Redhawks to host improved EIU in opener

Eastern Illinois football coach Bob Spoo is not yet ready to declare that his traditionally strong Panthers are back after a rare down season.

Spoo figures he'll start to get a better idea Saturday when the 2-0 Panthers visit 1-1 Southeast Missouri State in the Ohio Valley Conference opener for both teams. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m.

"I think it's a little bit early to tell," said Spoo, the dean of OVC coaches in his 22nd season at EIU. "We played a couple of teams in transition ... that we were probably expected to win.

"The tests will be coming up, starting Saturday."

Based on what the Panthers did in their first two games, Southeast coach Tony Samuel believes they are back on track.

Matt Scheible hands off to Henry Harris during the first quarter of the Redhawks' season opener against Quincy at Houck Stadium. (Kit Doyle)

The Panthers opened with a 31-6 rout of Illinois State, then romped 31-0 at Indiana State. Granted, those squads are down right now, but EIU dominated both opponents.

EIU is tied for first nationally in scoring defense at three points per game. The Panthers have allowed only 22 rushing yards per game to rank fourth and they are third in total defense at 140.5 yards a contest.

"They're back to their old selves," Samuel said. "They look good."

Spoo repeated that he'd rather reserve judgment on that after EIU had a string of three straight playoff appearances broken last year by going 5-7 and finishing sixth in the nine-team OVC, just ahead of Southeast.

"We're happy with the wins, but understand we've got a long way to go," Spoo said.

Spoo's offense has received a boost from two first-year EIU players who are among 10 Division I-A transfers in the program.

Senior quarterback Jake Christensen passed for more than 2,200 yards and 17 touchdowns at Iowa in 2007 but started just two games last year and decided to use his final season of eligibility at EIU.

Christensen, a left-hander, has completed 68.3 percent of his attempts (28 of 41) for 312 yards and four touchdowns, with one interception. He ranks 20th nationally in passing efficiency.

"He's accurate and he runs the offense well," Samuel said.

Junior tailback Mon Williams has rushed for 200 yards -- he ranks 17th nationally -- while averaging 6.5 yards per carry.

The 6-foot-2, 220-pound Williams was a three-year squad member at Florida, where he saw little action in 2006 and 2008 while redshirting with an injury in 2007.

Williams earned OVC newcomer of the week honors for his performance at Indiana State. He gained 113 yards on 15 carries while scoring touchdowns on runs of 54 and 30 yards.

"He's a hard-running back who makes good decisions," Samuel said.

While Spoo claims to be unsure where his team stands, the same probably is true for Samuel, whose squad destroyed a lower-division opponent and was destroyed by a higher-division opponent.

Southeast began the year by mauling NAIA Quincy 72-3, then was buried 70-3 at Cincinnati, the nation's 17th-ranked Division I-A team.

"We're real juiced," Southeast senior wide receiver Walter Peoples said of opening OVC play. "We're coming off a bad week, but we're going to turn it around."

Southeast has lost five straight to EIU, including 24-21 a year ago in Charleston, Ill. The Redhawks last beat the Panthers 30-17 in 2003 at Houck Stadium.

"They look good on paper," Peoples said. "I think it's going to be a dogfight, like it was last year."

EIU, off to its first 2-0 start since 2001, is poised to break into the top 25 with a win. The Panthers are 26th in the Sports Network poll, just 26 points out of 25th place.

As for the Redhawks, this is far from a make-or-break contest since they'll have seven OVC games remaining. But Southeast would love to find itself atop the conference standings by late Saturday night.

"It would be nice to get that thing started right," Samuel said. "You want to be 1-0 instead of 0-1, no question about it."