The torrential rain throughout the two and a half hour game created a mud bath on the football field in Eastern’s Homecoming game against Southeast Missouri Saturday.

Despite the muddy conditions, Eastern (4-1, 3-0) upheld its perfect conference record with a 12-0 win over Southeast Missouri (3-4, 1-2).

“It was a nice win for us,” head coach Bob Spoo said. “Maybe the weather was our ally today.

“I never played or coached in a game with constant rain before.”

Eastern may have pulled off a win in the downpour, but it didn’t come without a few adjustments on the field. The soaked grass was torn into a muddy slip-n-slide and the ball was constantly covered by a fine coating of mud.

The conditions resulted in an array of bizarre plays. Senior holder John Williams had snaps slip through his hands on an extra-point and field goal attempt. Senior kicker/punter Bill Besenhofer was forced to switch legs and make a left-footed punt to keep his kick from being blocked.

The Panthers were penalized 10 times for 94 yards. They fumbled the ball seven times, three of which they were unable to recover. But the most unusual statistics of the game belonged to junior quarterback Tony Romo.

The nation’s No. 2 efficiency passer didn’t throw a single pass throughout the entire game, leaving the workload to running back J.R. Taylor. The junior ran for 241 yards on 37 carries.

The single-game mark was good enough for fourth all-time at Eastern, 42 yards off the school record set by Kevin Staple in 1983.

“Obviously it was really strange,” Spoo said of the game. “We didn’t throw because we didn’t think we could with the weather conditions. It was a strange game, but it was a good win to have. We just ran the same plays over – the ones that were working for us.”

Eastern scored its first touchdown with 8:06 left in the first quarter on a seven-yard rush by Taylor to put the Panthers on the scoreboard at 6-0. The Panthers failed to make the conversion when the ball slid through Williams’ hands on the extra point attempt.

The second and third quarters remained scoreless for both sides as gusts of wind up to 30 miles per hour created sideways rain. It wasn’t until the fourth quarter that Eastern was able to produce another touchdown.

With a 3rd and 1 at the start of the quarter, Taylor broke out with a 57-yard touchdown to give Eastern a 12-0 lead. The two-point conversion attempt failed when sophomore running back Andre Raymond was stopped one yard short of the goal line.

On the next possession when faced with a 3rd and 16, Taylor rushed into the endzone for what would have been the Panthers’ third touchdown, but a holding penalty brought the play back. Eastern repeated the down with 24 yards to go, but failed to pick up the first down.

“I really wanted a third (touchdown),” Spoo said. “A win is a win. That’s the most important thing. Winning this conference is the most important thing.”

Taylor’s 241 yards was a career-high, topping his 201 yards last season at Illinois State.

“That’s all the offensive line,” Taylor said. “That’s all them. All I did was basically run straight, because you can’t cut. Once I did pop through, all I had to do was run straight and hang on to it.

“I was concentrating on not fumbling, but I did anyways,” Taylor said. “Sometimes I was squeezing the ball so tight it popped out.

But the heavy rain didn’t bother Taylor in the end.

“My legs were tired trying to get out of the mud,” Taylor said. “It can rain all day, every day. It doesn’t matter to me. I wasn’t worried about it because of my running style. I don’t cut as fast as Andre Raymond, so he may have had more problems. It was probably to my advantage.

“But I can still taste the mud in my mouth. I’ve never played in rain.” Eastern’s running game relied heavily on the line to allow for the 313 total rushing yards it acquired against the Indians.

“Tony (Romo) was riding us the whole game,” junior center Scott Sholl said. “He told us in the huddle, `Just keep running. This is your game. Let’s roll.’

“This was the ultimate of fun football games – to come out and show what the line really has to offer. I think we came out. Despite the rain, we did a great job.”

While the offense may have had its fair taste of the mud, it was the defensive line who may have had the dirtier uniforms.

“That was my style of game,” senior defensive tackle Brad Metzger said. “I grew up on a farm. It was like playing in pig s*** to me. It was fun.”

The defense was led by senior Nick Ricks and sophomore Fred Miller, who combined for 17 of the defense’s 37 tackles.

“The defense really played the second half,” Spoo said. “Everybody came out of it, in terms of injuries, unscathed. That was crucial.

“We’re 3-0 in the conference now and we get a week away from it at Southern (Illinois). I’m pleased. I thought we played well.”