Thursday, September 10, 2009 10:15 AM CDT
Indiana St. has losing streak; Spoo has warning
BY BRIAN NIELSEN, Sports Editor
bnielsen@jg-tc.com
Imagine how much Bob Spoo will harp on last year’s loss to Austin Peay when his team actually plays Austin Peay.
When talking to the media, Eastern Illinois’ football coach has not even spelled out the name with any intentions of discrediting another Ohio Valley Conference team.
Who knows how Spoo words it to his players behind closed doors or on the practice field?
But rest assured that after last week’s impressive 31-6 season-opening win over Illinois State, the coach is making every effort so that his Panthers do not relax this week preparing for the team with college football’s longest losing streak.
Asked about facing an Indiana State team that has lost 28 straight games going into Saturday’s 11 a.m. Central Time game at Terre Haute, Spoo was ready.
“All I have to do is remind them of a game last season,” he said. “A team came in here 1-8 and beat us. If they think they can just walk out there against this team, I remind them of last year. I’m going to be very conscious of that this week.”
In Spoo’s 22 years as Eastern’s coach – 23 counting the 2006 season he missed with illness – the Panthers have had few, if any, more humiliating losses than last year’s 15-13 home field loss to Austin Peay, which was just in its second year returning to scholarship football and 1-8 before ruining Eastern’s Senior Day and any hopes for a .500 record.
One decade and a day before this game at Indiana State, Eastern was victim of a team ending what was then the nation’s longest NCAA losing streak of 19 games on Sept. 11, 1999 but at least the Panthers were playing up a division facing I-A Hawaii.
Now the opponent is a team from Eastern’s own level, these days called the Football Championship Subdivision.
The Panthers have not faced a team with this kind of futility since, well, last year’s Indiana State game when the Sycamores’ streak was 16 in a row before losing at Eastern 38-3.
“We think as an offensive staff they’ve improved markedly,” EIU offensive coordinator Roy Wittke said of this year’s Sycamores.
Indiana State appeared set to end its streak in this year’s season opener when building a 17-0 lead against Quincy but the NAIA visitor rallied for a 26-20 overtime win that prolonged the Sycamores’ miseries.
Maybe that result would be enough to have Eastern laughing had Indiana State not given a much better showing in last week’s 30-10 loss at FBC Louisville.
“They haven’t won for a while but we don’t want to take them lightly,” EIU sophomore linebacker Cory Leman said. “They played well against Louisville.”
Leman also complimented Indiana State players for enduring the streak.
“Just last year after losing seven games everyone around the facility was kind of gloomy,” he said. “I can’t imagine what they’ve had to go through.”
Many of the Sycamores, including second-year head coach Trent Miles, have not been around for the entire streak.
“Our attitude is good,” Miles said. “Our kids are overdue. They are exited to play. We don’t focus on the losing streak.”
Indiana State is taking steps trying to reverse these losing ways.
One was to drop Eastern as a nearby non-conference opponent after this 83rd meeting.
Miles, who played for the Sycamores in 1982-86 when EIU and Indiana State met as Gateway Football Conference opponents, agreed to the schedule change which likely will have the Sycamores playing a non-Division I opponent instead of the Panthers next year.
“Our Missouri Valley Football Conference is tough enough,” Miles said. “When you play a non-conference opponent you ought to play for real big money or play down. Neither one of us make a lot of money from this game. They’ve been so good lately and we haven’t been, to be honest. It was a rivalry when you’re competitive.”
With four straight wins to take a 41-37-4 lead in the series between two schools just 50 miles apart, Eastern is just hoping things don’t get too competitive on Saturday.
But a year ago at this time, Austin Peay looked like an easy game on the schedule, too.
Contact Brian Nielsen at bnielsen@jg-tc.com or 238-6856.
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