Romo key in leading EIU back from deficit

Eastern Illinois quarterback Tony Romo has won the last two Ohio Valley Conference offensive player of the year awards -- and his performance at Houck Stadium Saturday probably put him on a fast track to make it three in a row.

Romo carved up Southeast's defense, throwing five touchdown passes and helping rally the Panthers from a 21-7 deficit to a 44-27 victory that gave them sole possession of first place in the OVC.

Defending OVC champion EIU, ranked seventh nationally in Division I-AA, has won 11 straight conference games -- thanks in large part to Romo, who led Division I-AA in passing efficiency last year.

"You have to give him a lot of credit," Southeast defensive tackle James Jennette said. "He's not up for the Walter Payton Award for nothing."

Romo is considered one of the leading candidates for the Payton Award, which goes to Division I-AA's top player.

Against Southeast, Romo completed 24 of 34 passes for 295 yards with one interception. He was brilliant in the first half, going 20-for-28 for 243 yards and four touchdowns. Once the Panthers rallied for a 30-21 halftime lead, they were content to keep the ball on the ground as much as possible.

"He's real good," Southeast safety Prince Anderson said.

Particularly disappointing to the Indians' defense was the unit's inability to put much pressure on Romo. EIU has an exceptional offensive line that kept Southeast defenders off Romo most of the day.

And the few times the Indians did mount a pass rush, Romo -- while not particularly fast or quick -- was able to deftly escape danger. In fact, two of Romo's TD passes came when he appeared to be in big trouble but was able to somehow buy the extra time needed to make the plays.

"He has real good pocket presence, but we have to be able to pressure the quarterback more," Jennette said. "We've got to work on that."

Romo said he expected the Indians to come out strong Saturday and he gave them plenty of credit, but had no doubt the Panthers would be able to remain steady despite falling behind by 14 points early.

"They have a great offense and they also did a good job defensively to start the game," Romo said. "We just had to keep our poise. We've got a lot of experience and nobody panicked when we fell behind."

Romo also dished out plenty of credit to the Panthers' defense, which had not been highly rated entering the game. Southeast piled up 188 yards in the first quarter but the Indians were virtually shut down for most of the next two periods before they finally came back to life a bit in the fourth quarter, although by then it was too late.

"The defense did a great job," Romo said. "To shut them down for about two quarters was huge."

Final numbers

EIU finished with 471 total yards, including 176 on the ground as J.R. Taylor rushed for 132 yards. Tight end Nick Eller was Romo's favorite target, catching eight passes for 112 yards.

"They could run and throw, which made it tough on us," Southeast coach Tim Billings said. "Their offensive line did a great job. We couldn't slow them down."

Southeast had 390 total yards. Quarterback Jack Tomco completed 20 of 36 passes for 260 yards, with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He now has 19 TD passes this year, breaking the previous single-season school record of 17, set by Greg Brune in 1966.

Willie Ponder caught 10 passes for 153 yards and two touchdowns. Chris NesSmith added five receptions.

Corey Kinsey led Southeast's running backs with 94 yards on 18 carries as the Indians gained 130 yards on the ground.

Defensively, according to unofficial press box statistics, Southeast linebacker Ricky Farmer had 14 tackles and an interception. Linebacker Kelvin Jones was credited with three tackles for loss.