Panthers redshirt freshman Connor Wolf plays in first collegiate game in a 38-14 loss to Indiana State this afternoon. 

Eastern was down 24-7 late in the third quarter when redshirt freshman Wolf entered the game to replace redshirt sophomore Cole LaCrue.

LaCrue finished the day with 7-12 passing yards, and three rushing yards on 12 attempts.

“Cole was banged up a little bit and it was a chance for Connor to come in the game and gain some valuable snaps,” head coach Chris Wilkerson said.

Wolf’s first play at quarterback was a 17 yard completion to freshman receiver Carlyun Neal. 

Wolf connected with Neal again for a 20-yard completion to open the fourth quarter.

Wolf has been ready for his chance.

“All week you got to prepare like you’re a starter,” Wolf said. “You have to prepare like you’re going to play every snap, the entire game. I think I did a good job this week preparing and then going in and got an opportunity.”

Wolf completed nine of 13 passes for 112 yards.

Wilkerson expressed that Wolf is a very capable quarterback with a bright future. He also noted they will continue to evaluate every position.

Wolf’s first collegiate career drive ended with a rushing touchdown from redshirt junior Charles Kellom.

Kellom was effective on the ground for the second straight week scoring both Panthers touchdowns and rushing for 86 yards.

 “I feel like my role is just to do what I can, go out there and make plays and continue to lead,” Kellom said.

Eastern couldn’t get much going on the offensive side of the ball in the first half.

The Panthers had 80 yards and completed two third down conversions on seven attempts.

“We had a lot of new guys, we had some blown assignments and just didn’t block at times,” Wilkerson said. “There are some things where we thought we had some tells and the guys obviously didn’t quite understand them and so we [coaches] got to do a better job, putting them in a position to be successful.”

Eastern’s first four drives of the game resulted in punts.

Wilkerson said that the offensive needs to be more aggressive on early downs because it’s hard to play behind the sticks.

The Panthers struggled on the defensive side of the ball.

On a drive in the eight minute mark Eastern stuffed Indiana State’s running game twice at their own one yard line that made it three and one before junior defensive linemen Samuel Robles picked up an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that renewed the downs at the one yard line for Indiana State. 

Indiana State redshirt junior quarterback Keegan Patterson came in the game to replace injured starting quarterback redshirt sophomore Elijah Owens.

The Panthers forced the Sycamores to three and 15 after an intentional grounding call on Patterson.

Senior linebacker Tylan Foster was ejected for a hit that was reviewed and deemed targeting on Indiana State redshirt senior tight end Lance Rees. 

The call brought Indiana State to Eastern’s two-yard line. 

Robles picked up his second unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that removed him from the game that put the Sycamores at the one-yard line.

“You can’t have as many penalties as we had today. We’ve got to maintain our poise, we had some self-inflicted wounds,” Wilkerson said.

Redshirt Junior defensive back Kaleb Lyons said it was a next up mentality after Foster and Robles got ejected from the game.

Lyons was a standout for the Panthers defense with seven tackles, three tackles for loss and one pass breakup

Eastern allowed 13 plays of 10+ yards of more with three of them resulting in touchdowns.

“The tempo really, we got to do a better job communicating and getting set, making sure everything’s cordial all throughout from both sides of the field, ” Lyons said. “People not knowing what exactly we got going on, one side of the field is doing one thing, the other side doing a different thing.

Junior safety Saipeti Maiava Jr. led the Panthers with 11 tackles. 

The Panthers are ready to get back to work after today’s game.

“We just got to attack practice with a different mentality, come out, start practice faster because that translates exactly to the game,” Kellom said. “We’ll take steps to be better than that.”

Wilkerson is looking for improvement from his team going into next week.

The Panthers return home to host Illinois State in the 113th meeting of the Mid-American Classic at 2 p.m. Saturday at O’Brien Field.