Eastern currently sits in seventh place in the Ohio Valley Conference after playing five games. The Panthers are 2-3 on the season and lost their only league game 23-10 to Jacksonville State on Sept. 27.

Eastern has made the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs the past three years. If the Panthers want that streak to continue to four straight playoff berths, the best chance is to win their remaining seven conference games.

Eastern will start its string of seven-straight league games when they travel to Martin, Tenn., today to play Tennessee Martin at 6 p.m.

“If we lose, we’re basically out of any contention for a playoff spot,” Eastern head coach Bob Spoo said. “We have to win out in order to hope for (a playoff berth).”

Eastern red-shirt senior defensive tackle Jeff Sobol said the Tennessee Martin game is the biggest game of the year for the Panthers in a year that saw Eastern play two Football Bowl Subdivision teams (Central Michigan and Illinois) and beat longtime rival Illinois State.

“In the OVC, you have two losses, you’re not going to make the playoffs,” Sobol said. “Going into this game both of us have one loss in the conference. We’ve just got to take it week by week and game by game and make sure we do the best we can to win every game.”

Eastern will need to rely on its defense to beat Tennessee Martin (4-2, 2-1 OVC), as the Skyhawks are ranked No. 3 in the nation in scoring with 45.2 points per game. Tennessee Martin red-shirt junior wide receiver Roren Thomas is tied for ninth in the nation in touchdowns scored (eight), and red-shirt junior quarterback Cade Thompson is No. 10 in the nation in pass efficiency (163.70) and No. 20 in the nation in passing yards (1,252).

Eastern defensive coordinator Roc Bellantoni said Tennessee Martin is one of the best offenses in the country without a doubt. He said the Skyhawks are explosive and have three big-play wide receivers in Thomas, senior Jamaal Akbar and Ole Miss junior transfer Mike Hicks.

Thomas scored in three different ways in the Skyhawks’ 63-38 drubbing of Murray State on Sept. 27. He returned a kickoff 83 yards for a touchdown, rushed for a 20-yard touchdown and caught two touchdown passes from Thompson (12 yards and 45 yards).

“They don’t make six-yard catches,” Bellantoni said. “They can take it the distance every time they touch it.”

Eastern red-shirt junior free safety Seymour Loftman said the Panthers’ secondary would need to be sound in reading their keys against the Skyhawks’ receivers. He said the Panthers’ defensive backs couldn’t be lulled to sleep by Tennessee Martin’s run game because the receivers can make big plays.

“If we can stop their big plays, we should be fine,” Loftman said. “But if it gets to the point where they’re out there getting 40- or 50-yard passes, we’re in trouble. It’ just basically reading our keys and playing our techniques and keeping those guys on limited YAC (yards after catch) yards.”

Eastern red-shirt senior defensive end Pierre Walters said not much would change in the way the Panthers’ defense approached today’s game. He said Eastern’s defense would have to do what it does best: stop the run, get turnovers and set up scores or score itself.

Bellantoni said the Panthers’ defense would also have to get pressure on Thompson, a South Carolina transfer, because he has a strong arm and can make throws from the pocket.

“Hopefully, we can get some pressure up front to make him throw the ball a little bit quicker,” Bellantoni said. “He has the ability to really pick you apart. I don’t know who South Carolina has playing quarterback, but with him and (Tennessee State quarterback Antonio Heffner) leaving, he must be a stud.”

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

Junior defensive tackle Andre Lima pulls down a Jacksonville State player during the game on Sept. 29 at O’Brien Stadium. (Karolina Strack/The Daily Eastern News)

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