Despite what last season’s 5-6 record indicated, the Eastern football team could have just as easily been an 8-3 or even a 9-2 – enough to win the conference.

The Panthers had three games where they lost by less than a touchdown, two overtime losses and a loss to Jacksonville State where a late Eastern turnover halted any chances of a game-winning drive. The turnover also allowed the Gamecocks to put up a late touchdown to put the score out of reach.

With 17 starters returning from last year’s team, not to mention five all-conference selections, it seems that the Panthers were a team on the rise. Eastern finished fourth (4-4) in the Ohio Valley Conference last season, and that’s where they are expected to end up again, at least by the OVC coaches and athletic departments.

The Panthers led the conference in preseason all-conference selections with six and have two preseason all-Americans in senior lineman Pascal Matla and junior cornerback Ben Brown.

Jacksonville State is picked to win the conference after winning the OVC crown the past two seasons – their first two in the OVC.

Eastern Kentucky and Murray State are tabbed as No. 2 and 3 in the conference, the same places they finished last season.

The preseason polls pretty much look exactly the same as last year’s final standings, with the top six teams in the same position. The only difference is Southeast Missouri and Tennessee State flip-flopping at the seven and eight spot.

Basically the writers, coaches and administrators who vote copied and pasted last season’s standings onto their preseason ballots.

The Panthers have a boatload of experience, and perhaps, the reason they didn’t get a higher ranking is that they lack experience in the most important position – quarterback.

Sophomore Mike Donato has taken only three snaps during games in his time at Eastern, and it seems this year, as Donato goes, so go the Panthers.

However, Donato will have a solid core of players around him as he adjusts to the speed of the game. Four out of his five linemen will have at least one year of starting experience. His tailback, Vincent Webb, rushed for over 1,000 yards last season, and his all-OVC wide receiver Ryan Voss was second in the conference with 784 receiving yards.

So with the players around him, Donato is in a good position to prove his ability and surprise the OVC.

And if he does, the whole team might surprise some people too.

Dan Renick is a senior journalism major. Tell him he succeeds because of his supporting cast at [email protected]. .