The success of a football team can usually be gauged by the team’s blocking, tackling or catching.

However, the one aspect Eastern football players and coaches thought their defense needed could not be helped by such a measurable attribute.

All-American candidate Fred Miller said the defensive key for Saturday’s game against Tennessee-Martin and for the rest of the year is confidence.

“This game came at the right time because we had to get our confidence back,” the junior safety said. “We bounced back (from last week’s game) and that is the main thing. We pursued the ball and we made the plays that we needed.”

To outsiders, Miller’s comments may seem far-fetched considering the score – a 55-43 win – but the end result doesn’t indicate how well the first-team defense played.

Eastern forced Tennessee-Martin into six three-and-outs in their five 11 possessions and gave up 199 yards of total offense after three quarters.

Then in the final quarter, the Skyhawks racked up 172 yards of offense and scored 30 points against the Panthers second and third-string defenders.

“Overall, for three-and-a-half quarters this was the most dominating (defensive) game we have had in the past two years,” defensive coordinator Roc Bellatoni said. “That is before the other guys went in there.”

The performance came one week after giving up 675 yards of total offense and 48 points to Tennessee State.

“We only have had that one bad game,” Bellatoni said. “We hadn’t struggled the last couple of weeks, but I am glad we got it out of our system. I don’t think there is any question that we have our confidence and our swagger back.”

Head coach Bob Spoo thought the starting defense performed at a high level.

“The first-team defense did great, but the backups played poorly and that disappointed me,” Spoo said. “In my mind, the first team only allowed one touchdown and that is nice to see. It turned out to be sloppy, but that’s my fault.”

The starting defense allowed the Skyhawks to score 20 points, but two of those scores came after Panther turnovers.

Tennessee-Martin interim head coach John Jernigan was impressed by the Panther defensive effort.

“They have a good defense and they made the right calls and plays the entire game,” he said. “They got to the ball even when they were in bad position. When you can do that you can make something good consistently happen.”

Bellatori said the defensive formations were not changed when the backups entered the game.

“We changed nothing at all. They have practiced the same plays as the starters all week,” he said. “Those guys just didn’t make enough plays – maybe it was because they were stiff, I don’t know.”

Jernigan, who was coaching the Skyhawks for the second game after previous head coach Sam McCorkle was fired, assessed the Panther defense against the rest of the Ohio Valley Conference.

“I would rate them No. 1 or No. 2 in the conference right now from what I have seen,” Jernigan said. “Their interior line really got after us. We’re young and they exploited that.”