All the confusion, all the fears and all the problems Panthers head coach Bob Spoo had leading up to the Family Weekend contest came to a head Saturday afternoon.

Spoo lived through the nightmare that would never end as Eastern Kentucky handed a 41-0 blowout loss to the Panthers at O’Brien Stadium.

“It was truly a team effort today, everybody didn’t do their job and they beat us pretty good,” Spoo said.

The 41-point deficit is the worst home loss since 1997, when former coach Roy Kidd left Charleston with a 49-7 victory. It marked the first time since 1974 that Eastern had been shutout at home since they fell to Wisconsin Milwaukee 33-0.

“We certainly took a step backwards today,” Spoo said. “We simply weren’t competitive.”

Eastern opened up the game with an eight-play, 58-yard-drive down the field that was highlighted with a 40-yard pass from Andrew Harris to senior Dawanzelle Hopson. Hopson ended the day with nine catches for 95 yards. Three plays later, Eastern kicker Steve Kuehn attempted a 38-yard field goal but the sophomore’s kick was poorly hit and landed three to five yards short to signal what was to come for Eastern.

Eastern forced the Colonels to go three-and-out but could not do anything with the good field position. When Eastern lined up for Schofield’s first punt, the long snapper Travis Wanzeck hiked the ball 20 yards over the punter’s head. Schofield retreated to the three-yard line and quickly booted the ball for what was officially ruled as a three-yard punt.

“We’re simply not doing some of the necessary things to win in this league,” Spoo said.

The Colonels got on the board with a 25-yard field goal by senior Adam Smith after Eastern Kentucky took 13 plays to go 37 yards and take a 3-0 lead.

On the next possession, Harris dropped back to pass on third-and-long but was intercepted after his pass was tipped and caught by outside linebacker Jerome Jones.

Colonels quarterback Matt Guice avoided a sack on third-and-seven to find sophomore Andre Ralston for 39 yards. Two plays later tailback C.J. Hudson ran it in for three-yard line for a 10-0 Eastern Kentucky lead early in the second quarter.

“Coach (defensive coordinator) Roc (Bellantoni) was making great calls and putting us in positions to make plays but we didn’t execute,” senior outside linebacker Nick Ricks said.

The first play after the Colonels’ touchdown, Eastern quarterback Andrew Harris was pressured initially which caused an interception after the pass was tipped and caught by a diving outside linebacker Will Stilley.

“I told the team at halftime that they were diving for interceptions and we had a couple bounce off our chests,” Spoo said. “The only reason they were leading was because they were making plays.”

Eastern Kentucky failed to move the ball in Panther territory and set up a 42-yard field goal attempt that was good but Colonels head coach Danny Hope took the points off the board when Eastern was flagged for roughing the kicker.

Two plays later, the Colonels made it 17-0 on a 7-yard run by tailback Terry Ennis.

“A lot of the scores had to do with field position, Hope said. “All we had to do is make a couple of positive plays and they smelled the end zone.’

Eastern got its last scoring chance when Ennis fumbled and the ball was recovered by Jamarr Day at the Colonels 30-yard line.

The Panthers only moved the ball backwards and was forced to attempt a 45-yard field goal by Steve Kuehn that was blocked by Jones.

“Their kicking game was excellent and ours simply wasn’t today. It’s that simple,” Spoo said. “I’m anxious to see the film on plays like that.”

One final special teams mistake caused another seven points for Eastern Kentucky as Colonels junior Allen Evans broke three tackles as he returned a punt 87 yards for a touchdown to build the lead to 24.

“There were some blatant missed tackles out there that’s for sure,” Spoo said.

Eastern tried to create some momentum by moving the ball deep into Eastern Kentucky territory but once again Harris gave the ball away in a crucial situation.

The junior-college transfer scrambled away from pressure but was hit and dropped the ball. The fumble was recovered by Jones who returned it 74 yards for another Colonel touchdown to make it 31-0.

At that point, the 9,531 fans started to hurry for the exits quite quickly.

“The defense is underrated mostly because of the game against Bowling Green (they gave up 63 points) and this was the third game we should’ve had a shutout,” Hope said.

Backup quarterback Andy Vincent finished the game throughout the fourth quarter but failed to move the ball downfield in any way either.

“It’s frustrating to not be challenging defenses deep but we believe in the system and we gotta work within ourselves,” Hopson said.

The Colonels found the end zone one more time in the game as Eastern Kentucky backup quarterback Adam Ellis found Andre Green for a 41-yard touchdown pass to complete the scoring at 41-0.

“To be really honest, even though I have so much respect for EIU and especially coach Spoo, I knew we were going to win the game,” Hope said. “But I couldn’t have expected 41-0.”

Eastern now prepares to find its first Ohio Valley Conference victory when it travels to face Murray State.

“I’m going go home and be disappointed until our afternoon workout on Sunday and that’s when I’ll be ready to go to work,” Hopson said.

“I’m not sure how they’ll react and respond to a loss at home like this,” Spoo said.