# 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.
On November 18, Dameron was fired. 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. On July 23, the OVC released their coaches poll with the Panthers predicted to finish in fourth 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 Panthers had three players selected to the preseason all-OVC team.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 1 | 3:00 p.m. | at Arkansas* | Donald W. Reynolds Razorback StadiumFayetteville, AR | SECN | L 20–55 | 63,342 |
| September 8 | 6:30 p.m. | at No. 19 Illinois State* | Hancock StadiumNormal, IL (Mid-America Classic) | NBCSC+ | L 10–48 | 8,914 |
| September 15 | 6:00 p.m. | Indiana State* | O'Brien FieldCharleston, IL | ESPN+ | L 41–55 | 6,420 |
| September 22 | 2:00 p.m. | Tennessee State | O'Brien FieldCharleston, IL | ESPN+ | L 40–41 | 7,670 |
| September 29 | 6:00 p.m. | at Tennessee Tech | Tucker StadiumCookeville, TN | ESPN+ | W 52–38 | 7,184 |
| October 6 | 6:00 p.m. | Murray State | O'Brien FieldCharleston, IL | ESPN+ | L 41–48 | 3,063 |
| October 13 | 3:00 p.m. | at No. 8 Jacksonville State | Burgess–Snow Field at JSU StadiumJacksonville, AL | ESPN3 | L 22–49 | 15,649 |
| October 20 | 2:00 p.m. | UT Martin | O'Brien FieldCharleston, IL | ESPN3 | W 24–21 $^{OT}$ | 7,413 |
| October 27 | 12:00 p.m. | at Eastern Kentucky | Roy Kidd StadiumRichmond, KY | ESPN+ | L 23–31 | 4,400 |
| November 10 | 1:00 p.m. | Austin Peay | O'Brien FieldCharleston, IL | ESPN+ | W 52–21 | 2,149 |
| November 17 | 1:00 p.m. | at No. 23 Southeast Missouri State | Houck StadiumCape Girardeau, MO | ESPN+ | L 32–38 | 3,987 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll 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 |