# 2019 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team

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.
| 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.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| August 29 | 6:00 p.m. | at Chattanooga* | Finley StadiumChattanooga, TN | ESPN3 | L 10–24 | 8,254 |
| September 7 | 2:30 p.m. | at Indiana* | Memorial StadiumBloomington, IN | BTN | L 0–52 | 37,784 |
| September 14 | 2:00 p.m. | No. 13 Illinois State* | O'Brien FieldCharleston, IL (Mid-America Classic) | ESPN+ | L 3–21 | 6,119 |
| September 21 | 12:00 p.m. | at Indiana State* | Memorial StadiumTerre Haute, IN | ESPN+ | L 6–16 | 6,216 |
| September 28 | 4:00 p.m. | Tennessee Tech | O'Brien FieldCharleston, IL | ESPN3 | L 29–40 | 7,055 |
| October 5 | 1:00 p.m. | at Murray State | Roy Stewart StadiumMurray, KY | ESPN+ | L 17–24 | 4,205 |
| October 12 | 12:00 p.m. | No. 17 Jacksonville State | O'Brien FieldCharleston, IL | ESPN+ | L 20–28 | 3,170 |
| October 19 | 2:00 p.m. | at UT Martin | Graham StadiumMartin, TN | ESPN+ | L 18–27 | 2,004 |
| October 26 | 2:00 p.m. | Eastern Kentucky | O'Brien FieldCharleston, IL | ESPN+ | L 6–33 | 4,000 |
| November 9 | 2:00 p.m. | at Tennessee State | Hale StadiumNashville, TN | ESPN+ | W 49–38 | 4,131 |
| November 16 | 12:00 p.m. | No. 15 Southeast Missouri State | O'Brien FieldCharleston, IL | ESPN+ | L 12–26 | 4,069 |
| November 23 | 2:00 p.m. | at No. 20 Austin Peay | Fortera StadiumClarksville, TN | ESPN+ | L 7–35 | 6,818 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Central time |||||||

## Game summaries
### At Chattanooga

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

### At Indiana

| 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:
| 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 |
| Eastern Illinois | Rushing | Darshon McCullough | 6 carries, 17 yards |
| Eastern Illinois | Receiving | James Sheehan | 2 receptions, 18 yards |
| Indiana | Passing | Peyton Ramsey | 13/14, 226 yards, 2 TD |
| Indiana | Rushing | Stevie Scott III | 12 carries, 61 yards, TD |
| Indiana | 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 |