2018 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team

2018 Eastern Illinois Panthers football
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 →

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 Ohio Valley Conference football standings
v t e
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

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]

Offense

Isaiah Johnson – RB
Alexander Hollins – WR

Defense

Mark Williams – DB

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

[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".

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