# 2018 Eastern Kentucky Colonels football team

The 2018 Eastern Kentucky Colonels football team represented Eastern Kentucky University during the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by third-year head coach Mark Elder and played their home games at Roy Kidd Stadium as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference. They finished the season 7–4, 5–2 in OVC play to finish in third place.

## Preseason
### OVC media poll

On July 20, 2018, the media covering the OVC released their preseason poll with the Colonels predicted to finish in sixth place. On July 23, the OVC released their coaches poll with the Colonels predicted to finish in fifth place.
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 Colonels had three players selected to the preseason all-OVC team.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| August 30 | 7:00 p.m. | Morehead State* | Roy Kidd StadiumRichmond, KY (Old Hawg Rifle) | ESPN+ | W 49–23 | 10,230 |
| September 8 | 6:30 p.m. | at Marshall* | Joan C. Edwards StadiumHuntington, WV | ESPN+ | L 16–32 | 24,304 |
| September 15 | 4:00 p.m. | at Bowling Green* | Doyt Perry StadiumBowling Green, OH | ESPN3 | L 35–42 | 17,542 |
| September 22 | 4:00 p.m. | Southeast Missouri State | Roy Kidd StadiumRichmond, KY | ESPN+ | W 23–14 | 7,720 |
| October 6 | 4:00 p.m. | No. 8 Jacksonville State | Roy Kidd StadiumRichmond, KY | ESPN+ | L 7–56 | 6,820 |
| October 13 | 3:00 p.m. | at UT Martin | Graham StadiumMartin, TN | ESPN+ | W 35–34 | 1,769 |
| October 20 | 3:00 p.m. | Murray State | Roy Kidd StadiumRichmond, KY | ESPN+ | L 6–34 | 10,440 |
| October 27 | 1:00 p.m. | Eastern Illinois | Roy Kidd StadiumRichmond, KY | ESPN+ | W 31–23 | 4,400 |
| November 3 | 5:00 p.m. | at Austin Peay | Fortera StadiumClarksville, TN | ESPN+ | W 17–13 | 6,094 |
| November 10 | 1:00 p.m. | Robert Morris* | Roy Kidd StadiumRichmond, KY | ESPN+ | W 40–39 $^{OT}$ | 4,165 |
| November 17 | 2:30 p.m. | at Tennessee Tech | Tucker StadiumCookeville, TN | ESPN+ | W 37–6 | 4,559 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time |||||||

## Game summaries
### Morehead State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Eagles | 0 | 7 | 0 | 16 | 23 |
| Colonels | 18 | 0 | 14 | 17 | 49 |

### At Marshall

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Colonels | 0 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 16 |
| Thundering Herd | 13 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 32 |

### At Bowling Green

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Colonels | 14 | 7 | 14 | 0 | 35 |
| Falcons | 0 | 28 | 6 | 8 | 42 |

### Southeast Missouri State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Redhawks | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| Colonels | 3 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 23 |

### Jacksonville State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 8 Gamecocks | 14 | 14 | 7 | 21 | 56 |
| Colonels | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |

### At UT Martin

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Colonels | 21 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 35 |
| Skyhawks | 7 | 24 | 3 | 0 | 34 |

### Murray State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Racers | 0 | 10 | 14 | 10 | 34 |
| Colonels | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 |

### Eastern Illinois

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

### At Austin Peay

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Colonels | 3 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 17 |
| Governors | 7 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 13 |

### Robert Morris

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
| Colonials | 10 | 13 | 0 | 10 | 6 | 39 |
| Colonels | 6 | 10 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 40 |

### At Tennessee Tech

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Colonels | 0 | 13 | 7 | 17 | 37 |
| Golden Eagles | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 |