Eastern Illinois crushes Tennessee State 34-16

Published Oct. 27, 2013 2:51 a.m. ET

foxsports

Jimmy Garoppolo threw four touchdowns to lead Eastern Illinois to a crushing 34-16 victory over Tennessee State in a shootout for first place in the Ohio Valley Conference on Saturday night.

Eastern Illinois (7-1, 4-0 OVC) had 567 total offensive yards. Garoppolo was 24-of-41 for 410 yards. Wide receivers Keiondre Gober and Jeff LePak each had over 100 yards and two touchdowns. Running back Shephard Little ran for 138 yards and a touchdown.

The Panthers held Tennessee State (7-2, 4-1) to a single field goal until early in the fourth quarter when the Tigers' Ronald Butler connected with Weldon Garlington for a touchdown to tighten the score to 28-10. Eastern Illinois expanded their lead on a 25-yard Garoppolo TD pass to LePak but missed the extra point.

TSU mounted one last scoring drive with five minutes left in the game, culminating in another Butler TD pass and a 34-16 final.