Cole LaCrue Accounts for Five Touchdowns as Eastern Illinois Routs UT Martin 45-16

Eastern Illinois came to Martin with a three-game losing streak, an offense that had scored 44 points in three league games and a seven-game skid against its hosts. It left with a rout. Cole LaCrue threw four touchdown passes and ran for another as the Panthers beat UT Martin 45-16 on Saturday at Hardy M. Graham Stadium, spoiling the Skyhawks' homecoming.

LaCrue completed 20 of 31 passes for 269 yards and added 112 rushing yards on 12 carries, including a 50-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter. Eastern Illinois piled up 552 total yards against a UT Martin defense that had made the Skyhawks one of the most reliable programs in the league. The Panthers improved to 3-6 overall and 2-2 in the OVC. UT Martin fell to 3-6 and 2-2.

The Skyhawks were 5.5-point favorites and entered the day with a 17-1 record against conference opponents since 2020. They have now lost back-to-back league games, and after pulling within four points late in the first half, they never got closer.

Eastern Illinois starts fast

The Panthers scored on their first two possessions. LaCrue capped an eight-play, 65-yard opening drive with a 14-yard touchdown pass to Devin Whitlock at 11:06 of the first quarter, and Drew Schiller added the extra point.

The second drive went 80 yards in six plays and 2:54, ending with Charles Kellom's 5-yard touchdown run at 6:29. Eastern Illinois led 14-0 after one quarter and already had more points than it scored in either of its previous two games.

The third possession was a different kind of statement. The Panthers went 70 yards in 16 plays and held the ball for 6:43 before Schiller made a 36-yard field goal at 12:52 of the second quarter for a 17-0 lead.

UT Martin claws back before halftime

The Skyhawks finally answered behind running back Chris Franklin. A nine-play, 98-yard drive ended with Franklin's 8-yard touchdown run at 5:04 of the second quarter, though the extra point was blocked. Franklin scored again from 14 yards out at 1:04 to finish a five-play, 71-yard drive, and Brandon Sims made the kick to pull UT Martin within 17-13.

That was as close as the home team got. LaCrue needed only 51 seconds to respond, moving the Panthers 75 yards in four plays and hitting Jeremy Reeves for a 12-yard touchdown with 13 seconds left in the half. Instead of a four-point game at the break, Eastern Illinois led 24-13.

Turning point

The drive at the end of the first half changed the shape of the afternoon. UT Martin had all the momentum after two straight touchdown drives and a homecoming crowd behind it. A stop there would have sent the Skyhawks to the locker room down four, with a fresh half to finish the comeback.

Instead, LaCrue moved the offense the length of the field with almost no time to work with, and the Panthers carried that into the second half. They opened the third quarter with a six-play, 80-yard drive that ended in a 19-yard touchdown pass from LaCrue to Eli Evans at 8:59, making it 31-13.

Sims made a 39-yard field goal at 0:56 of the third quarter to cap an 11-play, 59-yard drive and cut the deficit to 31-16, but Eastern Illinois put the game away early in the fourth. LaCrue kept the ball on a 50-yard touchdown run at 12:52 to finish a six-play, 75-yard drive, and then found running back Jacarre Fleming-Page on a short pass that turned into a 67-yard touchdown at 8:34 for a 45-16 lead.

By the numbers

LaCrue had his best day of the season. He entered the game with 1,093 passing yards and eight touchdowns through eight games, then threw for 269 yards and four scores in one afternoon. His 112 rushing yards made him the game's leading rusher. Fleming-Page caught two passes for 75 yards and a touchdown and added 98 rushing yards on six carries, including a 58-yard burst. Evans caught four passes for 49 yards, Whitlock had a team-high six catches for 43 yards, and Reeves caught three for 45, each with a touchdown. Kellom ran 11 times for 65 yards and a score. As a team, Eastern Illinois ran for 283 yards on 32 carries.

The Panthers finished with 25 first downs to UT Martin's 16 and converted seven of 11 third downs. They committed just three penalties for 30 yards. Their lone turnover was an interception by UT Martin's Wendell Smith. The defense answered with two fourth-quarter interceptions of Tate Surber, one by Jerry Addo-Boateng and one by safety Makhi Wilson, who returned it 46 yards. That extended Eastern Illinois' streak of games with at least one takeaway to 12.

Defensively, linebacker Ja'Wuan Nickson led Eastern Illinois with eight tackles, and safety Nick Vecchiarelli and Aidan Archibald each had a sack. The Panthers held UT Martin to 341 total yards and three of 11 on third down.

For UT Martin, Jaydon Peete ran 11 times for 99 yards. The freshman was coming off an OVC Rookie of the Week performance at Western Illinois. Franklin scored both Skyhawk touchdowns. The passing game never got going. Surber and Julian Calvez combined to complete 14 of 28 passes for 105 yards, and Surber threw both interceptions. Linebacker Jamarcus Smith was one of three Skyhawks with a team-high six tackles.

What it means

For Eastern Illinois, the win snapped a seven-game losing streak against UT Martin and evened the all-time series at 16-16. It also ended the Panthers' three-game slide and moved them back to .500 in conference play. The defense has carried this team for most of the season, allowing 47 points in three league games entering Saturday. If the offense can produce anything close to this again, Eastern Illinois becomes a much harder out over the final weeks. The 45 points were the most the Panthers have scored this season, topping the 35 they put up in a September loss to Indiana State.

It was also a happy Halloween in the record book. Eastern Illinois had played on Oct. 31 only five times as a Division I program and had won its last two such games, both at Murray State.

For UT Martin, the loss is a jolt. The Skyhawks have built their reputation under 21st-year head coach Jason Simpson on winning OVC games, and they have now dropped two straight in the league after a 2-0 start. They also fell on homecoming, where they had been 14-5 under Simpson. With a 3-6 record, the margin for error in the second half of conference play is gone.

Eastern Illinois returns home to host Western Illinois on Nov. 7. UT Martin travels to Charleston Southern the same day.

The take

This was the best offensive performance Eastern Illinois has put together all season, and it came against a program that had owned the matchup for most of the past decade. LaCrue looked comfortable from the first drive, spread the ball to seven different receivers and punished the Skyhawks on the ground whenever they took away the throw.

The question for the Panthers is whether this was a breakout or an outlier. The Eastern Illinois defense has been good enough all year to keep games close. On Saturday, the offense finally gave it a cushion, and the result was the Panthers' most lopsided win of the season.

For UT Martin, the first-half rally showed the Skyhawks still have a running game to build around in Franklin and Peete. But a defense that allowed 552 yards at home has plenty to fix before its next conference game.

For more on both teams, read our recaps of Southeast Missouri's win over Eastern Illinois and Western Illinois' rout of UT Martin.

Sources: ESPN box score (opens in a new tab) and gamecast, Eastern Illinois Athletics and UT Martin Athletics game previews. More college football coverage on Undrafted.

Photos: Sandy King/Eastern Illinois Athletics (file photo).