Kellom Runs for Three Scores as Eastern Illinois Pulls Away
Charles Kellom ran 19 times for 171 yards and three touchdowns, and 88 of those yards came on one play. That 88-yard run with 58 seconds left in the second quarter put Eastern Illinois up 14-6. Take that one run away and Kellom is at 83 yards on 18 carries. Eastern Illinois won 28-14.
Murray State scored first, a 13-yard Collin Shannon pass to Jaxon Potter in the second quarter (the extra point failed). Kellom answered with a 10-yard run to flip it 7-6, then the 88-yarder. Murray State had one more score in it before the break: Shannon found Trey Firestone from 7 yards out as time ran out, and a successful two-point try made it 14-14. It was the only tie of the game, and nobody led again until Kellom's 2-yard run in the third quarter put Eastern Illinois back up 21-14.
Cole LaCrue then hit Landers Green for a 20-yard touchdown with 8:25 left to make it 28-14, and Murray State did not score again. That is 14 unanswered points after the break.
The yardage split says Eastern Illinois did it on the ground: 46 carries for 271 yards, against only 101 passing yards. Murray State went the other way, 257 through the air and just 63 on the ground, and threw two interceptions while Eastern Illinois threw none. Eastern Illinois is 1-0, Murray State 0-1.
That is the fantasy takeaway, and it is a loud one: one back, three touchdowns. Kellom's 37.0 Promethium points were the best score of the game by a wide margin. Shannon had 21.3 in defeat.