THURSDAY'S SCORES
@Eastern Illinois 49, Southern Illinois 28
@Tennessee Tech 41, Hampton 31
@Central Michigan 38,
Southeast Missouri 27
EASTERN ILLINOIS 49, SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 28
CHARLESTON, Ill. - The New ERA of Eastern Illinois football opened on Thursday night with the Panthers setting a school record with seven team touchdown passes during a 49-28 win over Southern Illinois. It was the first game for new EIU head coach Dino Babers.
Jimmy Garoppolo accounted for five of those touchdown passes finishing the day 32-of-49 for 369 yards. Garoppolo hooked up with Erik Lora twice, Jake Walker, Chris Wright and Sam Hendricks for the five scores.
Each team scored in the first quarter as Hendricks found Watkins on a wide receiver pass from 40-yards out with 9:32 to play. Lora had a 24-yard pass to Wright with 4:32 left in the third quarter.
SIU's first score was on a Mika'il McCall 6-yard run with 3:35 left in the first. McCall scored three of SIU's four touchdowns. He had a 74-yard pass from Kory Faulkner in the second and 6-yard run in the third. McCall rushed for 56 yards with 90 yards receiving.
EIU led 28-21 at the half as Lora had a touchdown reception in the second. Walker and Wright added touchdown grabs. McCall tied the game at 28-28 on the Salukis first drive of the second half.
The Panthers responded with a drive ending with Garoppolo hitting Lora from 11-yards out with 9:22 left in the third quarter. Lora finished with 13 catches for 151 yards and two touchdowns.
EIU tacked on two more scores in the third quarter with Wright catching a pass from Lora and Hendricks hauling in a pass from Garoppolo with 1:58 left to play.
The Panthers had 51 total passes and 522 yards of offense as they will play at Western Michigan next Saturday at 6 p.m.
EIU's defense forced six turnovers with two interceptions by Pete Houlihan and DJ Bland and four forced fumbles. Robert Haynes had a team high nine tackles. Nick Beard added eight.
The Panthers turned away the Salukis inside the ten yard line with 8:47 left in the game as they forced three incomplete passes by Faulkner. Faulkner was 31-of-58 for 293 yards.
Babers becomes only the third EIU coach to win their first game as a Panthers head coach since the early 1900's. Two of the previous ones were Darrell Mudra in 1978 and Al Molde in 1983. The one prior to that was Winfield Angus back in 1935.
Garoppolo's five touchdown passes tie him for third most in a single game in EIU history. Lora's 13 receptions are the most by an EIU receiver since the wide out caught ten in 2010 at UT Martin. Garoppolo's 369 yards are a career high.
TENNESSEE TECH 41, HAMPTON 31
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Former high school teammates and current Tennessee Tech seniors Tre Lamb and Adam Urbano put on an offensive show on Thursday night as the Golden Eagles defeated the Hampton Pirates 41-31 in the 2012 season opener. Lamb and Urbano both recorded career-high marks in the game as head Coach Watson Brown remained unbeaten in Tech home-openers.
Lamb and Urbano, who were high school teammates at Calhoun High School in Calhoun, Ga., led the Golden Eagles offensive juggernaut that put up 548 yards of total offense on 82 plays. The 548 yards were the second highest total of a Watson Brown led team at Tech. Lamb completed 24 of 35 passes for 339 yards and tied a career-high with four passing touchdowns. His 339 yards were the second most of his career.
Urbano, who transfered from Georgia Southern two years ago, had his best game as a member of the Golden Eagle football team and of his career, rushing for 158 yards and one score on 25 carries. His previous career-high of 153 yards came at Georgia Southern.
Also a member of the Calhoun High School squad with Lamb and Urbano, Da'Rick Rogers, who transfered to Tech earlier this week from the University of Tennessee, put up solid numbers in his Golden Eagle debut. The leading receiver in the SEC one year ago, Rogers finished with three grabs for 75 yards and a key touchdown with four seconds left in the first half.
Senior receiver Zack Ziegler had a career-best two touchdown grabs in the game and added 43 yards. He scored the first points of the game, sneaking behind the defense for a 34-yard touchdown off the arm of Tre Lamb. His second touchdown, a nine-yard reception from Lamb, came in the fourth quarter and ended a 17-point run by the Pirates.
Another receiver, sophomore Cody Matthews, had a career night for the Golden Eagles, hauling in three passes for a team-high 89 yards.
Lamb climbed up the Tennessee Tech record book lists in the game, moving up to fifth on the all-time list for career passing yards and up to sixth on the all-time list for career offense. The 339 yards marked just the second time he passed for over 300 yards and marked the ninth 200-yard game of his career.
Hauling in his first career touchdown, junior Ryan Tilghman made a circus-like, one-handed grab in the corner of the endzone in the second quarter to give the Golden Eagles a 14-0 lead.
Sophomore kicker Zach Sharp chipped in two field goals in the game, one from 25 yards and one from 28 yards. He added 11 total points on the night.
CENTRAL MICHIGAN 38, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 27
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - Redshirt-freshman quarterback Scott Lathrop threw for 120 yards and one touchdown, and ran for 31 yards and one TD, as Southeast Missouri (0-1) gave Central Michigan (1-0) all it could handle in a 38-27 loss Thursday night at Kelly/Shorts Stadium.
Lathrop, in his first career start at quarterback, was the first player other than Matt Scheible to start under center for Southeast since 2008. A native of Warrenton, Mo., Lathrop was efficient, completing 10-of-15 passes. He also ran the ball 15 times.
David Harman put CMU on the board first with a 24-yard field goal on the Chippewas second drive of the game, but Southeast answered with a big play on its next possession.
Spencer Davis took a Lathrop pitch off the right side and scampered 55 yards down the far sideline to give the Redhawks a 7-3 advantage with 7:46 left to play in the first quarter. The rushing touchdown, which marked the second of Davis' career, gave Southeast its first lead against a Football Bowl Subdivision since the 2002 campaign. That year, the Redhawks led Eastern Michigan, 32-28, with 8:16 left in the fourth quarter in Ypsilanti.
George Neuhaus, who made his first career start at linebacker, picked off a Ryan Radcliff pass at the CMU 31-yardline to set up Southeast's next score. After getting to the Chippewa 20-yardline, Drew Geldbach kicked a 37-yard field goal to extend the Redhawks lead to 10-3 with 4:26 remaining.
Tipton broke free and dashed 32 yards down the near sideline to tie the game at 10-10 at the 2:26 mark of the first quarter. Southeast made another huge play on defense during CMU's ensuing drive when Cantrell Andrews stripped the ball from Tipton. Neuhaus recovered at the Redhawks 38-yardline.
D.J. Foster made two big catches, one of which went for 43 yards, to help move Southeast within striking distance again. Lathrop then capped a 6-play, 62-yard march with a 4-yard touchdown run, giving the Redhawks a 17-10 lead. The touchdown was the first of Lathrop's career.
A short 20-yard punt by Richie Hogan gave Southeast excellent field position in CMU territory. Six plays later, Lathrop threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to a wide open Foster, expanding the Redhawks lead to 24-10 lead with 7:13 left in the second quarter.
CMU quickly closed the gap with back-to-back rushing touchdowns to bring the game to a 24-24 deadlock at the half. Tipton scored on a 48-yard run after Radcliff completed an 18-yard pass to Cody Wilson on a 3rd-and-6. After that, Anthony Garland hit paydirt on a 2-yard run.
Southeast consumed nearly nine minutes in its opening drive of the second half. The Redhawks went 52 yards in 15 plays before pulling ahead, 27-24, on a 40-yard field goal by Geldbach with 6:02 left in the third quarter.
CMU kept another drive alive with a Courtney Williams 7-yard run on third down before Radcliff delivered a 20-yard touchdown pass to Jarrett Fleming, regaining a 31-27 edge for the Chippewas. The Chippewas added one final score when Tipton scored from a yard out to cap a 91-yard drive.
Foster finished with a game-high six catches for 97 yards and a touchdown, while Levi Terrell led
Southeast's rushing attack with 78 yards on 15 attempts. Terrell averaged 5.2 yards per carry.
Tipton ran for 180 yards and three touchdowns to lead CMU. He picked up 10.6 yards per carry, as the Chippewas outgained the Redhawks, 324-188, on the ground. Garland followed with 102 yards and one touchdown on 17 carries.
Defensively, Southeast had three takeaways. Reggie Jennings and Tylor Brock paved the way with 10 tackles apiece, while Blake Peiffer added eight. Special teams wise, Joe Vucic averaged 47.6 yards per punt and had a 68-yarder, the second-longest of his career.
Eight different Redhawks, including Lathrop, Andrews, Neuhaus, Jennings, Branden Spann, Corey Porter, Daniel Siehndel and Josyah O'Keefe-Lopez made their first career start tonight.