Eastern’s football team saw its first loss in Ohio Valley Conference play under head coach Dino Babers, losing 51-37 to Tennessee-Martin.

The Panthers out-gained the Skyhawks 616-381 in total offense, but were plagued by turnovers, committing five to Tennessee-Martin’s zero. The Panthers also had 20 more first downs than the Skyhawks, recording 38 first downs to Tennessee-Martin’s 18.

“I didn’t know we had that many yards and first downs,” Babers said. “That makes me feel even worse about the loss. We had so many good things, but the bad things came in the kicking game and with turnovers.”

The Skyhawks made a statement in the opening seconds of the game as Kevin Barfield returned the opening kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown to give Tennessee-Martin a 7-0 lead.

“The opening touchdown did not decide the game, but I have been in a lot of games in my career that the team that scores on an opening kickoff return usually wins the game,” Babers said.

Following the kickoff return, the Panthers got on the scoreboard with a quarterback sneak by junior quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. However, the extra point attempt was blocked, which resulted in the Skyhawks holding onto the lead.

Following the blocked kick, the Skyhawks used the momentum swing and added two touchdowns to take a commanding 21-6 lead at the end of the first quarter. Quarterback Derek Carr connected with Jeremy Butler for an 18-yard touchdown pass, and followed that up with a 29-yard touchdown pass to Barfield to give the Skyhawks the 15-point lead.

In the second quarter, Eastern responded with a pair of touchdowns of its own as red-shirt senior running back Jake Walker found the end zone from two yards out for both of Eastern’s touchdowns.

But the Skyhawks’ special teams unit rose to the occasion again, blocking junior Cam Berra’s extra point attempt and returning it for the two-point conversion.

“I was disappointed in our special teams play today, especially facing the No. 1 special teams unit in the OVC in UT-Martin,” Babers said.

Following another blocked kick by Tennessee-Martin’s special teams unit, the Panthers were on the verge of scoring to end the first half, but a hit on Garoppolo on the goal line caused a fumble, resulting in the Skyhawks recovering the ball and taking momentum into the halftime break.

“When I saw that collision I was like, ‘wow,’” Walker said. “I thought Jimmy (Garoppolo) had gotten the ball across the goal line before UT-Martin knocked it loose. The officials thought otherwise and called it a fumble. That gave them some momentum to end the half.”

The Skyhawks carried their momentum over to the second half as Carr connected with wide receiver Quentin Sims for the eight-yard touchdown pass before finding Butler for the 43-yard touchdown to take a 44-19 lead.

The Panthers would add a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter as Garoppolo connected with senior wide receiver Chris Wright for the 10-yard touchdown pass. He followed that up with his second touchdown pass of the game, finding red-shirt junior wide receiver Erik Lora for the 16-yard score.

For the game, the Panthers were led by Garoppolo’s 428 passing yards, and had a major contribution in the running game as Walker totaled a season-high 182 yards and two touchdowns on 33 carries. Lora also surpassed the 100-yard mark for the sixth consecutive game, totaling 215 yards and a touchdown on 17 receptions.

With the loss, the Panthers fall to 3-3 overall and 2-1 in the OVC. They will be back in action on Saturday when they host Jacksonville State for Homecoming. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. at O’Brien Field.

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