In a span of two nail-biting minutes, red-shirt senior Nick Martinez made two game-saving plays.

Martinez made his first game saver, an interception with 2:13 to play. Martinez’s play came after sophomore quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo led a 47-yard drive ending in a touchdown to junior wide receiver Chris Wright. Garoppolo had a career day, finishing 25-for-35 with 304 yards and three touchdowns.

Wright’s touchdown, which came just inches from being called out of bounds, gave Illinois State the ball back with just 2:38 to play in the game, but was soon followed by Martinez’s interception just a few plays later.

Down by one score, the Redbirds would get the ball back with 1:42 to play and no timeouts.

Led by quarterback Matt Brown, Illinois State drove down the field on Eastern, getting as far as the Panther’s 30 yard line.

Just as the Redbirds appeared to be sending the game into overtime, the fifth year linebacker Martinez stepped up to make his second interception of the game with eight seconds remaining.

Martinez’s second interception sealed the game for the Panthers, who would go on to win by a final score of 33-26.

“Words can’t explain it. The ups and downs of the game, it’s just a really great feeling,” Martinez said.

Though Martinez said he didn’t believe he had the best game of his career, he does believe this 2011 Panther team is one that is more together than any he has ever been on.

“We’re all so tight. We all have each other’s backs. No one ever let me put my head down when I missed a tackle.”

The leader in tackles for the Panther defense was red-shirt senior team captain Cory Leman. The linebacker had a total of 11 tackles in the game, six of which were unassisted.

For head coach Bob Spoo, entering the final season of his storied career as the team’s leader, he said it was one of the team’s best games.

“It’s one of the best ones we’ve ever played. I knew we had a special group when they reported on August 3,” Spoo said.

Spoo said it was the team’s ability to make plays when it mattered that helped the Panthers win their season opener against their in-state rival.

“We made plays. Last year we didn’t make plays as a football team,” he said.

Spoo said it was one of the team’s most meaningful opening games and he appreciated the large crowd that was in attendance.

With the team’s win, Martinez had one statement about the team’s upcoming season:

“EIU football is definitely back.”

The Panthers’ victory brings their overall record to 1-0, while the Redbirds drop to 0-1. The win is the team’s first season opener victory since the 2009 season, where the Panthers again defeated the Redbirds, that time 31-6.

The team will now take to the road for their second non-conference game of the season, Big Ten conference power Northwestern.

The Panthers will take on the Wildcats at 2:30 p.m. Sept. 10 in Evanston. The game will be broadcasted on The Big Ten Network.

Dominic Renzetti can be reached at 581-7944

or [email protected].