The Championship Subdivision News Log

JACKSONVILLE, Ala. – In this time of the year when some struggling football teams start blaming people, Eastern Illinois had its finger pointing Saturday.

All of it was praise following the Panthers’ finest hours in years, Saturday’s 28-20 upset win over a Jacksonville State team that had been looking nearly invincible in the Ohio Valley Conference.

Credit started at the top.

“I will tell you our head coach did a great job this week, not that he doesn’t every week,” defensive coordinator Roc Bellantoni said. “But he had some ideas, he brought them to the staff and we used them. I don’t know if we outcoached them but our head coach did a great job even though he won’t want take the credit.”

Head coach Bob Spoo pulled out nearly all the stops – Wildcat offensive plays in which third-string quarterback Doug Reynolds, a redshirt freshman, saw action for the first time in his career; an onside kick in the first quarter; you name it.

“They were playing about 40 yards of football field and we were playing about 80,” Jacksonville State coach Jack Crowe said. “Coach Spoo did a great job of positioning them and making opportunities happen. I think their quarterback is a great game manager. Eastern Illinois knows how to play football.”

In this special win, special teams plays helped the Panthers win while outgained in total offense by Jacksonville State 365 to 255.

The Panthers only managed 65 yards on 35 rushing plays but only had to go 4 yards for one touchdown after a blocked punt by Lorence Ricks, who in the third quarter returned a kickoff 87 yards for a touchdown that proved to be the difference.

Again, finger pointing.

“The blocked punt was coach Smiley’s scheme,” Ricks said crediting special teams coach Matthew Smiley. “Coach Smiley had it figured out and we executed it. The schemes that coach Smiley put together worked out perfectly.”

Smiley in turn credited others.

“For the kickoff return we have a meeting every week where the whole staff sits and watches special teams,” Smiley said. “Coach Spoo said ‘let’s make sure we leave no stone unturned.’ It was actually Roc who saw a couple of wrinkles that would work. We’ve been pretty consistent with what our returns were and our schemes. We just changed things to give them a different look.

“The blocked punt, I learned that lesson the hard way. We got that punt blocked by Eastern Kentucky. We stole one out of their book.”

Added to EIU’s playbook was Reynolds taking snaps while starting quarterback Jake Christensen stayed on the field as an eligible receiver.

“That was an emphasis especially from coach Spoo all week,” EIU offensive coordinator Roy Wittke said. “ In a ballgame like that anything you can do to put your opponent on your heels or do something you haven’t seen before is an advantage. It really helped us early in the ballgame. The way our kids started the game was critical.

“We just call it Panther. From a production standpoint it didn’t gain a lot of yards but we wanted to show it early but we wanted to force them to talk about it. It was all a part of the plan to make sure we didn’t leave any stone unturned.”

Spoo said: “I’ve been after coach Wittke a little bit to get Doug involved and give opponents something else to think about I don’t know if it’s the Wildcat. It’s another quarterback being back there to take another snap. It has an effect. It gives them something else to prepare for.”

Eastern’s defense had its own of razzle dazzle.

While Jacksonville State’s Walter Payton candidate Ryan Perrilloux was not exactly stopped completing 16 of 26 passes for 236 yards with one touchdown and one interception, he was not as good as the Football Championship Subdivision leading 195.13 efficiency rating he brought into the game.

“We had a different type of cover-2,” Bellantoni said. “I think we caused them some problems. We had a couple of new blitzes against their two-back set. I think we just created a little bit of few looks to make them comfortable. Ryan wasn’t doing the things he did on tape. I think we took him out of his comfort zone.

“But in the end guys have to make plays one-on-one. It’s not about the schemes; it’s about guys making plays and they did that.”

SPOO, EIU STAFF FIND WAYS TO BEAT THE OVC POWER
By Journal Gazzette/Charleston Times-Courier staff
http://www.jg-tc.com/articles/2009/10/25/sports/doc4ae50dd375e9d153747963.txt