2018 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team
The 2018 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team represented Eastern Illinois University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by fifth-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). They finished the season 3–8, 3–5 in OVC play to finish in a tie for sixth place.
2018 Eastern Illinois Panthers football | |
---|---|
Conference | Ohio Valley Conference |
2018 record | 3–8 (3–5 OVC) |
Head coach |
|
Offensive coordinator | Scott Parr (1st season) |
Defensive coordinator | Cary Fowler (2nd season) |
Home stadium | O'Brien Field (Capacity: 10,000) |
2018 Ohio Valley Conference football standings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Team | W | L | W | L | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 10 Jacksonville State $^ | 7 | – | 1 | 8 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 15 Southeast Missouri State ^ | 6 | – | 2 | 8 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Eastern Kentucky | 5 | – | 2 | 7 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Murray State | 5 | – | 3 | 5 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tennessee State | 3 | – | 4 | 4 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Eastern Illinois | 3 | – | 5 | 3 | – | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Austin Peay | 3 | – | 5 | 5 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
UT Martin | 2 | – | 6 | 2 | – | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tennessee Tech | 1 | – | 7 | 1 | – | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
On November 18, head coach Kim Dameron was fired.[1] He finished at Eastern Illinois with a five-year record of 27–30.
Previous season
The Panthers finished the 2017 season 6–5, 5–3 in OVC play to finish in third place.
Preseason
OVC media poll
On July 20, 2018, the media covering the OVC released their preseason poll with the Panthers predicted to finish in fifth place.[2] On July 23, the OVC released their coaches poll with the Panthers predicted to finish in fourth place.[3]
Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
---|---|---|
1 | Jacksonville State | 134 (14) |
2 | Austin Peay | 114 (1) |
3 | UT Martin | 96 |
4 | Tennessee State | 91 |
5 | Eastern Illinois | 83 |
6 | Eastern Kentucky | 64 |
7 | Murray State | 39 |
8 | Southeast Missouri State | 35 |
9 | Tennessee Tech | 19 |
Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
---|---|---|
1 | Jacksonville State | 126 (14) |
2 | Austin Peay | 112 (4) |
3 | UT Martin | 95 |
4 | Eastern Illinois | 73 |
5 | Eastern Kentucky | 69 |
6 | Tennessee State | 64 |
7 | Southeast Missouri State | 62 |
8 | Murray State | 24 |
9 | Tennessee Tech | 23 |
Preseason All-OVC team
The Panthers had three players selected to the preseason all-OVC team.[4]
Offense
Defense
|
Schedule
Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
September 1 | 3:00 p.m. | at Arkansas* | SECN | L 20–55 | 63,342 | |
September 8 | 6:30 p.m. | at No. 19 Illinois State* | NBCSC+ | L 10–48 | 8,914 | |
September 15 | 6:00 p.m. | Indiana State* | ESPN+ | L 41–55 | 6,420 | |
September 22 | 2:00 p.m. | Tennessee State |
| ESPN+ | L 40–41 | 7,670 |
September 29 | 6:00 p.m. | at Tennessee Tech | ESPN+ | W 52–38 | 7,184 | |
October 6 | 6:00 p.m. | Murray State |
| ESPN+ | L 41–48 | 3,063 |
October 13 | 3:00 p.m. | at No. 8 Jacksonville State | ESPN3 | L 22–49 | 15,649 | |
October 20 | 2:00 p.m. | UT Martin |
| ESPN3 | W 24–21 OT | 7,413 |
October 27 | 12:00 p.m. | at Eastern Kentucky | ESPN+ | L 23–31 | 4,400 | |
November 10 | 1:00 p.m. | Austin Peay |
| ESPN+ | W 52–21 | 2,149 |
November 17 | 1:00 p.m. | at No. 23 Southeast Missouri State | ESPN+ | L 32–38 | 3,987 | |
|
Source[5]
Game summaries
at Arkansas
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Panthers | 0 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 20 |
Razorbacks | 10 | 28 | 10 | 7 | 55 |
at Illinois State
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Panthers | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 10 |
No. 19 Redbirds | 7 | 21 | 10 | 10 | 48 |
Indiana State
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sycamores | 17 | 14 | 14 | 10 | 55 |
Panthers | 20 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 41 |
Tennessee State
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tigers | 0 | 13 | 13 | 15 | 41 |
Panthers | 17 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 40 |
at Tennessee Tech
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Panthers | 7 | 14 | 10 | 21 | 52 |
Golden Eagles | 10 | 0 | 7 | 21 | 38 |
Murray State
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Racers | 10 | 14 | 14 | 10 | 48 |
Panthers | 7 | 10 | 17 | 7 | 41 |
at Jacksonville State
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Panthers | 3 | 6 | 0 | 13 | 22 |
No. 8 Gamecocks | 14 | 7 | 14 | 14 | 49 |
UT Martin
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Skyhawks | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 21 |
Panthers | 0 | 7 | 14 | 0 | 3 | 24 |
at Eastern Kentucky
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Panthers | 10 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 23 |
Colonels | 3 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 31 |
Austin Peay
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Governors | 0 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 |
Panthers | 14 | 21 | 3 | 14 | 52 |
at Southeast Missouri State
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Panthers | 7 | 0 | 10 | 15 | 32 |
No. 23 Redhawks | 10 | 7 | 3 | 18 | 38 |
References
- https://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/eastern/dameron-fired-as-eastern-football-coach/article_ff7b2bac-56b5-5078-9713-c7edca8bb445.html
- http://www.ovcsports.com/news/2018/7/10/media-pollsters-tab-jacksonville-state-as-2018-ovc-football-preseason-favorites.aspx
- http://www.ovcsports.com/news/2018/7/10/jacksonville-state-picked-as-2018-ohio-valley-conference-football-favorites.aspx?path=football
- http://www.ovcsports.com/news/2018/7/10/semos-terry-jsus-bridges-named-ovc-preseason-football-players-of-the-year.aspx?path=football
- "2018 Football Schedule – EIU Panthers". Eastern Illinois University Panthers.