Eastern started its Ohio Valley Conference season exactly how it ended in 2004 – beating Samford.

The Panthers made it two in a row against the Bulldogs Saturday, as Eastern used its best offensive and defensive performance in its 43-14 conference-opening win.

“The coaches and the players responded to the challenge to compete again,” Eastern head coach Bob Spoo said. “I think our guys played emotionally.”

The Panthers ended the 2004 campaign with a 28-14 victory against the Bulldogs on the road.

Eastern’s offense, which was ranked last in the OVC in practically every category, was able to move the football right off the bat and get out to an early 17-0 lead.

“We just got taken to the woodshed today by a better football team,” Samford head coach Bill Gray said.

Panthers quarterback Mike Donato ended the game 22-of-28 for 229 yards, two touchdowns and no turnovers.

“We just came out and executed our game plan,” Donato said. “Then we put up 43 points on the board.”

Eastern gained 440 yards offense using a balanced attack with 229 passing and 211 rushing as well.

Junior tailback Vincent Webb led the ground game as the St. Louis native ended with 94 yards on 20 carries and two touchdowns.

“We ran the ball efficiently, passed it and kicked it well,” Spoo said. “We played a pretty complete game.”

Samford, who came to Charleston with the OVC’s top-ranked offense, looked confused on its first three possessions going three-and-out twice and committing a costly turnover.

The turnover occurred when Samford quarterback Jefferson Adcock faked an option pass and threw behind him to receiver Ossie Buchannon. The senior never held possession, and the live ball was recovered and returned 30 yards by Panther cornerback Terrance Sanders.

“We just lost our composure right then, and this young team was not mature enough to overcome those mistakes,” Gray said.

The Panthers got their first score on the opening drive that totaled 42 yards on 11 plays, taking nearly 5 minutes off the clock. The possession ended when freshman kicker Tyler Wilke split the uprights from 45 yards out on his first career collegiate field goal attempt. Donato spread the field through the air completing 7 of his first 9 attempts and hitting four different receivers.

“We saw that we could move the ball on the first drive, and we never looked back,” Donato said.

The passing attack, which had ranked 86th in I-AA football, had season highs in completions, yardage and touchdowns in a single game.

“Their offense looked pretty good to us today,” Gray said. “We knew that had been struggling, but they didn’t show any signs of that against us.”

The main reason Eastern (2-2, 1-0) was able to move the ball consistently was its ability to convert on third downs at a much higher rate than in its previous three games.

Going into Saturday, the Panthers were 7 of 43 on the year in third down conversions but Eastern managed to turn that statistic into their favor against the Bulldogs moving the chains 65 percent of the time.

“It’s huge,” Spoo said. “Compare that with the 2 out of 17 last week. It was the difference.”

Eastern broke the game wide open on sophomore Ryan Voss’ first big play of the 2005 season. With the Panthers up 24-7 late in the second quarter, Donato pumped, looked for Voss deep and hit him for a 30-yard touchdown reception making it a 31-7 lead.

The Panthers eventually got another field goal, this time from Tyler Yates to make it 34-7 at the half. Eastern used a direct snap on a fake punt to advance the ball into position for Yates.

“There’s an example of how we just got out-coached,” Gray said. “We were looking for the fake punt and couldn’t do anything about it.”

Adcock, the OVC’s leading passer, was frustrated all afternoon, only connecting on 25 of 49 passes for 293 yards most of which came in the second half.

The main problem for the Bulldogs on offense was their inability to establish a running game as Samford (1-3, 0-1) ended the game with only 61 yards rushing on 23 carries.

“I’ll take the heat on not being prepared offensively,” Gray said. “They played well on defense, but running the ball is something that we just can’t do well right now.”

Eastern has a bye week before traveling to Cape Girardeau, Mo., to face Southeast Missouri. Samford has a short week as they take on SEMO at home on Thursday night.