2019 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team

2019 Eastern Illinois Panthers football
2019 Eastern Illinois Panthers football
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
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
	Seasons ← 2018 2020 →

2019 Ohio Valley Conference football standings
v t e
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

The 2019 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team represented Eastern Illinois University as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) during the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by first-year head coach Adam Cushing, the Panthers compiled an overall record of 1–11 overall with a mark of 1–7 in conference play, placing last out of nine teams in the OVC. Eastern Illinois played home games at O'Brien Field in Charleston, Illinois.

Preseason

Preseason coaches' poll

The OVC released their preseason coaches' poll on July 22, 2019. The Panthers were picked to finish in eighth place.^[1]

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.^[2]

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

^[3]

Game summaries

At Chattanooga

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

At Indiana

Eastern Illinois Panthers (0–1) vs Indiana Hoosiers (1–0) – Game summary

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

at Memorial Stadium • Bloomington, Indiana

Date: September 7, 2019
Game time: 3:30 p.m.
Game weather: Partly cloudy, 72 °F (22 °C)
Game attendance: 37,784
Referee: Larry Smith
TV announcers (BTN): Joe Beninati (play-by-play), Chuck Long (analyst)
Sources:

Game information

First quarter

(11:05) IU – Miles Marshall 10-yard pass from Michael Penix Jr., Logan Justus kick (Drive: 10 plays, 59 yards, 3:55; Indiana 7–0)
(4:28) IU – Stevie Scott III 5-yard run, Logan Justus kick (Drive: 9 plays, 68 yards, 4:18; Indiana 14–0)
(1:34) IU – Cole Gest 3-yard run (Drive: 2 plays, 32 yards, 0:29; Indiana 21–0)

Second quarter

(1:44) IU – Peyton Hendershot 8-yard pass from Michael Penix Jr., Logan Justus kick (Drive: 10 plays, 80 yards, 4:41; Indiana 28–0)
(1:07) IU – Ronnie Walker 64-yard pass from Peyton Ramsey, Logan Justus kick (Drive: 1 play, 64 yards, 8:33; Indiana 35–0)

Third quarter

(7:19) IU – Donovan Hale 43-yard pass from Peyton Ramsey, Logan Justus kick (Drive: 6 plays, 96 yards, 3:07; Indiana 42–0)

Fourth quarter

(13:28) IU – Sampson James 1-yard run, Logan Justus kick (Drive: 7 plays, 55 yards, 2:37; Indiana 49–0)
(11:54) IU – Charles Campbell 48-yard field goal (Drive: 4 plays, 1 yard, 0:45; Indiana 52–0)

Statistics	EIU	IU
First downs	5	26
Total yards	116	555
Rushes/yards	31–52	34–114
Passing yards	64	441
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	11–25–0	30–41–0
Time of possession	27:25	32:35

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Eastern Illinois	Passing	Johnathan Brantley	8/17, 49 yards
	Rushing	Darshon McCullough	6 carries, 17 yards
	Receiving	James Sheehan	2 receptions, 18 yards
Indiana	Passing	Peyton Ramsey	13/14, 226 yards, 2 TD
	Rushing	Stevie Scott III	12 carries, 61 yards, TD
	Receiving	Donavan Hale	5 receptions, 110 yards, TD

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

^ "Media Pollsters Tab Jacksonville State as 2019 OVC Football Preseason Favorites". ovcsports.com. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
^ "JSU's Cooper, SEMO's Hall Named 2019 OVC Preseason Football Players of the Year". ovcsports.com. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
^ "2019 Eastern Illinois Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved August 6, 2019.

[Preseason_poll-1] "Media Pollsters Tab Jacksonville State as 2019 OVC Football Preseason Favorites". ovcsports.com. Retrieved August 5, 2019.

[OVC_team-2] "JSU's Cooper, SEMO's Hall Named 2019 OVC Preseason Football Players of the Year". ovcsports.com. Retrieved August 5, 2019.

[3] "2019 Eastern Illinois Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved August 6, 2019.

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v t e Eastern Illinois Panthers football
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Bowls & rivalries	Illinois State: Mid-America Classic
Culture & lore	Billy the Panther
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