Panthers head coach Bob Spoo realizes after his squads 27-17 road win against Murray State, the Panthers need more than anything a momentum push heading into the final weeks of the season.

“Losing sucks all the energy out of you but winning has the exact opposite effect,” Spoo said.

Eastern has not lost to Tennessee-Martin since joining the OVC and have been held under 40 points only twice in the series. However, Spoo and company understand that under new head coach Matt Griffin, the Skyhawks have a new attitude that allowed UTM to win its first OVC contest in 44 attempts.

“Regardless who you are playing, you have to come to play every week in the OVC,” Spoo said. “However, this team is certainly not the weak sisters of the league anymore.”

Offense:

Offensive coordinator John Carr is exemplifying his last name exactly by driving up the field on the ground instead of putting the ball in the air every down.

The reason for this scheme may be the inconsistency of sophomore starting quarterback Andrew Harris who was only 6-of-16 for 41 yards and no touchdowns last week at Murray State. The Panthers were given an advantage in field position which forced conservative approach to guarantee points when the Racers turned the ball over.

“They gave us field position and we just made some plays from guys that stepped up,” Spoo said.

The ground attack will be led by a pair of unfamiliar faces because of a foot injury to senior tailback Andre Raymond which kept him out of the second half of last week’s victory.

Red-shirt freshman Vincent Webb will be the workhorse for the offense, but Spoo was impressed with the long runs provided by true freshman Adamola Adeniji. The duo combined for 168 yards on 30 carries and two touchdowns.

“Raymond is a day-to-day thing but Webb and Andeniji picked up the slack,” Spoo said. “It’s our hope they continue to get better.”

One year ago under Sam McCorkle the Skyhawks ran a three-back option attack that limited the creativity on the offensive side of the ball. However, with Griffin at the helm, Tennessee-Martin has aired the ball out 100 times in the last two games. Sophomore quarterback Brady Wahlberg has already set two school single-game records in passing and completed 24 of 35 for 193 yards in a 57-22 loss to Samford last week.

Wahlberg will look to pick on the Panthers small cornerbacks and hope the Skyhawks quick version of the fun-and-gun will keep Eastern on its toes.

“We have a pro-style offense and a player in Brady that makes great decision every week,” Grifffin said. “Going into this game against a solid opponent, we have a plan and we’re going to stick with it.”

Advantage: Tennessee-Martin

Defense:

Eastern has lost one of its captains on defense as inside linebacker Fred Miller has suffered a severe knee sprain and won’t play in his final Homecoming game of his Panther career leaving the defense with only two seniors starting this Saturday.

“Fred Miller will be out for a quite a while I think,” Spoo said.

Replacing the large shoes of Miller will be true freshman David Schratz making his first career collegiate start.

Defensive coordinator Roc Bellantoni will look to his newcomers on defense to cause similar amounts of turnovers similar to last week to give the Pantthers better field position to take even more pressure of the Panthers young offensive.

Griffin doesn’t believe the lack of size in the defensive backfield will be a disadvantage.

“I’m not height and weight type of coach, I’m a football player type guy and Eastern has people that simply make plays,” Griffin said.

UTM is coming off a last week blowup on defense where they gave up 57 points and ranks 114th out of 121 teams in scoring defense. Griffin is under the impression his players are quality athletes but it’s simply a lack of basic execution on the field.

“We simply aren’t tackling people and when you can’t wrap people up, you don’t win football games,” Griffin said.

The defense is due for a breakout performance on the road and it’s best performance of the year was during a fourth-quarter shutout versus Tennessee Tech which set up for the come-from-behind victory.

“This team has never quit on me and maintains a solid attitude,” Griffin said. “Almost every time you travel the mentality of a road warrior has to be there.”

Advantage: Eastern

Final Score: Eastern – 35, UTM – 21