EIU trying to build off 2023 momentum

CHAMPAIGN — Eastern Illinois has some big games on its future football schedules.

None bigger, of course, than next year’s trip to Alabama.

Playing the Crimson Tide — or any FBS program — helps pay the bills for FCS teams. It’s why EIU will also play at Minnesota in 2026, at Illinois in 2027 and at Kentucky in 2028. Guarantee games are a way of life at that level.

The Panthers have two of them this season. They’ll play their season opener Aug. 29 at Illinois and play at Northwestern’s temporary lakeside home on Sept. 14. It’s part of a challenging start to the season that also includes a home game against Indiana State and a trip to Normal for the 112th Mid-America Classic against Illinois State.

A challenge that could prime EIU to leapfrog UT Martin and stake its claim atop the Big South/Ohio Valley Conference standings. The Panthers finished second to the Skyhawks last season, with an 8-3 overall record that left them just outside the 24-team FCS playoff field.

Winning eight games was a major improvement in Chris Wilkerson’s second season as coach. The EIU graduate, who played for legendary Panthers coach Bob Spoo in 1990s, inherited a team that won just a single game in each of its three seasons under now-former coach Adam Cushing. The Panthers went 2-9 in 2022 before a six-win jump gave them just their second winning season in the last decade.

“We feel like we’ve flipped the script, if you will, and gotten back to being more competitive,” Wilkerson said. “But the whole goal is to return to the national championship playoffs at the FCS level. We were short with that goal last year. That’s been the theme all offseason, through the winter, spring and summer. We just want to continue to focus on process, but we want to take the next step and leave no doubt, if possible, to secure our spot in that playoff field.”

Expectations have risen in Charleston given last year’s success. That EIU also returns several key players has helped fuel that optimism. Quarterback Pierce Holley was named the Big South/OVC preseason Offensive Player of the Year after throwing for 2,741 yards and 17 touchdowns last season.

EIU also returns four of five starters on the offensive line, its top tight end in Alex Herrera and one of the best young running backs in the Big South/OVC. Redshirt sophomore MJ Flowers rushed for 854 yards and eight touchdowns last fall, was the Big South/OVC Offensive Freshman of the Year, a First Team Freshman All-American and runner-up for the Jerry Rice FCS Freshman of the Year award.

“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out when you have some folks coming back, you’re a little bit older and you’ve got some experience that does create some optimism,” EIU athletic director Tom Michael said. “I just try to keep reminding people let’s not take the winning for granted. It’s hard to win games. I think we all know that. If you forget about the details, if you forget about the sacrifices that allowed you to win close games and make big plays, it’s going to bite you in the backside pretty quickly.”

Michael likes having games at Illinois on the schedule. It’s why when he and Illini athletic director Josh Whitman got an agreement for this year’s game, he worked to get the 2028 matchup on the schedule, too.

The guarantee check is, of course, important. So is the fact EIU can max out that money with a quick drive to Champaign. While the 8 p.m. kickoff for the Aug. 29 season opener is later than the Panthers typically play, they’ll make it a there-and-back trip without an overnight stay.

“We’ll try and stay in our routine almost as if it were a home game and then have that 45-minute commute,” Wilkerson said.

EIU might have to push its bus drivers to make the Charleston-to-Champaign trip in 45 minutes, but the point stands. The Panthers will do all of their regular pregame activities at home before heading to Memorial Stadium.

“Football sets the tone, and those Saturdays mean something,” Michael said. “Coming off a really good year where we were really close to making the playoffs, I was on that committee. I’m in that room and understand maybe why we didn’t make the playoffs. It juices everybody up. I think that’s why it’s important for us to try and go up and compete on the 29th.”