Coming off of a season opening win and record setting performance against in-state rival Southern Illinois-Carbondale last Thursday, the Panthers are starting to gain some recognition throughout the college football ranks.

Sports Network Top 25 Poll

The Panthers made a considerable move up the Sports Network Football Championship Subdivision Poll and now rank as one of the leading teams in the “other teams receiving votes” category. Eastern ranks 36th overall, and is one of 11 teams receiving votes outside of the top 25.

Sam Houston State remains the number one team in the FCS poll despite not playing in the season opening weekend. They received 87 first place votes. Reigning national champion North Dakota State ranks second in the nation, recording 65 first place votes. Georgia Southern, Montana State and James Madison round out the top five.

Weekly Awards

Against the Salukis, the Panthers posted stellar numbers across the board. Junior quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo had a career day, passing for 369 yards and five touchdowns on 32-of-49 pass attempts. Garoppolo joined former Panther greats Steve Turk, Jeff Christensen, Sean Payton and Tony Romo as the only Panthers to throw for at least five touchdowns in a single game.

“I expected a lot of points,” Garoppolo said. “This offense is fun and lets us open the playbook.”

For his career performance, Garoppolo garnered Ohio Valley Conference Offensive Player of the Week honors, as well as the College Football Performance Awards FCS National Offensive Performer of the Week award.

Along with Garoppolo’s five touchdown passes, two other Panthers recorded touchdown passes in the 49-28 win. The seven touchdown passes set a program record for the most touchdown passes in a single game. Red-shirt junior Erik Lora and red-shirt sophomore Sam Hendricks both recorded touchdown passes in the winning effort.

For his performance against Southern, red-shirt junior wide receiver Erik Lora was one of three wide receivers to earn national wide receiver of the week honors by the CFPA.

His 13 receptions and 151 yards led the team, and his two touchdowns tied him with fellow wide receiver Chris Wright for the team lead.

It was Lora’s first game since suffering a hip injury last year that had him missing the entire 2011 season.

“(Lora) had a great opening night coming back from surgery,” Garoppolo said. “We missed him last year. He’s going to be a great receiver for us this year.”

Hendricks and red-shirt junior punter Scott Weatherford garnered honorable mention honors for their week one performances. Hendricks totaled 95 yards and one touchdown.

He also recorded the first touchdown pass in the Dino Babers era, finding senior wide receiver Chavar Watkins downfield for the 40-yard touchdown.

Weatherford earned honorable mention honors for his eight-punt effort against Southern. He averaged 40.2 yards-per-punt with a long of 55 yards. He also pinned the Saluki offense inside their own 20-yard line on two occasions.

What’s Next for EIU

On Saturday, the Panthers will travel to Kalamazoo, Mich., to take on Western Michigan in a non-conference showdown.

Western Michigan suffered a loss to the Illinois Fighting Illini in their season opening game, losing 24-7 in Champaign.

The Illini defense limited the Broncos rushing attack to just 44 yards and held quarterback Alex Carder to 239 yards through the air. Carder also threw three interceptions in the loss.

Although the Illini kept the Broncos offensive attack in check, Western Michigan returns one of the most prolific quarterbacks in college football as Carder ranked ninth in the nation in passing yards in 2011.

His 3,873 yards through the air surpassed the totals of Southern California quarterback Matt Barkley and former Stanford Cardinal and eventual No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft, Andrew Luck.

Around the OVC

Garoppolo wasn’t the only one earning a weekly OVC award.

Red-shirt senior Brooklyn Fox of Eastern Kentucky was named OVC Defensive Player of the Week.

The defensive back intercepted two passes and recovered a fumble in the Colonels loss to Purdue.

Tennessee-Martin’s senior kicker Cody Sandlin made two field goals in the final five minutes of the Skyhawk’s win against Memphis, making him OVC Specialist of the Week.

Jacksonville State freshman running back Troymaine Pope was named OVC Co-Newcomer of the Week.

Pope had 14 carries for 65 yards, and caught one touchdown in his first game of his college career.

Pope split the award with Tennessee Tech wide receiver Da’Rick Rogers.

Rogers, who transferred to Tennessee Tech from the University of Tennessee in the off-season, caught three passes for 75 yards and one touchdown in his first game as a Golden Eagle.

A number of OVC teams will be in action this weekend against ranked opponents, as Austin Peay will take on nationally ranked No. 16 Virginia Tech.

Murray State will take on the FCS No. 20 Central Arkansas. The game will be viewable on ESPN3.

Eastern’s game against Western Michigan, as well as Tennessee-Martin’s game against Northern Illinois, will also be on viewable ESPN3.

Jordan Pottorff can be reached at 581-2812 or jbpottorff@eiu.edu.