Minnesota opens the season Thursday night at Huntington Bank Stadium against an Eastern Illinois team that already has one game on the books, and the Panthers aren’t walking into Minneapolis just to make up the numbers.
To get a better read on what the Gophers are facing, Cameron Thomas of The Daily Eastern News offered a snapshot of Eastern Illinois’ identity, its key pieces and the path the Panthers would need to follow to keep this one from getting out of hand.
The expectation around Eastern Illinois entering 2026 was improvement, and Thomas said the opener matched that picture. Chris Wilkerson’s message has centered on one play at a time and daily progress, and the Panthers, in his view, are built to lean on the run game, control possession, stop the run and create turnovers.
That starts with Charles Kellom, who is coming off a huge opener: 171 rushing yards, three touchdowns and an 88-yard score on 19 carries. He also led the Panthers with 711 rushing yards last season. Thomas described Kellom as a back who keeps churning after contact and makes tacklers pay if they try to bring him down with arm tackles.
“For Minnesota, I think you must get multiple hats on the ball and bring him down because arm tackles won’t get the job done.”
Beyond Kellom, Thomas pointed Minnesota fans toward a few more names. Linebacker Ja’wuan Nickson, a returner who was second on the team in tackles last season, earned 2nd All-OVC-Big South honors and picked off a pass last week.
Wide receiver Landers Green, also back from last year, caught a touchdown in the opener. Safety Dillion Conway is another player to know.
Eastern Illinois’ biggest strength, Thomas said, is the run game on both sides of the ball. Offensively, the Panthers want to establish it first and let deeper shots come later.
Defensively, they want to shut it down. Last week, they held their opponent to 63 rushing yards, including just 19 in the second half.
If the Panthers are going to make Thursday night interesting, Thomas said the formula is pretty clear: own time of possession, avoid falling into a shootout, run the ball efficiently, stay out of long-yardage situations, force turnovers and hold up against the run.
His prediction: Minnesota 35-7.
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