The Eastern football team is coming out of its best season in more than 20 years, but after a 12-2 record, a second consecutive OVC title, and an appearance in the FCS quarterfinals, the Panthers enter 2014 with a few unanswered questions.

Dino Babers was in and out of Eastern just as fast as his offense drove down fields last season, making the jump to Bowling Green after two seasons coaching the Panthers. Babers’ move to the FBS opened the door for first-time head coach Kim Dameron, who previously served as defensive coordinator at Louisiana Tech. The rookie head coach makes his return to the OVC for the first time since 2000 when he was Eastern’s defensive coordinator under Bob Spoo. Dameron’s first OVC appearance was in 2005 when Murray State had the third-ranked defense in the FCS with Dameron as the defensive coordinator.

Along with a new head coach roaming the sidelines at O’Brien Field, Eastern will also have a new quarterback under center. As Jimmy Garoppolo learns behind Tom Brady at Patriots’ camp, the Panthers have a quarterback battle on their hands to find the replacement of last year’s Walter Payton Award winner.

As spring practices intensified in April, red-shirt senior Andrew Manley emerged as the team’s starting quarterback. His prior experience at New Mexico State coupled with the ability to avoid turnovers put the Hawaiian native ahead of the rest.

Though, at the end of the spring Dameron was still adamant that the competition was not over.

In late April, rumors started to whirl around the twittersphere about former Missouri wide receiver Dorial Green-Beckham possibly joining Eastern. During the same time, Kentucky quarterback Jalen Whitlow was also reportedly on his way to Charleston.

Green-Beckham ended up at Oklahoma, but Whitlow indeed transferred to Eastern, where Dameron said he would have a chance to compete for the starting job.

A week away from the season-opener at Minnesota, the starting quarterback is still unknown. Dameron has not given any hints as to which way he is leaning.

If new offensive coordinator Greg Stevens’ system is any indication, though, the answer may very well be Whitlow. Stevens has the tough task of following the program’s best offensive production in history, but has the credentials at his former school to back up his philosophy.

In 2013, Southeastern Louisiana also made it to the FCS quarterfinals, behind its No. 12 scoring offense (38.4 PPG) with Stevens as the offensive coordinator. He had quarterback Bryan Bennett, who passed for 3,165 yards and also rushed for 1,046 more, throwing 21 touchdowns and rushing for 16 last season.

Whitlow joins the Panthers, bringing a dual-threat set of skills at the quarterback position, as he passed for 1,834 yards and eight touchdowns, and ran for 663 yards, scoring nine rushing touchdowns at Kentucky.

Manley had two rushing touchdowns during his final season at New Mexico State, but he ended 2012 with negative rushing yards. However, Manley did throw 18 touchdowns and 2,764 yards, which rank seventh and sixth, respectively, all-time in single-season records at New Mexico State.

Manley did not blink an eye once Whitlow officially transferred in May, welcoming the former Kentucky quarterback.

“More competition is better for everyone – all it does is makes everyone a better player,” Manley said. “I believe in competition with the best to be the best and I’m ready for him to push me as much as I’m going to push him.”

Dameron said the new Panthers’ offense would have a more balanced look to it, using the run more to control the clock during games, a vastly different approach than Babers, who always seemed to have one foot on the gas pedal last year, while his other foot was on the opposition’s throat racking up blow out wins after blow out wins.

Garoppolo is not the only offensive threat missing from this year’s roster, as Erik Lora has also moved on to the NFL, trying to win a roster spot with the Minnesota Vikings. It’s not all doom and gloom for the Eastern offense, though. Manley and Whitlow both have prior starting experience. The program’s most accomplished receiver is no longer there, but red-shirt senior Adam Drake took a big leap forward last year, accumulating 81 catches for 1,240 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Joining Drake in the receiver pool is Jeff LePak, who in his first full year starting, caught 46 passes for 656 yards and scored seven touchdowns. At 6-foot-6, LePak provides a huge target for the quarterback. He is also a red-shirt senior.

The big playmaker coming back out of the receivers is junior Keiondre Gober, who in two seasons has averaged 19.7 yards per catch. In 10 games last year, he had 45 receptions, 870 yards and nine touchdowns. Gober is by far the fastest weapon for the Panthers.

And then there is red-shirt junior running back Shepard Little, who rushed for 1,551 yards and scored 15 touchdowns through the ground. He also added 17 catches with two receiving touchdowns and another two punt return touchdowns.

Red-shirt seniors Taylor Duncan and Jimmy Lera provide depth at the running back position.

Dameron comes into Eastern with a defensive background and is looking to make some changes, especially after Terrance West’s record-breaking night against the Panthers’ defense in last year’s FCS playoffs.

Aside from making the defensive line better, Dameron also faces the challenge of replacing three starters from last season’s secondary.

The first-year head coach has another first timer on his staff, as Kane Wommack will be the defensive coordinator after being a graduate assistant at Ole Miss.

The season starts with a trip to the University of Minnesota of the Big Ten Conference that starts at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 28 at TCF Bank Stadium.

Eastern plays against two FBS opponents this season, with Ohio being the second on Sept. 27.

The Panthers were 1-1 against FBS teams last year, beating San Diego State 40-19 in the season opener and losing to Northern Illinois 43-39 on Sept. 21 in DeKalb.

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