# 2016 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team

The 2016 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team represented Eastern Illinois University as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) during the 2016 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by third-year head coach Kim Dameron, the Panthers compiled an overall record of 6–5 overall with a mark of 4–4 in conference play, tying for fifth place in the OVC. Eastern Illinois played home games at O'Brien Field in Charleston, Illinois.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 1 | 6:00 pm | No. 20 Western Illinois* | | O'Brien FieldCharleston, IL | WEIU | L 21–38 | 7,618 |
| September 10 | 2:30 pm | at Miami (OH)* | | Yager StadiumOxford, OH | ESPN3 | W 21–17 | 17,369 |
| September 17 | 2:00 pm | at No. 5 Illinois State* | | Hancock StadiumNormal, IL (Mid-America Classic) | CSNCH | W 24–21 | 13,391 |
| September 24 | 1:00 pm | Austin Peay | No. 18 | O'Brien FieldCharleston, IL | WEIU | W 56–35 | 6,169 |
| October 1 | 6:00 pm | at Southeast Missouri State | No. 13 | Houck StadiumCape Girardeau, MO | OVCDN | L 14–21 | 4,892 |
| October 8 | 6:00 pm | Tennessee State | No. 19 | O'Brien FieldCharleston, IL | WEIU | W 35–34 | 4,319 |
| October 15 | 6:00 pm | at Tennessee Tech | No. 18 | Tucker StadiumCookeville, TN | OVCDN | W 30–24 | 4,082 |
| October 22 | 1:00 pm | Murray State | No. 15 | O'Brien FieldCharleston, IL | WEIU | L 38–40 | 7,907 |
| October 29 | 2:00 pm | at No. 2 Jacksonville State | No. 23 | Burgess–Snow Field at JSU StadiumJacksonville, AL | ESPN3 | L 14–47 | 21,655 |
| November 5 | 1:00 pm | UT Martin | | O'Brien FieldCharleston, IL | WEIU | L 17–33 | 3,054 |
| November 19 | 1:00 pm | at Eastern Kentucky | | Roy Kidd StadiumRichmond, KY | OVCDN | W 24–0 | 3,100 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Central time ||||||||

## Game summaries
### Western Illinois

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #20 Leathernecks | 14 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 38 |
| Panthers | 7 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 21 |

### At Miami (OH)

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Panthers | 0 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 21 |
| RedHawks | 3 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 17 |

### At Illinois State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Panthers | 3 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 24 |
| #5 Redbirds | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 21 |

### Austin Peay

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Governors | 0 | 14 | 7 | 14 | 35 |
| #18 Panthers | 14 | 7 | 14 | 21 | 56 |

### At Southeast Missouri State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #13 Panthers | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
| Redhawks | 14 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 21 |

### Tennessee State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Tigers | 3 | 10 | 14 | 7 | 34 |
| #19 Panthers | 14 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 35 |

### At Tennessee Tech

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #18 Panthers | 0 | 13 | 14 | 3 | 30 |
| Golden Eagles | 3 | 14 | 0 | 7 | 24 |

### Murray State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Racers | 3 | 13 | 6 | 18 | 40 |
| #15 Panthers | 21 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 38 |

### At Jacksonville State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #23 Panthers | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| #2 Gamecocks | 21 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 47 |

### Tennessee–Martin

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Skyhawks | 6 | 7 | 3 | 17 | 33 |
| Panthers | 0 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 17 |

### At Eastern Kentucky

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Panthers | 0 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 24 |
| Colonels | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

## Ranking movements

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Final |
| STATS FCS | RV | RV | RV | 18 | 13 | 19 | 18 | 15 | 23 | RV | — | — | — | — |
| Coaches | RV | RV | RV | 16 | 13 | 20 | 17 | 15 | 22 | 24 | — | — | — | — |