2019 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team

The 2019 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team represented Eastern Illinois University in the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by first-year head coach Adam Cushing[1] and played their home games at O'Brien Field in Charleston, Illinois as members of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC). They finished the season 1–11, 1–7 in OVC play to finish in last place.

2019 Eastern Illinois Panthers football
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
2019 record	1–11 (1–7 OVC)
Head coach	Adam Cushing (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	John Kuceyeski (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Chris Bowers (1st season)
Home stadium	O'Brien Field (Capacity: 10,000)

2019 Ohio Valley Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 8 Austin Peay +^		7	–	1					9	–	3
No. 17 Southeast Missouri State +^		7	–	1					9	–	3
UT Martin		6	–	2					7	–	5
Eastern Kentucky		5	–	3					7	–	5
Tennessee Tech		3	–	5					6	–	6
Jacksonville State		3	–	5					6	–	6
Murray State		2	–	6					4	–	8
Tennessee State		2	–	6					3	–	9
Eastern Illinois		1	–	7					1	–	11
+ – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

Previous season

The Panthers finished the 2018 season 3–8, 3–5 in OVC play to finish in a tie for sixth place.

Preseason

Preseason coaches' poll

The OVC released their preseason coaches' poll on July 22, 2019. The Panthers were picked to finish in eighth place.[2]

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Jacksonville State	135 (15)
2	Southeast Missouri State	115
3	Eastern Kentucky	99
4	Austin Peay	84
5	Tennessee State	75
6	UT Martin	58
7	Murray State	55
8	Eastern Illinois	38
9	Tennessee Tech	16

Preseason All-OVC team

The Panthers had one player selected to the preseason all-OVC team.[3]

Defense Terrell Greer – DL

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 29	6:00 p.m.	at Chattanooga*	Finley Stadium Chattanooga, TN	ESPN3	L 10–24	8,254
September 7	2:30 p.m.	at Indiana*	Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN	BTN	L 0–52	37,784
September 14	2:00 p.m.	No. 13 Illinois State*	O'Brien Field Charleston, IL (Mid-America Classic)	ESPN+	L 3–21	6,119
September 21	12:00 p.m.	at Indiana State*	Memorial Stadium Terre Haute, IN	ESPN+	L 6–16	6,216
September 28	4:00 p.m.	Tennessee Tech	O'Brien Field Charleston, IL	ESPN3	L 29–40	7,055
October 5	1:00 p.m.	at Murray State	Roy Stewart Stadium Murray, KY	ESPN+	L 17–24	4,205
October 12	12:00 p.m.	No. 17 Jacksonville State	O'Brien Field Charleston, IL	ESPN+	L 20–28	3,170
October 19	2:00 p.m.	at UT Martin	Graham Stadium Martin, TN	ESPN+	L 18–27	2,004
October 26	2:00 p.m.	Eastern Kentucky	O'Brien Field Charleston, IL	ESPN+	L 6–33	4,000
November 9	2:00 p.m.	at Tennessee State	Hale Stadium Nashville, TN	ESPN+	W 49–38	4,131
November 16	12:00 p.m.	No. 15 Southeast Missouri State	O'Brien Field Charleston, IL	ESPN+	L 12–26	4,069
November 23	2:00 p.m.	at No. 20 Austin Peay	Fortera Stadium Clarksville, TN	ESPN+	L 7–35	6,818
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

[4]

Game summaries

at Chattanooga

	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	3	7	0	0	10
Mocs	7	10	7	0	24

at Indiana

	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	0	0	0	0	0
Hoosiers	21	14	7	10	52

Illinois State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 13 Redbirds	7	7	7	0	21
Panthers	0	3	0	0	3

at Indiana State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	0	0	6	0	6
Sycamores	10	3	0	3	16

Tennessee Tech

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Eagles	0	21	13	6	40
Panthers	7	0	7	15	29

at Murray State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	0	7	3	7	17
Racers	7	2	7	8	24

Jacksonville State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 17 Gamecocks	7	14	0	7	28
Panthers	7	0	7	6	20

at UT Martin

	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	11	0	0	7	18
Skyhawks	14	7	0	6	27

Eastern Kentucky

	1	2	3	4	Total
Colonels	7	7	3	16	33
Panthers	0	0	0	6	6

at Tennessee State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	14	7	14	14	49
Tigers	14	21	3	0	38

Southeast Missouri State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 15 Redhawks	0	6	7	13	26
Panthers	7	0	3	2	12

at Austin Peay

	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	0	7	0	0	7
No. 20 Governors	7	14	14	0	35

References

1. "Adam Cushing - Football Coach". Eastern Illinois University Athletics. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
2. "Media Pollsters Tab Jacksonville State as 2019 OVC Football Preseason Favorites". ovcsports.com. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
3. "JSU's Cooper, SEMO's Hall Named 2019 OVC Preseason Football Players of the Year". ovcsports.com. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
4. "2019 Eastern Illinois Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved August 6, 2019.