2017 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team

The 2017 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team represented Eastern Illinois University as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) during the 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by fourth-year head coach Kim Dameron, the Panthers compiled an overall record of 6–5 overall with a mark of 5–3 in conference play, placing third in the OVC. Eastern Illinois played home games at O'Brien Field in Charleston, Illinois.

2017 Eastern Illinois Panthers football
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
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

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					4	–	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

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 Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Game summaries

At Indiana State

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

See also: 2017 Indiana State Sycamores football team

At Northern Illinois

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

See also: 2017 Northern Illinois Huskies football team

Illinois State

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

See also: 2017 Illinois State Redbirds football team

Southeast Missouri State

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

See also: 2017 Southeast Missouri State Redhawks football team

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

See also: 2017 Tennessee State Tigers football team

Tennessee Tech

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

See also: 2017 Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles football team

At Murray State

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

See also: 2017 Murray State Racers football team

Jacksonville State

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

See also: 2017 Jacksonville State Gamecocks football team

At UT Martin

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

See also: 2017 UT Martin Skyhawks football team

Eastern Kentucky

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

See also: 2017 Eastern Kentucky Colonels football team

At Austin Peay

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

See also: 2017 Austin Peay Governors football team