It was a memorable game, Eastern’s home opener against Illinois State, but for all the wrong reasons.

Eastern head football coach Bob Spoo said his team’s 27-6 loss to the Redbirds Saturday at O’Brien Stadium left him with a simple impression.

“Complete embarrassment, really,” he said. “They just shut us down totally, offensively. I thought our defense at least kept us in the game a little bit.

“But, it’s about as embarrassing of a loss as I can remember.”

The Redbird defense limited the Panthers to just 237 yards of total offense, with 70 of the yards coming on Eastern’s only scoring drive. Sophomore quarterback Mike Donato’s six-yard run capped an eight-play drive midway through the fourth quarter – spoiling ISU’s bid for its first shutout since 2000.

Donato and the offense gained only two first downs in the game’s opening half, both coming on big gains from sophomore running back Travorus Bess.

Bess broke free for a 32-yard run in the second quarter, and in the first quarter, Bess caught a screen pass from Donato and ran for 44 yards, putting Eastern into Redbird territory for the first time. A five-yard facemask penalty against ISU gave Eastern five more yards, giving them first-and-10 from the ISU 29-yard line.

However, after the big gain, the offense stalled, running twice for -1 yards and throwing an incomplete pass.

Freshman kicker Zach Yates’ 47-yard field goal try came up short.

Eastern missed out on another opportunity, when freshman linebacker Ryan Keys forced ISU sophomore quarterback Luke Drone to fumble, and junior linebacker Clint Sellers recovered the ball on the ISU 21-yard line.

Again, the Panthers failed to put points on the board, gaining 4 yards on two rushes and throwing an incomplete pass before Yates missed a 24-yard field goal wide left.

While the Eastern offense struggled to get down the field, the Illinois State offense was able to assemble multiple scoring drives, going 66, 78 and 86 yards for each of its three offensive touchdowns.

“They had some long drives. You start getting three-and-outs, and everyone starts flying around and has energy,” senior defensive end Travis Wanzeck said. “But, they have two 80-yard drives, and people start getting a little winded.”

ISU junior running back Pierre Rembert ran for touchdowns of 8 and 6 yards in the first half, and junior running back Rafael Rice scored on a 1-yard run. Rembert, who started in place of injured senior Brian Thompson, made the most of the opportunity, gaining 101 of his game-high112 yards in the first half. As a team, Eastern was able to only gain 74 yards on the ground.

Donato also struggled through the air, completing 15-of-32 passes for 162 yards with two interceptions.

“We just didn’t make plays, especially at the quarterback position – missed throws, missed opportunities,” Donato said. “I thought we had a good game plan coming in, but we didn’t execute.”

And the Redbirds were able to capitalize on Eastern’s mistakes, forcing senior tight end Ben Blonn to fumble. Sophomore linebacker Kye Stewart recovered the ball, taking it 42 yards the other direction for the touchdown.

The Panther offense wasn’t alone in failing to execute; the special teams also struggled.

Eastern had punt returns of 11, 5 and 15 yards negated by 35 yards worth of illegal blocking penalties.

“You got to play smart, and we just played dumb on special teams on those penalties,” Spoo said. “It’s just a killer.”

Sellers said Eastern has no time to let consecutive losses weigh on its confidence with Samford heading to Charleston for the Ohio Valley Conference Opener 1:30 p.m. Saturday.

“The preseason is over,” he said. “Tomorrow we start playing for the OVC.

“We need to start playing with a chip on our shoulder.”