Hootie and the Blowfish said it right when they referred to time as being punishing.

Both offensively and defensively, Eastern football has been punished by the amount of time in the trenches .

Junior quarterback Andy Vincent was given absolutely zero time in the pocket Saturday as he was sacked six times in Eastern’s 21-14 loss to Illinois State.

While Vincent was hurried all around the field, the Eastern defense had trouble getting to Redbird quarterback Mike Souza. He had time to do what he wanted all day long by not being sacked once.

This wasn’t just one week of bad luck. This has happened in all three of the games Eastern has played this season.

To date, Eastern has recorded zero sacks on the defensive side while Eastern quarterbacks have been put on their backs 12 times.

To be a successful football team, the Panthers are going to have to reverse that number or at least make it more equal.

I witnessed some good things from Vincent, though his numbers don’t show it. With a little more time in the pocket he can make the necessary throws as long as his receivers hang on to the ball (that’s a different story).

The six sacks Saturday also had little to do with Vincent’s ability to allude defenders. On several occasions he was able to escape pursuit and make something out of nothing.

The offensive line did a great job of finding Andre Raymond holes as the senior tailback finished the day with an average of five yards per carry for 110 yards.

But on passing downs it was a different story as guys missed assignments and failed to pick up tricky Illinois State blitzes.

This hurts every aspect of a passing game because receivers can’t be sent on long routes. If Vincent does take a chance downfield, his chances of throwing an interception rise with him having no time to set up.

Lack of time is what caused Vincent to throw his only interception of the game. It wasn’t because he was pressured on that particular play, but it’s because they were forced to run the same short route play after play.

Former Panther Antwan Oliver took a gamble and read the play, stepping in front of Eastern’s receiver and picked it off.

I’ll give the defense a little more slack than the offense because they have been the backbone of this year’s squad, but a few things still need to be improved.

Every quarterback Eastern has faced has been a mobile guy who is able to make plays on the run or take off for long gains.

But without pressure on the quarterback even a guy who has no running ability at all could have success.

The Panthers’ defense is good. There is no question about that. But the fact is, pressure on a quarterback can mean better than good.

Though Fred Miller’s interception return for a touchdown was not a pressure situation, Miller could find more balls fall in his hands when a quarterback is rushed.

It’s still early in the season and Eastern still has one more opponent before conference play begins. Eastern better hope this is just a problem of lack of experience and maturity because if it isn’t solved, Saturday’s outcome will become the norm.