2017 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team

The 2017 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team represented Eastern Illinois University in the 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by fourth-year head coach Kim Dameron and played their home games at O'Brien Field in Charleston, Illinois as members of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC). The Panthers finished the season 6–5, 5–3 in OVC play to finish in third place.

2017 Eastern Illinois Panthers football
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
2017 record	6–5 (5–3 OVC)
Head coach	Kim Dameron (4th season)
Offensive coordinator	Greg Stevens (4th season)
Defensive coordinator	Cary Fowler (1st season)
Home stadium	O'Brien Field (Capacity: 10,000)

2017 Ohio Valley Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 9 Jacksonville State $^		8	–	0					10	–	2
Austin Peay		7	–	1					8	–	4
Eastern Illinois		5	–	3					6	–	5
UT Martin		4	–	4					6	–	5
Eastern Kentucky		3	–	5					3	–	7
Southeast Missouri State		3	–	5					3	–	8
Tennessee State		2	–	5					6	–	5
Murray State		2	–	5					3	–	8
Tennessee Tech		1	–	7					1	–	10
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

Previous season

The Panthers finished the 2016 season 6–5, 4–4 in OVC play to finish in a tie for fifth place.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 31	6:00 p.m.	at Indiana State*	Memorial Stadium Terre Haute, IN	ESPN3	W 22–20	4,670
September 9	2:30 p.m.	at Northern Illinois*	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, IL	ESPN3	L 10–38	16,722
September 16	2:00 p.m.	No. 18 Illinois State*	O'Brien Field Charleston, IL (Mid-America Classic)	OVCDN	L 13–44	7,031
September 23	6:00 p.m.	Southeast Missouri State	O'Brien Field Charleston, IL	OVCDN	W 19–16	3,699
September 30	6:00 p.m.	at No. 24 Tennessee State	Nissan Stadium Nashville, TN (John Merritt Classic)	ESPN3	W 19–16 ^2OT	11,013
October 7	6:00 p.m.	Tennessee Tech	O'Brien Field Charleston, IL	OVCDN	W 24–23	3,016
October 14	3:00 p.m.	at Murray State	Roy Stewart Stadium Murray, KY	OVCDN	W 27–24 ^2OT	3,263
October 21	2:00 p.m.	No. 3 Jacksonville State	O'Brien Field Charleston, IL	ESPN3	L 14–30	8,176
October 28	2:00 p.m.	at UT Martin	Graham Stadium Martin, TN	OVCDN	L 10–27	1,682
November 4	1:00 p.m.	Eastern Kentucky	O'Brien Field Charleston, IL	OVCDN	W 23–20 ^OT	2,828
November 18	5:00 p.m.	at Austin Peay	Fortera Stadium Clarksville, TN	OVCDN	L 13–28	8,214
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS FCS Poll released prior to game Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

• Source: Schedule

Game summaries

at Indiana State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	13	3	0	6	22
Sycamores	7	0	3	10	20

at Northern Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	3	0	0	7	10
Huskies	7	24	7	0	38

Illinois State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 18 Redbirds	10	17	10	7	44
Panthers	0	6	7	0	13

Southeast Missouri State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Redhawks	0	0	9	7	16
Panthers	6	6	0	7	19

at Tennessee State

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Panthers	7	3	0	0	9	19
No. 24 Tigers	0	7	0	3	6	16

Tennessee Tech

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Eagles	14	0	6	3	23
Panthers	0	3	14	7	24

at Murray State

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Panthers	0	14	7	0	6	27
Racers	7	0	0	14	3	24

Jacksonville State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 3 Gamecocks	0	9	14	7	30
Panthers	7	7	0	0	14

at UT Martin

	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	3	0	7	0	10
Skyhawks	10	7	7	3	27

Eastern Kentucky

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Colonels	7	3	3	7	0	20
Panthers	7	3	3	7	3	23

at Austin Peay

	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	0	6	0	7	13
Governors	7	7	7	7	28

References