Saturday’s game may have been over before Panther fans finished filing into O’Brien Stadium.

Five minutes in, Eastern fans looked at the scoreboard in amazement to see the Panthers up 21-0.

“We took it to them and did it early that’s for sure,” Eastern head coach Bob Spoo said. “That was one of the biggest wins in my 19 years here.”

The Panthers are in first by themselves and are the only undefeated squad in the Ohio Valley Conference after blowing out Eastern Kentucky 53-22 Saturday for the Panthers’ sixth-straight Homecoming win.

“It just proves that if 90 guys get together, anything can happen,” Spoo said. “It was a remarkable performance by our football team.”

Eastern was able to take the lead on the Colonels’ second play of the game as quarterback Josh Greco completed a pass to sophomore Kyle Barber. Barber fumbled after the first hit and linebacker Lucious Seymour ran it back 12 yards for the first score.

“Once I picked up the ball, I said to myself it’s time to get into the end zone,” Seymour said.

Eastern made it 14-0 after freshman Adam Kesler returned a punt 49 yards to the 50 and with two EKU personal foul penalties, the Panthers had the ball 20 yards from the goal line. Four plays later, Vincent Webb scored on a 6-yard touchdown run for Eastern’s second score of the game.

Webb ended the game with 109 yards on 25 carries with two touchdowns.

“I’ve felt a better rhythm with the offensive line,” Webb said. “I don’t think I ran all that well in the first three games. I took it upon myself to run a lot harder.”

The Panthers defense found the end zone again as Chad Cleveland returned a Greco pass 35 yards for a touchdown. So with 10:34 left in the first quarter, Eastern had one offensive possession, the Colonels were shell-shocked and the Panthers held a 21-0 lead.

“I was disappointed we couldn’t dig ourselves out of a hole early,” Eastern Kentucky head coach Danny Hope said.

Ironically, Greco had his worst game of the season after throwing an OVC-record 71 passes. The sophomore completed 39 of those passes for 398 yards and two touchdowns but did have three interceptions.

“Most college teams attempt to establish the run but they didn’t seem at all interested in doing that,” Seymour said. “Maybe because we were more physical than anybody they’ve played.”

The Colonels turned the ball over five times which accounted for 26 Eastern points. The amount of giveaways by Eastern Kentucky even surprised Spoo.

“We were able to capitalize on their mistakes and to be honest, I wouldn’t ever have expected that at all,” Spoo said.

Eastern Kentucky tried to get back into the game with big plays through the passing game as Greco had three touchdown pass over 25 yards.

“We still should have had a chance,” Hope said. “We just couldn’t find a way to get back.”

The major difference in the game was the disparity in the running game. Eastern ran the ball for 281 yards on 52 carries while EKU managed only 54 yards on 21 carries.

“This football team showed character, pride and toughness today,” Spoo said. “We had to run the football today. We knew it, did it and I couldn’t be happier.”

Spoo said the 90-6 combined score of the two previous games against Eastern Kentucky weighed heavily on the minds of the coaches and players.

“Absolutely, we were embarrassed and we had to go out and show that we aren’t going to lay down for anybody,” Spoo said.