The 53 points that Eastern put up against Eastern Kentucky on Saturday may be an indication of the Panthers’ offense heating up, but Eastern’s defense deserves just as much credit in the win.

The Panther defense had five takeaways against the Colonels. Junior linebacker Lucius Seymour recovered a fumble on the first drive that he ran back for a touchdown and two EKU drives later senior safety Chad Cleveland ran an interception 35 yards back to pay dirt. Junior cornerback B.J. Brown set up a touchdown after he ran an interception back to the EKU 20-yard line, and sophomore linebacker Donald Thomas forced Colonel quarterback Josh Greco to fumble and Eastern defensive end Kory Lothe jumped on it.

The Panthers converted four of the five Colonel turnovers into 24 points.

“One of our goals every week is to score two touchdowns or to setup two touchdowns on defense,” Eastern defensive coordinator Roc Bellantoni said.

EKU head coach Danny Hope said his team wasn’t as well prepared as they should have been and that there were some glaring mistakes on his side.

“You can’t turnover the ball five times and expect to beat a great team and Eastern Illinois is a great team,” Hope said.

One of the biggest differences that Bellantoni saw from Eastern’s previous two meetings with EKU was the quick start by the Panthers.

“We played well right out of the gate,” Bellantoni said. “That was the opposite of what had happened against (EKU) the past two years.”

The Colonels didn’t gain a yard on offense in their first three drives of the game. Although Eastern gave up 452 yards to EKU, Bellantoni said it was indicative of how the defense truly played.

“We got up early and then kind of sat back,” Bellantoni said. “We did get burnt deep a couple times, but we got some good shots on the quarterback.”

The Colonels’ three touchdowns each came on passes more than 20 yards. Eastern sacked Greco twice Saturday and had a total of 13 quarterback hurries, compared to no sacks and two hurries by EKU.

“We knew they did a good job of scheming, and we just didn’t execute against it,” Greco said.

The Panthers shut down the Colonels running game right from the start. EKU ran just 54 yards Saturday, forcing EKU to pass an Ohio Valley Conference record 71 times.

“There’s no question (the defensive line) is stepping up,” Bellantoni said. “Lothe is getting healthy and playing like he should and the defensive tackles are battling their butts off up there.”

One of the things Bellantoni liked the most about Saturday’s game was how the defense stepped up in the absence of pre-season All-American selection Ben Brown, junior cornerback.

“When he went down, I told the defense everyone has to pick it up and everyone has, not just the defensive backs,” Bellantoni said. “When he gets back, it will make us deeper.”