Sunday, September 20, 2009 9:52 PM CDT
COLUMN: Could those fumbles be a good thing?
By BRIAN NIELSEN, Sports Editor
bnielsen@jg-tc.com
Maybe after two routs, this undefeated Eastern Illinois football team needed a challenge so it fumbled away those apparent touchdowns just to make it interesting.
“To be honest with you it was good for us,” quarterback Jake Christensen said. “We got to play a whole football game for the first time so the turnovers were good for us.”
No, no one is saying those three first-half fumbles spoiling drives of 45, 46 and 73 yards were a case of the Panthers giving the crowd of 9,053 hopes of the host Southeast Missouri pulling off an Ohio Valley Conference upset before Eastern eventually posted a four-fumble, closer-than-you-expected 23-14 win Saturday night.
No, Christensen was not implying and wasn’t even thinking that his losing a wet football on a center snap and two teammates’ fumbles actually would allow him to pad his stats.
Still, the result was that instead of just handing off the football protecting what could have been a comfortable halftime lead, Christensen got to add 99 more second-half yards on 6-for-9 passing giving him a game of 19-for-26 for 292 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions to be named OVC Newcomer of the Week while vaulting to fourth in NCAA Football Championship Subdivision and first in the OVC in passing efficiency three games.
Certainly, Mon Williams did not intentionally start this apparently contagious fumble bug just so he could get 114 of his 119 rushing yards in the second half to become the OVC’s rushing leader and 14th in the nation three games into his first season at Eastern.
But on a night when this thing was finally secured — no matter how much ball security was a problem — Eastern coach Bob Spoo certainly pointed to the benefits rather than having his Panthers walk with heads down in shame when they got the OVC opening win.
“It’s a big-time win,” Spoo said. “It showed a lot of heart. They could have thrown in the towel and they didn’t. We overcame a lot of adversity. It was a huge win. I’m not in the least bit disappointed with the turnovers. It’s a huge, huge win.”
Maybe it is bigger than if Eastern had won 50-0 in flawless fashion.
Some other time this season the Panthers are going to be down and the battle cry will be remember the SEMO game.
“That told us we have a lot of character,” Williams said of the comeback from a 14-7 halftime deficit.
This game added to the evidence of how good of a quarterback Eastern has in this transfer from Iowa.
In addition to his big passing numbers with right-on-the-money strikes most of the night, Christensen, on a third-quarter series, ran for 2 yards converting a second-and-one, scrambled for 4 yards and a first down on third-and-3 and then skillfully followed a blocker and gained 9 yards to the SEMO 1.
Not necessarily a sprinter, Christensen adds a running quarterback dimension to this offense
“Out of necessity you have to sometimes,” said the 6-foot-1, 215-pounder who totaled 30 yards on seven rushes without a loss.
Spoo said: “Jake was poised through that whole situation.”
Maybe it is too early to starting touting Christensen, who has completed 72.3 percent of his 65 pass attempts averaging 201.3 yards per game with six touchdowns and just one interception, for national and OVC awards just yet.
Certainly, between harping on last week’s fumbles and last year’s loss to Austin Peay, Spoo heading into Saturday’s 6 p.m. game at Austin Peay might have his Panthers forgetting they even have a game the following week against Eastern Kentucky.
Many of us for more than a month have circled the Oct. 3 at O’Brien Field as a huge, huge OVC showdown against Eastern Kentucky.
Spoo is just pointing out that the past Saturday’s gut-check against the less heralded Southeast Missouri can also be considered a huge, huge win.
Brian Nielsen is sports editor of the Journal Gazette/Times-Courier. Contact him at bnielsen@jg-tc.com or 238-6856.
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