Eastern defense falls apart in 48-41 loss to Murray State

A+Murray+State+ball+carrier+makes+Eastern+safety+Raymond+Crittenden+miss+in+open+space+Saturday+at+O%E2%80%99Brien+Field.+The+Panthers+gave+up+658+yards+in+a+48-41+loss+to+the+Racers.

Adam Tumino

A Murray State ball carrier makes Eastern safety Raymond Crittenden miss in open space Saturday at O’Brien Field. The Panthers gave up 658 yards in a 48-41 loss to the Racers.

JJ Bullock, Sports Editor

All of the problems that have been hanging over the heads of the Eastern football team’s defense came to a peak Saturday and crashed down in record-setting fashion as the Panthers fell to 1-5 on the season losing to Murray State 48-41, giving up 658 yards in the process. 

The 658 yards Eastern surrendered is the third-most in program history. For the fifth time in six games the Panthers have given up 40-plus points on defense. Attempts have been made to fix whatever it is that is ailing the defense, but as the Murray State loss showed, things seem to be getting worse. After the game, head coach Kim Dameron said, “We have tried about everything.”

“It all starts with me. I used to be a pretty decent defensive coach,” Dameron said. “Coach (Cary) Fowler, I know his background, I know who raised him, which was me and I have seen defenses that he has coached in the past and defenses that I have coached in the past and this looks nothing like any of that.”

The tone in the postgame press conferences matched the mood on the field. Coaches were not happy; players were frustrated. Murray State rushed for a video-game like 463 yards, 183 coming from running back D.J. Penick and 142 coming from Rodney Castille, in large part thanks to Eastern players missing tackles, something that has plagued them all season long. 

Eastern had chances to win the game: at one point the team led 27-24 and later in the game held a 34-31 lead. For all that it’s worth, the Eastern offense played in arguably its best game of the season. 

Eastern put up 643 yards of its own, quarterback Johnathan Brantley threw for 328 yards, Harry Woodbery added 147. Running back Jamal Scott put up 120 yards on the ground in absence of starter Isaiah Johnson. 

But, every time the Eastern offense would do something well, Murray State would march right back down the field and retake the lead, with the final score happening with just eight seconds to play on a two-yard touchdown run by Penick that capped off an eight-play, 75-yard drive. 

The real dagger of the game, however, was delivered in the post-game press conference. 

“We either got to get better coaching or we have got to get better players, one of the two,” Dameron said. “We went out and recruited the guys that we have and some of them have played here and played pretty darn good over the last four or five years and this is kind of one of those deals where it’s a perfect storm defensively.”

For Eastern to put up 643 yards of its own and add 41 points and still lose is something that will sit heavy with the team for quite some time. 

“I put (the loss) solely on us as players,” cornerback Mark Williams said. “Schematically we were prepared. The coaches gave us the right game plan, we just didn’t execute as we should have on the defensive side. We missed assignments basically, it’s stuff that we can fix, but we have got to fix it now because it’s getting too late in the season to have the same mistakes.”

After the game, the defensive players were visibly emotional on the sideline, players were exchanging words, some were knocking things over; the frustration among the team is very real. 

“Everything is all right. We just got to stay together and basically just help each other get through,” Williams said. “It hurts everybody to lose, it hurts everybody. It definitely hurt, it hurt me. We just got to stay together and let each other know we have got each other’s back.”

After the game, Dameron told his players that whichever ones wanted to show up Monday and work and claw to do so, and those that didn’t should let him know so he can do something about it. 

“What I told them in (the locker room) is that tough times expose your character,” Dameron said. “So, if you’re a man of character, this time, this team, you’ll get through this and we will come out on the other end better and I truly believe that.”

Other notes:

-Eastern’s defense is now giving up 546.7 yards per game, the second-worst figure in the conference. The offense is averaging 487 yards per game, the second-best in the conference. 

-Johnathan Brantley is now second in the OVC with 1,245 passing yards. 

-Receiver Alexander Hollins grabbed two more touchdowns; he leads the FCS with 11 this season.

-Murray State’s all-conference lineman Kenney Wooten had two sacks in the game. 

-Eastern plays No. 8 Jacksonville State on the road next weekend. 

JJ Bullock can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected]