2018 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team

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.

2018 Eastern Illinois Panthers football
ConferenceOhio Valley Conference
Record3–8 (3–5 OVC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorScott Parr (1st season)
Defensive coordinatorCary Fowler (2nd season)
Home stadiumO'Brien Field
Seasons
← 2017
2019 →
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  
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – FCS playoff participant
Rankings from STATS Poll

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

Preseason

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OVC media poll

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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

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The Panthers had three players selected to the preseason all-OVC team.[4]

Schedule

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DateTimeOpponentSiteTVResultAttendance
September 13:00 p.m.at Arkansas*SECNL 20–5563,342
September 86:30 p.m.at No. 19 Illinois State*NBCSC+L 10–488,914
September 156:00 p.m.Indiana State*ESPN+L 41–556,420
September 222:00 p.m.Tennessee State
  • O'Brien Field
  • Charleston, IL
ESPN+L 40–417,670
September 296:00 p.m.at Tennessee TechESPN+W 52–387,184
October 66:00 p.m.Murray State
  • O'Brien Field
  • Charleston, IL
ESPN+L 41–483,063
October 133:00 p.m.at No. 8 Jacksonville StateESPN3L 22–4915,649
October 202:00 p.m.UT Martin 
  • O'Brien Field
  • Charleston, IL
ESPN3W 24–21 OT7,413
October 2712:00 p.m.at Eastern KentuckyESPN+L 23–314,400
November 101:00 p.m.Austin Peay
  • O'Brien Field
  • Charleston, IL
ESPN+W 52–212,149
November 171:00 p.m.at No. 23 Southeast Missouri StateESPN+L 32–383,987
  • *Non-conference game
  •  Homecoming
  • Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Central time

Game summaries

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At Arkansas

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1 2 3 4 Total
Panthers 0 6 7 7 20
Razorbacks 10 28 10 7 55

At Illinois State

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1 2 3 4 Total
Panthers 0 0 10 0 10
No. 19 Redbirds 7 21 10 10 48

Indiana State

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1 2 3 4 Total
Sycamores 17 14 14 10 55
Panthers 20 0 7 14 41

Tennessee State

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1 2 3 4 Total
Tigers 0 13 13 15 41
Panthers 17 7 7 9 40

At Tennessee Tech

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1 2 3 4 Total
Panthers 7 14 10 21 52
Golden Eagles 10 0 7 21 38

Murray State

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1 2 3 4 Total
Racers 10 14 14 10 48
Panthers 7 10 17 7 41

At Jacksonville State

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1 2 3 4 Total
Panthers 3 6 0 13 22
No. 8 Gamecocks 14 7 14 14 49

UT Martin

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1 2 3 4OT Total
Skyhawks 7 7 0 70 21
Panthers 0 7 14 03 24

At Eastern Kentucky

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1 2 3 4 Total
Panthers 10 7 0 6 23
Colonels 3 7 7 14 31

Austin Peay

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1 2 3 4 Total
Governors 0 7 7 7 21
Panthers 14 21 3 14 52

At Southeast Missouri State

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1 2 3 4 Total
Panthers 7 0 10 15 32
No. 23 Redhawks 10 7 3 18 38

References

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  1. ^ "Dameron fired as Eastern football coach".
  2. ^ "Media Pollsters Tab Jacksonville State as 2018 OVC Football Preseason Favorites".
  3. ^ "Jacksonville State Picked as 2018 Ohio Valley Conference Football Favorites".
  4. ^ "SEMO's Terry, JSU's Bridges Named OVC Preseason Football Players of the Year".