The last home game of the regular season, if it doesn’t include Auburn, has in recent years featured an opponent that is considered little more than a speed bump in the road.
The Eastern Illinois Panthers seem to have been run over during the road’s repaving process.
The Panthers are 3-8 at the FCS level. The offense is terrible and the defense is barely sufficient at EIU’s own level, to say nothing of facing an FBS team. That, by the way, is something Eastern Illinois has not yet done in 2025, and from tape study we’re not sure the Panthers know what’s about to hit them.
Alabama needs a game where it can rest starters and work out the kinks for Auburn and the postseason. This certainly looks to fit the bill.
OFFENSE
The Panthers operate from a shotgun spread formation on just about every snap and the preferred offense is essentially a throw-it-on-every-down kind of affair, affected only by the Panthers’ choice of quarterbacks on any given series. Of the 126 teams ranked in FCS, the Panthers rank 93rd in total offense and 94th in passing offense; rushing offense ranks 69th, bolstered significantly by quarterback scrambles. Alabama is 57th in total offense, 11th in passing offense and 121st in rushing offense at the FBS level, but no matter how many yards Alabama picks up on the ground in this one, it won’t be enough to assuage fears that the offense has become too one-dimensional against top opposition.
QUARTERBACKS
Eastern Illinois splits the position between two players, redshirt freshman Connor Wolf and Wisconsin transfer Cole LaCrue. Wolf has the better arm of the two but is a statue; LaCrue is a dual-threat quarterback and the team’s second-leading rusher – with an impressive 4.2-ypc average and 7 touchdowns despite the EIU offensive line being a sieve – but is inaccurate and can’t throw downfield. Alabama will probably get more of LaCrue in this game than Wolf, given the Panther OL’s struggles in pass protection. Wolf has also been a bit fragile. LaCrue finding a seam on a scramble may prove to be the best thing the Panther offense can deliver. Alabama will probably start Ty Simpson – we say “probably” because Alabama could easily win this game without him, and Simpson could use some no-contact time to rest up for Auburn. We expect Simpson to play, but not for long before yielding to Austin Mack and Keelon Russell. Advantage: Alabama
RUNNING BACKS
Neither team has a good rushing attack. Eastern Illinois will likely start Charles Kellom, with Jacarre Fleming and Jay Pearson his backups. Kellom and Pearson have decent size but Fleming is tiny for a running back. Kellom is an Akron transfer. He’s averaging just 3.9 yards per carry in 2025, which makes him right at home with Alabama’s Jam Miller, Kevin Riley and Daniel Hill. Alabama is certainly nothing special at the moment, but Hill by himself has far more promise than anyone on the EIU roster. We expect to see at least six running backs for Alabama in this game. Advantage: Alabama
WIDE RECEIVERS
Eastern Illinois boasts four pretty good receivers, and the surprising part there is only two of them are transfers from another school. Landers Green came from Union College and C.J. Nelson is from Houston; the other two – DeAirious Smith and Cooper Willman – are homegrown. The four of them all average 13.5 or more yards per catch, and Green has enough height to make him a difficult matchup for a shorter defender. All lack bulk, however, and the speed is just acceptable. Nelson and Willman didn’t play last week, and injury information is hard to come by for this team. The closest thing Eastern Illinois has to a real weapon, though, is TE Alex Herrera, who is built somewhat like your local plumber but has good hands and the knack for getting open. He’s caught 21 passes for 222 yards on the year and is an important part of whatever success the running game might have. Alex Ginnever will back up Herrera and also play outside at receiver; he’s got good skills for that kind of a dual role. Alabama will start Germie Bernard, Isaiah Horton and Ryan Williams with Lotzeir Brooks and Rico Scott backing them up. Tight end Josh Cuevas is coming off a career game against Oklahoma. This is one of the few matchups on the board that isn’t a complete runaway for Alabama, based mostly off the overall good competency of EIU’s players at tight end. It’s still a clear edge to Bama, though. Advantage: Alabama
OFFENSIVE LINE
For whatever you think of Alabama’s offensive line struggles, Eastern Illinois is in a much more dire position this week. Alabama started Parker Brailsford at center, Kadyn Proctor and true freshman Michael Carroll at the tackles, and Kam Dewberry and Wilkin Formby at the guards last week. We expect the same starting group this time out, with Geno VanDeMark and Will Sanders getting a good amount of work at guard. There’s no ready explanation for Jaeden Roberts’ status; Roberts started and went the whole way against LSU at right guard, but failed to play last week. Expect to see Jackson Lloyd, Joe Ionata and Olaus Alinen get snaps this week as well. For Eastern Illinois, Alejandro Arellano, Nic DiSanto, Kwan Johnson, Rahfeeq Katumbusi and Dante Thompson are the likely starters, with Jonathan Arellano working in as a sixth man. EIU ranks 112th in sacks allowed and 123rd in tackles for loss allowed, and the tape makes us doubt the legitimacy of any of the height/weight numbers listed on the roster. Issues with footwork abound and the Panthers don’t explode into blocks. Advantage: Alabama
DEFENSE
Both teams run variants of a 4-2-5 with the occasional odd front. Eastern Illinois’ strong suit – at least on the FCS level – is a run defense ranking of 52nd. Total defense comes in at 64th, scoring defense at 66th, raw pass defense at 79th and pass efficiency defense at 110th. A lack of speed is evident on tape as is issues with technique, especially in the back end. Alabama’s defense has gotten rather salty as of late, and Alabama now ranks 14th in total defense, 13th in scoring defense, 46th in rushing defense, 8th in raw pass defense and 23rd in pass efficiency defense.
DEFENSIVE LINE
Eastern Illinois has issues getting to the quarterback, ranking just 112th in FCS in sacks, but does better against the run, coming in at 59th in tackles for loss. DE Samuel Robles is the best of the bunch up front, getting 4 of the team’s 13 sacks so far, and at 260 pounds with a decent physical profile, Alabama fans will hear his name called in this one. Alton Jefferson and Trevon Piggie will start at the tackles, with Drake Van Hyfte as the other end. The tackles are clearly built for plugging holes and making life tough for running backs. Alabama will rotate Tim Keenan, James Smith, London Simmons, Isaia Faga, Kelby Collins and Edric Hill at tackle, and Steve Mboumoua will probably get into this game as well. At end, L.T. Overton will start with Jordan Renaud, Keon Keeley and Fatutoa Henry getting some time. You could make a case for this being Eastern Illinois’ best unit overall, at least outside of receiver, but Bama is playing better up front than it has in two years and there’s not a lot of comparison between the athleticism of these two units. Advantage: Alabama
LINEBACKERS
Tylan Foster and Ja’Wuan Nickson will get the majority of the work here for the Panthers, with Jordyn Stewart backing them both up. Foster is steady, but makes virtually no plays behind the line of scrimmage and is just … there. Nickson has at least shown the ability to diagnose plays in the running game, and has collected 8.5 tackles for loss and 2 sacks. Nickson hails from Tuscaloosa originally. Both are actually bigger than what we usually see from the FCS level. Alabama will rotate Justin Jefferson, Deontae Lawson and Nikhai Hill-Green at inside linebacker, while Yhonzae Pierre will start ahead of Justin Hill and Noah Carter at Wolf linebacker/DE. We’re not sure whether we’ll see Qua Russaw this week; he warmed up for Oklahoma, but was clearly not 100 percent. Cayden Jones looked a lot closer to playing shape; he, along with Q.B. Reese, Darrell Johnson and Luke Metz will probably all get a little work late in the game. Alabama will have to account for Nickson, but the matchup still favors the Tide due to consistency across the board. Advantage: Alabama
DEFENSIVE BACKS
This is the weakness of the Panther defense and the strength of the Alabama defense. It’s almost not worth discussing the details. Moses Alexander will probably start at one of the cornerback slots for EIU with Jihad McCall and Isaiah Houl at the other corner and nickel spots, and Tienne Fridge and Saipeti Maiava Jr. at the safeties. Kaleb Lyons will rotate at multiple positions. Eastern Illinois has played a ton of players in the back end this year, but even average receivers give this unit trouble. Alexander, a Houston transfer, is 6’3” and 195, however, and if he’s finally healthy he could at least be a matchup issue for the smaller receivers on Alabama’s roster. Alabama will rotate Zabien Brown, Domani Jackson and Dijon Lee Jr. at corner, with Bray Hubbard, Keon Sabb, DaShawn Jones and Rydarrius Morgan working at safety. Zavier Mincey will also see time at safety, along with probably Ivan Taylor and Kameron Howard. As we said before, not close. Advantage: Alabama
SPECIAL TEAMS
Eastern Illinois has had issues in the kicking game all year. Two placekickers have been used (Drew Schiller and Nico Carrier), but neither of them have been reliable. Carrier is 2-of-2 on field goals but missed his only extra point try. Schiller has missed 2 PATs and is 11-of-17 total on field goals, with a long kick of just 43 yards. Eastern Illinois is good in the punting and punt return game, but struggles in the kickoff return and kickoff defense areas. Mason Miller is averaging 47.2 gross yards per punt. Alabama is also sound in the punting game behind Blake Doud, but the rest of the unit has been in freefall. We think Cole Adams will get the solo punt return assignment again this week, which would be an improvement over the curious two-man return scheme Alabama ran against Oklahoma. Placekicker Conor Talty has been far from automatic but he’s superior to Schiller and Carrier. This would be a good week, though, to see if Alex Rozier can snap for placement kicks better than David Bird, who has struggled. This really isn’t a “strength” for either team per se, but we like Alabama’s talent on coverage teams better. Advantage: Alabama
OVERALL
Alabama leads in all eight categories, with only special teams a close call. Alabama strongly controls both OL-DL cross-matchups. This game will be a blowout win for the Crimson Tide.
There isn’t much more to say than that. The primary objective here is the same as it ever is in matchups against FCS opponents: keep everyone healthy. Alabama should be considered a favorite against Auburn next week despite where the game is being played, but a key injury here and there and it all could go out the window. Build a lead against EIU, clear the benches and play “Name That Walk-on” for the entirety of the fourth quarter.
Alabama 59
E. Illinois 7
Follow Jess Nicholas on X at @TideFansJessN