RICHMOND, Ky. – Eastern Kentucky’s offense didn’t get a good start against the Panthers in Saturday afternoon’s game at Roy Kidd Stadium, but a reliance on short, quick passes led the Colonels to a 20-7 Homecoming win against Eastern Illinois (3-5, 1-3 Ohio Valley Conference).

The Colonels’ first four plays netted negative one yard. Senior quarterback Allan Holland had one incompletion, two rushes for nine yards and then was sacked for a 10-yard loss by red-shirt freshman linebacker Cory Leman and red-shirt senior defensive end Donovan Johnson.

Then sophomore running back Aaron Bradley got the Colonels’ offense going with a nine-yard rush on pitch to the left side of the field out of Eastern Kentucky’s spread offense.

A series of quick passes – slants, screens and dump passes – followed. Bradley also had several carries, but rarely did he rush toward the middle of the field. He picked up the majority of his rushing yards on option pitches or sweeps around either tackle.

Eastern Kentucky (5-3, 4-1 OVC) scored its first touchdown on a seven-yard quarterback keeper by Holland. Holland dropped back to pass out of the Colonels’ shotgun formation, found the middle of the field wide open and rushed untouched into the end zone. A PAT by senior kicker Taylor Long made the score 7-0 in favor of the Colonels after a 17-play, 80-yard drive that took 8 minutes, 4 seconds.

Eastern Kentucky continued to move the ball with short passes and runs around end, and Bradley scored on a two-yard touchdown run with 9:17 remaining in the first half to push the Colonels’ lead to two touchdowns.

“We worked on it all week,” Eastern Illinois head coach Bob Spoo said about preparing for the Colonels’ proclivity for the short pass. “(They) nickeled and dimed us.”

Eastern red-shirt junior defensive tackle Jeff Sobol said Eastern Kentucky’s short passes were especially difficult for the Panthers’ secondary.

“It’s definitely hard on the corners because you’re putting them on an island,” Sobol said.

Eastern’s secondary had just two ways to defend against the Colonels’ short passes.

When the Panthers’ defensive backs played off the line of scrimmage, Holland hit his receivers with a screen pass that sometimes went for double-digit yards.

When Eastern’s defensive backs pressed the Colonels’ receivers at the line of scrimmage, Holland either made a play downfield or ran the ball himself.

Sobol said it was also hard to defend against Eastern Kentucky’s offense because the short passes took the Panthers’ defensive line out of the game.

“It’s hard for us to get a rush,” Sobol said. “It’s hard for us to be a factor in the game. It feels like we’re not doing anything, while they’re just boom, boom, boom it down the field.”

Eastern red-shirt senior defensive end Pierre Walters agreed with Sobol.

He said while short passes can take defensive lineman out of the game, they can also be a factor by reading the screen passes and getting back to help teammates with the tackle.

“They’re not plays where you know exactly where it’s going to go,” Walters said. “It’s plays that you just have to react to and get your defensive guys there to make a tackle.”

The Panthers’ defense played better in the second half, as they allowed just two field goals by Long later in the half.

Sobol said the Panthers’ defense came out of halftime with more emotion and played well despite being on the field for long periods of time during the game.

Eastern got its lone touchdown of the game in the second half as well. Red-shirt junior quarterback Bodie Reeder connected with red-shirt senior wide receiver Alicus Nozinor on a five-yard touchdown pass with 7:11 remaining in the third quarter.

“After that, I thought we’d keep it rolling, but we just weren’t able to get it done offensively,” Spoo said about the touchdown. “If we’d have given a contest offensively, it would have been a lot closer football game.”

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

Sophomore cornerback Rashad Haynes avoids a tackle during the game against Southeast Missouri Oct. 18. The Panthers lost their playoff chances on Saturday after a 20-7 loss to Eastern Kentucky. (Robbie Wroblewski

(more…)