American college football season
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.
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 [ edit ] The Panthers had three players selected to the preseason all-OVC team.[4]
Offense
Isaiah Johnson – RB Alexander Hollins – WR Defense
Date Time Opponent Site TV Result Attendance September 1 3:00 p.m. at Arkansas * SECN L 20–5563,342 September 8 6:30 p.m. at No. 19 Illinois State * NBCSC+ L 10–488,914 September 15 6:00 p.m. Indiana State * ESPN+ L 41–556,420 September 22 2:00 p.m. Tennessee State O'Brien Field Charleston, IL ESPN+ L 40–417,670 September 29 6:00 p.m. at Tennessee Tech ESPN+ W 52–387,184 October 6 6:00 p.m. Murray State O'Brien Field Charleston, IL ESPN+ L 41–483,063 October 13 3:00 p.m. at No. 8 Jacksonville State ESPN3 L 22–4915,649 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 ESPN+ L 23–314,400 November 10 1:00 p.m. Austin Peay O'Brien Field Charleston, IL ESPN+ W 52–212,149 November 17 1:00 p.m. at No. 23 Southeast Missouri State ESPN+ L 32–383,987 *Non-conference game HomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time
1 2 3 4 Total Panthers 0 6 7 7 20 Razorbacks 10 28 10 7 55
1 2 3 4 Total Panthers 0 0 10 0 10 No. 19 Redbirds 7 21 10 10 48
1 2 3 4 Total Sycamores 17 14 14 10 55 Panthers 20 0 7 14 41
1 2 3 4 Total Tigers 0 13 13 15 41 Panthers 17 7 7 9 40
1 2 3 4 Total Panthers 7 14 10 21 52 Golden Eagles 10 0 7 21 38
1 2 3 4 Total Racers 10 14 14 10 48 Panthers 7 10 17 7 41
At Jacksonville State [ edit ] 1 2 3 4 Total Panthers 3 6 0 13 22 No. 8 Gamecocks 14 7 14 14 49
1 2 3 4 OT Total Skyhawks 7 7 0 7 0 21 Panthers 0 7 14 0 3 24
At Eastern Kentucky [ edit ] 1 2 3 4 Total Panthers 10 7 0 6 23 Colonels 3 7 7 14 31
1 2 3 4 Total Governors 0 7 7 7 21 Panthers 14 21 3 14 52
At Southeast Missouri State [ edit ] 1 2 3 4 Total Panthers 7 0 10 15 32 No. 23 Redhawks 10 7 3 18 38
Venues Bowls & rivalries Culture & lore People Seasons National championship seasons in bold