Eastern came away with a convincing win against Ohio Valley Conference foe Austin Peay on Saturday, beating the Governors 65-15 at O’Brien Field for Family Weekend.

The Panthers were led by junior quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who threw for a career-high 453 yards and five touchdown passes. Garoppolo also contributed in the running game, rushing for 48 yards and a touchdown. It was the third time this season where he threw for at least five touchdown passes. Each of his touchdowns came on passes thrown 50 yards or more.

“I liked (Garoppolo’s) demeanor,” head coach Dino Babers said. “I really liked how he went about the game today, almost like a chess master. He knew what he wanted to do and there was nothing (Austin Peay) could do about it. I thought he led the offense very well, and it may have been the best day he has had since I’ve been here.”

In the receiving game, Eastern had three wide receivers eclipse the 100-yard mark. Senior Chris Wright, red-shirt junior Erik Lora and freshman Keiondre Gober each had more than 100 receiving yards in the winning effort. Gober and Wright each had two touchdowns while Lora led the team with 139 receiving yards.

It was the first time since 1986 when Eastern had at least two receivers total more than 100 yards.

“With having so many talented wide receivers and having two great running backs, it’s tough to plan against our offense,” Garoppolo said. “You can’t reenact what we do in practice because we do it at a different tempo. It’s great to have that many weapons around me, and it makes my job a lot easier.”

In the rushing game, the Panthers were led by red-shirt senior running back Jake Walker. He totaled 80 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries.

Defensively, the Panthers limited Austin Peay’s senior running back Wesley Kitts to 87 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries. It was the first time this season Kitts was held under the 100-yard mark.

“Their running back is a very talented player,” junior defensive back Pete Houlihan said. “Stopping him was a key part in our plan this week. I think our defensive line did a phenomenal job getting penetration, and when you shut their best player down it definitely helps.”

The Panthers limited the Governors to just 15 points, marking the first time this season Eastern held the opposition under 20 points.

“It kind of feels like we got a monkey off our back,” Houlihan said. “We have a really talented defense, and I don’t think we have played to our full potential. We still didn’t today, but it feels good to play like we did.”

The Panthers also limited Austin Peay quarterback Jake Ryan’s production, holding him to just 205 yards and a touchdown on 23 of 46 pass attempts.

With the win, Eastern improves to 3-2 overall and 2-0 in the OVC for the first time since its 2009 championship-winning season.

The Panthers will be back in action when they travel to Martin, Tenn., to take on the Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks. Kick off is scheduled for 2 p.m. Oct. 6.

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