Three turnovers ended up haunting the Eastern football team in its week one loss to Chattanooga on the road Thursday night, as the Panthers fell 24-10 in head coach Adam Cushing’s debut on the Panther sideline.

Eastern ran more plays (83-60), totaled more yards (354-350) and possessed the ball longer (34:19-25:41), on offense than Chattanooga did, but ultimately it was a trio of untimely turnovers and an inability to capitalize on Chattanooga turnovers that cost Eastern a chance at a week one win.

Chattanooga’s first drive of the game in fact resulted in a turnover after Eastern safety Raymond Crittenden intercepted quarterback Nick Tiano. Eastern ran just three plays on the subsequent drive before punting the ball away.

Missed opportunity No. 1.

Eastern’s first big blunder of the game came when punt returner Cornelius Page muffed a Chattanooga punt, giving the Mocs field positon at Eastern’s 13-yard line.

Chattanooga took a 7-0 lead after the Eastern turnover on a one-yard quarterback sneak by Tiano, who finished the night 17-of-27 passing with two interceptions and one touchdown pass.

It took the Mocs just four plays after the turnover to take the lead.

Eastern retaliated at the end of the first quarter when kicker Josh Delgado nailed a 38-yard field goal to make the score 7-3.

Eastern and Chattanooga opened the second quarter exchanging punts with one another, until Chattanooga’s dynamic playmaking wide receiver Bryce Nunnelly made his presence known.

Nunnelly caught a 59-yard touchdown pass from Tiano, burning his defender deep down the field, to give Chattanooga a 14-3 lead with 8:01 to play in the first half.

Eastern responded on its next drive with a touchdown of its own.

Quarterback Johnathan Brantley hooked up with super back Nick Stricker for a seven-yard score.

Eastern then trailed just 14-10 with 5:26 to play in the second quarter. The drive went 13 plays and 75 yards for Eastern, the most in both figures they put together in any drive all game long.

Chattanooga kicked a field goal before the first half ended and went into the locker room with a 17-10 lead. Eastern was still within one score, but in the second half, it squandered multiple opportunities to turn the game on its head.

Chattanooga scored a touchdown on its first drive of the second half, giving it a 24-10 lead.

With 7:21 to play in the third quarter Chattanooga coughed up the ball again on another Tiano interception, this time it was Bryce Dewberry with the pick.  Eastern had the ball with a chance to make it a one score game.

But another turnover, this time a fumble by quarterback Johnathan Brantley, put the ball back in the hands of Chattanooga. Missed opportunity No. 2.

Chattanooga did not score again in the game, but Eastern did turn the ball over on downs with 11:16 to play in the game, and quarterback Harry Woodbery, who replaced an injured Brantley, threw an interception with 2:55 to play.

Multiple times in the loss the Eastern offense had the ball with a chance to turn in a game-changing drive, and multiple times, Eastern shot itself in the foot.

The Eastern defense held Chattanooga to just 94 yards rushing, a figure Cushing was pleased with after the game.

“I think our defense did a phenomenal job,” Cushing said via the Eastern athletic department. “It really was a couple of big plays. Guys did a good job of running to the ball and playing really physical.”

Despite the loss in his coaching debut, Cushing was overall satisfied with the effort his team put together.

“(I am) very proud of the young men for battling and things didn’t go our way, but that’s Division I football,” Cushing said. “There’s a lot of ebb and flow and the team did a great job of playing the next play, just lining up and battling to the end.

Other notes:

• Eastern’s offensive line, which consists of five new starters, allowed just one sack in the game, but Eastern’s quarterbacks saw a significant amount of pressure from the Chattanooga pass rush.
• Both Harry Woodbery and Johnathan Brantley, as predicted, got playing time for Eastern at quarterback. Brantley finished 13-of-25 with 103 yards and one touchdown. Woodbery was 13-of-22 with 121 yards and one interception.
• Wide receiver Xander Richards had a solid game for the Panthers, finishing with five catches for 67 yards.
• Bryce Nunnelly proved he was everything Eastern expected him to be, as the junior tallied six catches for 100 yards against Eastern.
• Eastern plays next Sept. 7 on the road against Indiana.

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