When Eastern hired offensive coordinator Greg Stevens in January, the Panthers were able to see that his offense ranked near the top of the country in rushing yards last year at Southeastern Louisiana.

For red-shirt senior wide receiver Adam Drake, who had a breakout season in 2013, making 85 receptions for 1,305 yards and 13 touchdowns, he could have thought that his numbers would take a bit of a dip this season.

First-year coach Kim Dameron made it clear early on that his team would have a run-first mentality, unlike last season, when Jimmy Garoppolo led Eastern’s passing attack that accounted for 63.2 percent of the Panthers’ offense.

Dameron’s philosophy and Stevens’ playbook, along with the running of ability of Jalen Whitlow and a plethora of running backs have led Eastern to the No. 8 rushing offense in the country, averaging 250.3 yards per game.

Yet, through 10 games, Drake finds himself as the nation’s leader in receiving yards, with 1,153.

Don’t tell Dameron that you have to throw it over and over and over again to put up elite numbers.

“I’d say that people who think that you have to throw it all the time to have good receiver play that this debunks that a little bit,” Dameron said.

Drake has been the No. 1 target since the start of the season, when the Panthers were experimenting with Andrew Manley and Whitlow in a dual-quarterback system.

But after three games, Dameron made the decision to go with Whitlow as the starter and since then Eastern fans are getting accustomed to hearing “touchdown Adam Drake from Jalen Whitlow,” reminiscent of “Garoppolo to Lora.”

Since Ohio Valley Conference play began against Austin Peay on Sept. 20, Drake has made 45 receptions for 720 yards and 10 touchdowns. All three stats lead OVC receivers.

“He makes my job a lot easier,” Whitlow said.

The Kentucky transfer, who struggled through the first three games of the season, throwing four interceptions and zero touchdowns, has thrown 14 touchdown passes and only one interception in conference play.

Drake’s production has not dipped at all this season, having the second highest receiving yards per game average (115.3) and the fourth highest average in receptions per game at 7.7 in the entire FCS.

But there is no doubt that Eastern’s running game has created more opportunities for the Charleston native.

“For the most part because we do run the football so well, Adam gets a lot of 1-on-1 coverage and he’s able to take advantage of that because he’s such a good route runner,” Dameron said. “He’s faster than what you think he is and he’s got fantastic hands.”

Those fantastic hands were on display Saturday at O’Brien Field, where Drake caught 11 passes for a season-high 176 yards, scoring two more touchdowns. In the first half alone, Drake had eight catches, 144 yards and a touchdown.

“He’s a good receiver,” Whitlow said. “He does everything right. He’s a leader, he works hard and he’s a guy you want on your team.”

Drake has had 100 or more receiving yards in six of Eastern’s 10 games this season and has caught two or more touchdowns in four of the Panthers’ last five OVC games.

Eastern had its best offensive output against Murray State, which the Panthers defeated 48-26, as Dameron saw close to 700 yards of offense and the most plays run this season.

“It’s incredible how efficient the offense has become,” Dameron said. “I mean, 342 rushing, 312 throwing, 14-of-20 on third down. The (third) most plays we have ever had 104 plays, 654 yards. We’re just really excited what the offense is doing right now.”

Drake converted three of those third downs, including a third down and eight with 2:49 left in the first quarter, when Whitlow connected with the senior for a 46-yard touchdown pass.

With the 654 yards of offense against the Racers, Eastern jumped over Jacksonville State for the best offense in the OVC, averaging 551.2 yards per game.

Dameron praised his offense, which leads the conference in scoring at 44.2 points per game. After a 1-5 start to the season, Eastern is now 5-5, following four consecutive conference wins.

“I’m really proud of their progress,” Dameron said.

Coupling his season-best 176 yards against Murray State, with his season-best three touchdowns against Tennessee Tech the week before, Drake has a combined 17 receptions, 329 yards and five touchdowns in the past two games.

In the Panthers’ 41-10 win against the Golden Eagles on Nov. 1, Drake was able to beat man-coverage for a career-long 90-yard touchdown.

“He’s been able to tale advantage of that 1-on-1 coverage and Jalen has gotten better as far as his accuracy is concerned,” Dameron said.

Whitlow has gotten more accurate, especially in the OVC, where he is completing 68.8 percent of his passes. But the junior quarterback knows that even when he can’t put the ball exactly where it needs to be, Drake will be around to make the grab.

“You can throw it out of the end zone and he’ll make the catch,” Whitlow said. “You can throw into the stands and he’ll make the catch. He runs good routes, he gets good body position, has great ball skills. There’s nothing else to say about that. He shows it on the field every Saturday.”

Aldo Soto (@asoto21) can be reached at 581-2812 or asoto2@eiu.edu.