Eastern and Indiana State will enter the season opener Thursday night having the opposite problem with their quarterbacks.

Spoo and offensive coordinator Mark Hutson will attempt to fit sophomore Mike Donato around 9 other returning starters. Donato has taken three official snaps in his college career and giving the Broadview native confidence is priority number one in the Panthers game plan.

“We anticipate they will probably try and put a lot of pressure on him,” Spoo said. “The answer to that is using the quick game which includes three-step drops and using his unique talents like moving in the pocket.”

On the opposite side, the key for Sycamores head coach Lou West in his first ever game on the sidelines is to get senior quarterback Blaine Baggett comfortable with his new teammates.

Baggett has spent the last three years at I-A Western Michigan where he ranked in the Top 10 nationally in passer rating (141.0) last year with the Bulldogs. Once WMU got a new head coach and the rest of the former staff was released, Baggett decided to follow his offensive coordinator Charlie Molnar to Indiana State.

The new-look Sycamore offense will look to break its school record with 2,307 yards passing with a Fun “N Gun system that will consist of multiple backs and receivers. This will be a different style than the conservative running approach ISU had had.

“It hasn’t been easy game planning for this one,” Eastern defensive coordinator Roc Bellantoni said. “We know that they are going to pass the ball but we have no idea what personal groups they will have on the field.”

To counter that high-powered aerial offense, Eastern will be able to rely on nine returning starters on defense that includes two All-Ohio Valley Conference performers in defensive end Kory Lothe and cornerback Ben Brown. Brown was named second-team All-American by Sports Network and will lead a veteran secondary group that includes three juniors and a senior.

“I’m very confident in our secondary this season,” Bellantoni said. “We just added another coverage (Monday) and that’s something they wouldn’t have been able to pick up last year.”

Lothe will start after recovering from an injury in spring workouts. The Sun Prairie, Wis., native needs only 5 sacks and 10 tackles for loss to break into Eastern’s career Top 5 in both categories.

This marks first game in the third year of the OVC-Gateway Challenge which has been everything but as the Gateway swept the series 9-0 and Indiana State came away with three of its four wins last season against OVC foes. Spoo and company is excited to carry the conference flag as his squad tries to build its portfolio for a possible at-large playoff berth.

“It has been embarrassing,” Spoo said. “The OVC is lower than the Gateway based on the performance of the last two years. The entire league must respond including us.”

The key for Indiana State to reverse its eight straight losing seasons is to sure up a defense that ranked near the bottom in the Gateway Conference. That fact could be a major reason West was wooed by ISU after spending four seasons as defensive coordinator at Toledo.

Last season, a struggling Panthers offense ran through the Sycamores for 174 yards on the ground.

“We anticipate that will be able to run the ball,” Spoo said. “If our offensive line can win the game up front, Mike (Donato) will be more comfortable.”

Both offenses have a go-to-guy in their receiving corps as Eastern will look to throw the ball to junior Ryan Voss and Indiana State’s passing attack will focus on getting Sam Logan the pigskin.

Voss, a first-team All-OVC pick, is the most productive receiver returning in the conference but is looking forward for other teammates to shine if defenses choose to focus a double team on him.

“If they double me and play 10 on 11, that just leaves somebody else open,” Voss said. “That’s fine with me.”

Logan had at least two catches in every game last year including 4 catches for 40 yards in Charleston one year ago.

Since four of the last six contests between the two schools have been within a touchdown, Eastern’s new special teams coordinator Steve Choate will be tested immediately along with his newcomers at kicker.

Red-shirt freshman Tyler Wilke seems to have the edge on field goal attempts while Zach Yates will have kickoff duties in his first game at Eastern. Indiana State has no issues with All-American kicker Kyle Hooper. The native of Fort Myers, Fla., kicked the game-winner last season and set the record two years ago by booting four field goals in one game as a sophomore.

“They’ve been charted all spring and we hope they can perform as well as their guy did last year,” Spoo said. “Now it’s up to them.”