Having played out the majority of its non-conference schedule, Eastern’s football team will host the Murray State Racers in the Ohio Valley Conference opener at 6:30 on Saturday at O’Brien Field. Both teams bring up-tempo offenses to the field, meaning the OVC opener is poised to be a high-scoring game.

For Eastern, it brings the No. 1 ranked offense in the OVC to the field as it ranks first in scoring, total yards, offensive plays, touchdowns and total offense.

The Panthers are led by junior quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo as he leads the conference in several quarterback statistics, ranking first in total offense, passing yards, passing yards per game and touchdowns.

For Murray State, it is led by the 2012 Ohio Valley Conference Preseason Offensive Player of the Year in senior quarterback Casey Brockman. It was Brockman’s second consecutive preseason offensive player of the year award.

“(Murray State is) an up-tempo offense like ourselves, and they have the OVC preseason player of the year in the conference and some dynamic receivers,” head coach Dino Babers said. “It’s going to be a very challenging game for us. I guess the only thing we have going for us is that it’s at our place.”

Brockman is coming off a record-setting 2011 season that had him throwing for 3,276 yards and 25 touchdowns. This season, the senior quarterback has thrown for 875 yards and three touchdowns. He ranks second behind Garoppolo in passing yards and passing yards per game, but leads the OVC in completions and pass attempts.

As a team, the Racers rank seventh in scoring offense, second in total plays, fifth in total offense and seventh in total offensive touchdowns. The usually high-scoring Racer offense can attribute its low offensive numbers to a tough non-conference schedule as it played then No. 5 ranked Florida State, Central Arkansas and Missouri State.

“We need to have patience on the defensive side of the ball,” Babers said. “It’s going to be an offense that is going to have success. You have to let those successes go in one ear and out the other and find a way to stop them next time you go out there. With offenses like these it all comes down to stops. If you get two or three stops in a row you can completely change a ball game.”

Defensively, the Panthers have a trio of players who are capable of stopping the offense and making game-changing plays. Senior defensive end Artaveous Dowdell leads the Eastern pass rush, while red-shirt sophomore linebacker Robert Haynes and red-shirt sophomore defensive back D.J. Bland anchor the Panther defense.

Bland has a team-leading four passes defended this season, placing him 32nd in the FCS and second in the OVC in that category. He also has one interception.

Haynes has recorded a team-best 31 tackles to go along with two interceptions and one sack. He has also forced a team-leading two fumbles.

Dowdell has recorded 10 tackles with a team-leading three of them coming for loss. He has also recorded two sacks and has forced and recovered a fumble.

Heading into the conference opener, Babers stressed the importance of this game for picking up momentum as they begin OVC play.

“I need momentum, I’m not getting any sleep, and I know (the players) need some momentum too,” Babers said. “Winning is important, and I think everyone involved with this football team want to win for Charleston, Illinois, and Eastern Illinois University. We will do everything in our power to see if we can get that done on Saturday.”

The Panthers will open OVC play against Murray State at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at O’Brien Field.

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