No idea? No problem.

Despite questions about what Illinois State’s brand-new offense would throw at the Panthers, the Eastern coaching staff and players looked like they had scouted hours upon hours of tape on the Redbirds in an easy 31-6 victory Thursday night at O’Brien Field.

Defensive coordinator Roc Bellantoni said before the game that it would be a guessing game with Illinois State featuring a first-year head coach and offensive coordinator. However, shortly into the game, Bellantoni realized he had guessed correctly.

“They were a lot more basic than I thought they would be,” said Bellantoni who’s unit held the Redbirds to only 163 yards of total offense. “When (Illinois State offensive coordinator Steve) Farmer was at Louisiana-Monroe they did a lot more unbalanced sets and a lot more trickery-type stuff that they didn’t do a whole bunch of tonight. So the stuff that we worked on, we did the right thing. It’s a good start for us.”

Illinois State quarterback sophomore quarterback Drew Kiel said Eastern was more physical up front on both sides of the ball.

“They did a good job of just bending and not breaking,” Kiel said. “And if they continue to do that, they will win games for you like they did tonight.”

The Redbirds drove inside Eastern’s 40-yard line on their first possession. But a false start penalty and botched field-goal snap thwarted their drive, and it was all Eastern.

The Redbirds finished with only 20 rushing yards for the game on 26 carries (although the botched field goal snap and four Eastern sacks factored in the final tally).

They were 5-for-12 on third-down conversions, and their only scoring drive came when a kickoff out of bounds gave them the ball at their own 40-yard line to start the possession.

Credit has to be given to Bellantoni and the Eastern coaching staff for pinpoint preparation. It’s never easy to prepare for the first game of the season, let alone against an opponent with a brand new offensive philosophy.

“The coaches really got us ready,” said senior defensive tackle Andre Lima, who had one of Eastern’s four sacks in the game. “We knew they were going to be a very lateral, down-hill team. They did the same thing we worked on in practice all week, so it worked out.”

Bellantoni was pleased with his unit for the most part.

If the unit can play this well against an offense so unknown to them, imagine what they can do when they actually have tape on an opponent.

Collin Whitchurch can be reached at 581-7944 or at cfwhitchurch@eiu.edu.