri Valley Football Conference. If Eastern’s defense can stay with Illinois and cause that much havoc with takeaways, just think what will happen against the hapless Sycamores.

Scott Richey can be reached at 581-7944 or at srrichey@eiu.edu.