Eastern Illinois coach Bob Spoo is respected as a guru of quarterbacks. Yet Spoo has been around long enough to know, as he put it, “We have to be able to run the ball. That’s always a high priority with us.”
The Panthers could not run at Eastern Kentucky last weekend. They gained only 25 yards in 25 tries. Their top back, Vincent Webb, was held to 26 yards in 10 carries.
These are major reasons Eastern lost 49-6 to its Ohio Valley Conference rival and sent Spoo and his staff back to the drawing board to try shore up a running game for Saturday’s homecoming so it can complement Matt Schabert, who completed 26 of 45 passes for 197 yards.
The sputtering running game wasn’t EIU’s only problem. The Panthers yielded 243 passing yards at Eastern Kentucky and donated touchdowns with a blocked punt and a fumble that was recovered in the end zone.
– Next: Saturday vs. Murray St., 1:30
