Eastern Illinois head coach Bob Spoo and Murray State sideline general Joe Pannunzio each have the same problem for their next contest – preparing for quarterback speed.

The Panthers have two weeks to prepare for 1-A Missouri and signal caller Brad Smith, who is argueably the most dangerous quarterback in college football.

The sophomore under center for the Tigers is a lead candidate for the Heisman Trophy and last season was named the Big 12 conference Freshman and Newcomer of the Year.

Smith is so dangerous to defenses because he can beat the opposition with his right arm or his feet. In 2002, he became the second player in Division 1-A history to throw for 2,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards in a single season. Saturday in the Tigers’ 22-15 victory over Illinois, the Fighting Illini contained Smith in the State Farm Shootout. Smith was 12 of 18 for 102 yards, rushed 17 times for 66 yards and accounted for two touchdowns.

To prepare his defense, Spoo believes his best athlete to showcase Smith’s talent is backup quarterback Andrew Harris.

“I think the best way for us to simulate that would be with Andrew but I don’t know if we’ll do that to prepare,” Spoo said.

The Murray State Racers encounter its biggest in-state rival when they face the Division 1-A and Southeastern conference Kentucky Wildcats.

“It’s great for the kids to be able to compete against the big school in the state,” Pannunzio said. “The people around this program are kinda in a frenzy about this game.”

Pannunzio will encounter sleepless nights trying to prepare for the two-headed monster at quarterback for the Wildcats.

Senior quarterback Jared Lorenzen will start the game and provides the classic drop back style to the Wildcats. The 2002 semi-finalists for the Davey O’Brien Award is one of the largest quarterback at 260 pounds.

“Jared Lorenzen is a great competitior but by Thursday I’ll have myself convinced that we can beat them,” Pannunzio said.

In the 40-24 loss to Louisville Sunday, Lorenzen was 18 of 31 for 236 yards and 2 touchdowns.

The Wildcats also used junior Shaun Boyd for one play but intend on using him more in the offensive structure.

“We are trying to cover him and his option in our gameplan,” Pannunzio said. “(Boyd) is probably the best athlete on their team.”

However, Pannunzio may be gameplanning for things he has never seen before.

“They do a lot of crazy stuff like that, like lining Lorenzen up at wide receiver too,” Pannunzio said. “Our coaching staff isn’t really that smart to do that stuff so we’ll have to prepre for it.”