2018 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team

2018 Eastern Illinois Panthers football
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
Record	3–8 (3–5 OVC)
Head coach	Kim Dameron (5th season)
Offensive coordinator	Scott Parr (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Cary Fowler (2nd season)
Home stadium	O'Brien Field
Seasons ← 2017 2019 →

2018 Ohio Valley Conference football standings

v t e	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
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2018 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team represented Eastern Illinois University as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) during the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by Kim Dameron in his fifth and final season as head coach, the Panthers compiled an overall record of 3–8 overall with a mark of 3–5 in conference play, tying for sixth place in the OVC. Eastern Illinois played home games at O'Brien Field in Charleston, Illinois.

On November 18, Dameron was fired.^[1] He finished his tenure at Eastern Illinois with a five-year record of 27–30.

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]

Media poll

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

Coaches poll

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]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	3:00 p.m.	at Arkansas*	Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium Fayetteville, AR	SECN	L 20–55	63,342
September 8	6:30 p.m.	at No. 19 Illinois State*	Hancock Stadium Normal, IL (Mid-America Classic)	NBCSC+	L 10–48	8,914
September 15	6:00 p.m.	Indiana State*	O'Brien Field Charleston, IL	ESPN+	L 41–55	6,420
September 22	2:00 p.m.	Tennessee State	O'Brien Field Charleston, IL	ESPN+	L 40–41	7,670
September 29	6:00 p.m.	at Tennessee Tech	Tucker Stadium Cookeville, TN	ESPN+	W 52–38	7,184
October 6	6:00 p.m.	Murray State	O'Brien Field Charleston, IL	ESPN+	L 41–48	3,063
October 13	3:00 p.m.	at No. 8 Jacksonville State	Burgess–Snow Field at JSU Stadium Jacksonville, AL	ESPN3	L 22–49	15,649
October 20	2:00 p.m.	UT Martin	O'Brien Field Charleston, IL	ESPN3	W 24–21 OT	7,413
October 27	12:00 p.m.	at Eastern Kentucky	Roy Kidd Stadium Richmond, KY	ESPN+	L 23–31	4,400
November 10	1:00 p.m.	Austin Peay	O'Brien Field Charleston, IL	ESPN+	W 52–21	2,149
November 17	1:00 p.m.	at No. 23 Southeast Missouri State	Houck Stadium Cape Girardeau, MO	ESPN+	L 32–38	3,987
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

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