Eastern’s defense set up its high-flying offense with four turnovers in the first half, leading to a 42-7 win against Eastern Kentucky Saturday at O’Brien Field.

The first Colonels miscue came on their first drive of the game. After wide receiver Devin Borders converted two third downs for Eastern Kentucky with passes from quarterback Jared McClain, linebacker Adam Gristick intercepted McClain at the Panthers’ 14-yard line.

McClain tried to connect with tight end Nathan Watts, but as Watts ran towards the Colonels’ sideline, the pass was thrown behind him. Watts stuck his right hand out, which deflected the ball into the air and eventually into the hands of Gristic.

Gristick’s first interception set the stage for Panther quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who entered the game tied with Tony Romo for most touchdowns in school and Ohio Valley Conference history.

The Eastern offense began the game with a three and out, punting after only 33 seconds ticked off the clock.

Eastern coach Dino Babers said he wanted to change the speed of the game after that first drive.

“The first series we started off fast and we ended up walking off the field fast,” Babers said. “It wasn’t so much what they were doing. They had the wind in the first quarter, so it did not make any sense to go fast and to be throwing the ball into the wind and the ball not doing what you want it to do.”

The Panthers did not pass on every down, mixing in rushes from Taylor Duncan. But on their first scoring drive, when the Panthers did throw Garoppolo found his targets.

Garoppolo threw his record-setting 86th career touchdown to sophomore Keiondre Gober.

The senior quarterback took the snap out of the shotgun and rolled to his right, receiving protection from his offensive line, which also went right. Garoppolo then stopped and squared his shoulders at the 39-yard line and released a strike over the heads of Colonel defenders Christian Albertson and Johnny Joseph and into the outstretched hands of Gober.

The touchdown to Gober capped off a 4-for-4 performance by Garoppolo on the drive.

Eastern Kentucky’s offense came back to the field, but its stay would not be long.

J.J. Jude, who rushed for nearly 200 yards and four touchdowns last week, carried the ball on the first play after Garoppolo’s touchdown pass. Jude received the hand off at his own 39-yard line, ripping through the middle of the line and past the Panther linebackers, streaking inside the Eastern 35-yard line before fumbling the ball.

Red-shirt senior Alex McNulty chased Jude down and delivered a left uppercut to the ball, which was tucked in the left arm of Jude. McNulty also recovered the fumble as the ball bounced inside the Panthers’ 20-yard line.

The Eastern defense collected two more turnovers in the second quarter, including a 70-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Anthony Goodman.

Jourdan Wickliffe stripped McClain as the Colonels were threatening to score at the end of the first half, being down 28-0. Goodman scooped up the ball and raced to the end zone untouched, and Eastern scored its fourth touchdown of the second quarter. Goodman also added a team-high eight tackles.

“All I was telling myself during the runback was ‘don’t let anyone catch me from behind,” Goodman said.

Gristick said the Eastern defense knew Eastern Kentucky was capable of giving the ball away heading into the game.

“We knew this team did have ball security issues, so before the game we were preaching all week to go after the ball,” Gristick said.

The Panthers went into halftime with a 35-0 lead and were able to coast in the second half, bringing in backups late in the third quarter and in the start of the fourth.

Eastern Kentucky’s offense gained 266 yards and its lone touchdown of the game came with 3:33 left in the game. Babers said Eastern’s defense was outstanding.

The Colonels gained 97 yards in the fourth quarter, which was 36.5 percent of its offensive output in the game.

“That’s a very, very dominating performance by the defense,” Babers said. “They would not be moved. The one, three, five and seven techniques (on the defensive line) were taking up a lot of ground. The linebackers were flowing and the safeties were pushing the issue.”

After a 4-1 start, the Panthers enter their bye week before its first road OVC game against Austin Peay on Oct. 10. Until then Babers said he is looking forward to some time off.

“We need a break — I need a break from the players and the players need a break from me,” Babers said. “I need a break from the coaches and the coaches definitely need a break from me. Hopefully my wife doesn’t need a break from me.”

Aldo Soto can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].