Conference play has arrived for the Panthers.

With an 1-3 non-conference record in the books, including last week’s 31-7 loss against Illinois State, Eastern’s head coach Chris Wilkerson is ready to move on to the Big South-Ohio Valley Conference games.

“It’s a reset of the season,” Wilkerson said. “When the dust settles, we’re going to figure out where we’re at.”

Eastern is set to face Lindenwood Saturday to kick off both team’s conference play in the 2024 season.

Lindenwood’s head coach Jed Stugart led the Lions to a 1-3 non-conference record with losses from Kansas, University of Central Arkansas and Missouri State University.

Lindenwood’s first win of the season was against the University of St. Thomas with a final score of 64-0.

Stugart said the win over St. Thomas was a win the team needed to better their psyche heading into conference play.

“It’s been a tough stretch, our first three non-conference games,” Stugart said. “It was good to see the guys bounce back and battle a good football team, and we played really well. It’s a short-lived, fun memory. We put that one to bed because it’ll be a tough test this week.”

In a span of four games, Lindenwood’s starting quarterback, senior Nate Glantz, recorded 61 completions out of 104 for 659 yards, three touchdowns and four interceptions.

Stugart says Glantz has been getting more comfortable with the system. Because Glantz got on campus in the summer after transferring from McNeese, he did not have a spring ball with the Lions.

“For his sake too, to have a pretty well-balanced game gives him that confidence,” Stugart said.

For Eastern, graduate quarterback Pierce Holley recorded 62 completions out of 114 for 654 yards, two touchdowns and six interceptions.

Holley said the Panthers are preparing for conference play like it’s any other game.

“We’re preparing what we need to work on and coming together as a team,” Holley said. “We’re bringing more energy and getting ready to win.”

With conference play right around the corner, redshirt senior offensive lineman Sebastian Pares said even though the team had a tough schedule thus far, their record doesn’t reflect the team’s abilities.

“We have all the chances to win out,” Pares said. “Confidence is something that will be key this week, and just because it hasn’t been nice and sweet over the four weeks, that doesn’t mean we’re a bad team. Our record doesn’t reflect how good of a team we are.”

Senior linebacker Ira Armstead II says he’s proud of the team’s dedication to never give up. Within the linebacker room, Armstead says the position room have been paying more attention on their footwork to help out the rest of the defense.

“We’re being more aggressive with everything,” Armstead said. “As long as we come together and work as a unit, we’ll be better off.”

Redshirt sophomore running back MJ Flowers says he’s excited about conference play, and because one of the team’s goals this season is to win the Big South-OVC Conference Championship, he is ready to start conference play with a win.

Stugart said if the Lions come out with the win over the Panthers, the Lions will have to play a good football game.

“The first three games, we had flashes that we could play with anybody in the country,” Stugart said. “We showed that against Kansas in the first half, we showed it against Missouri State two weeks ago. We had a bad first quarter, but basically tied them in the second half. Last week, we put four quarters together and played sound, technique, fundamental football. Those are the things that have to happen with our football team.”

Stugart believes the Lions can’t go out on the field, play poorly and win the game. When Lindenwood was a Division II team, Stugart thinks there was a time when the team could sneak out with a win without playing their best, but since the program has moved up to the Division I level, Stugart said the competition has “too good of opponents” to be able to win without playing at their best.

Stugart also credited Wilkerson and how he’s changed the program at Eastern. Stugart knows the Panthers have a lot of returners in Holley and as well as the defense, and because of the veteran status the team has, Stugart believes the Panthers are “a better team than what their record says.”

Wilkerson says the team is “frustrated but not panicked” when it comes to their non-conference games coming to an end before conference play starts.

Pares is also not panicking about the team’s record, and he feels that the improvement from the offensive line will continue to evolve throughout the rest of the season.

“I think Illinois State was a good game,” Pares said. “It’s really good to see we can run the ball. Illinois State was a good start, and we’re looking forward to being more consistent for the rest of the year.”

In five weeks of Football Championship Subdivision games, there have been two Big South-OVC matchups. Southeast Missouri beat UT Martin in a final double overtime score of 45-42, and Tennessee Tech defeated Tennessee State with a final score of 24-14.

The teams in the Big South-OVC that will start their conference play this upcoming week is Eastern, Lindenwood, Charleston Southern and Gardner Webb.

Lindenwood is set to face off against Eastern on Saturday at O’Brien Field. Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.

Zaria Flippin can be reached at 581-2812 or at zhflippin@eiu.edu.