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2002 Eastern Illinois Panthers football
2002 Eastern Illinois Panthers football
OVC co-champion
NCAA Division I-AA First Round, L 9–48 vs. Western Illinois
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
Ranking
Sports Network	No. 15
Record	8–4 (5–1 OVC)
Head coach	Bob Spoo (16th season);
Offensive coordinator	Roy Wittke (13th season)
Defensive coordinator	Roc Bellantoni (1st season)
Home stadium	O'Brien Stadium
	Seasons ← 2001 2003 →

2002 Ohio Valley Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 13 Eastern Illinois +^	5	–	1	8	–	4
No. 20 Murray State +^	5	–	1	7	–	5
No. 21 Eastern Kentucky	4	–	2	8	–	4
No. 24 Southeast Missouri State	4	–	2	8	–	4
Tennessee Tech	2	–	4	5	–	7
Tennessee State	1	–	5	2	–	10
Tennessee–Martin	0	–	6	2	–	10

+ – Conference co-champions ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll

The 2002 Eastern Illinois Panthers represented Eastern Illinois University as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) during the 2002 NCAA Division I-AA football season.^[1] Led by 16th-year head coach Bob Spoo, the Panthers compiling an overall record of 8–4 and shared the OVC title with a mark of 5–1 in conference play. They were invited to the NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship playoff, where they lost to Western Illinois in the first round.

Quarterback Tony Romo's efforts earned him the Walter Payton Award given to the most outstanding offensive player in NCAA Division I-AA, now known as NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision. Despite not being selected at the 2003 NFL draft, Romo later signed with the Dallas Cowboys as a free agent, eventually landing the starting job in 2006 season, and earned four Pro Bowl selections before his retirement in 2016.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
August 31	10:00 p.m.	at Hawaii*	No. 4	Aloha Stadium Honolulu, HI	L 36–61	39,958
September 14	1:10 p.m.	at Kansas State*	No. 8	KSU Stadium Manhattan, KS	L 13–63	45,642
September 21		Indiana State	No. 13	O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL	W 26–19	8,340
September 28		Illinois State	No. 13	O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL (rivalry)	W 45–10	10,731	^[2]
October 5		at Tennessee Tech	No. 13	Tucker Stadium Cookeville, TN	W 35–28	10,850
October 12		No. 19 Eastern Kentucky	No. 9	O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL	W 25–24	8,397
October 19		at Southeast Missouri State	No. 7	Houck Stadium Cape Girardeau, MO	W 44–27	9,178
November 2		at Tennessee State	No. 6	The Coliseum Nashville, TN	W 54–48	7,216	^[3]
November 9		Tennessee–Martin	No. 6	O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL	W 55–43	3,822
November 16		Florida Atlantic*	No. 3	O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL	W 47–6	3,740
November 23		at Murray State	No. 2	Roy Stewart Stadium Murray, KY	L 35–37	6,112
November 30		at No. 3 Western Illinois*	No. 10	Hanson Field Macomb, IL (NCAA Division I-AA First Round)	L 9–48	2,429	^[4]
*Non-conference game Rankings from The Sports Network Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

2002 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
QB	`17`	Tony Romo	Sr
RB	`22`	J. R. Taylor	Sr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
CB	`8`	Nick Allison	So
LB	`99`	Lance Thompson	Sr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class

Roster
Last update: 2002-12-16

	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	13	0	0	0	13
Wildcats	15	28	13	7	63

Tony Romo was 13-14 for 120 yards and a TD in the first quarter, but Kansas State grabbed control and cruised to the 50-point win.^[6]

No Eastern Illinois players were selected in the 2003 NFL draft.

The following finished their college career in 2002, were not drafted, but played in the NFL.

Player	Position	First NFL team
Tony Romo	Quarterback	Dallas Cowboys

^ "College Football Statistics". www.totalfootballstatistics.com. Total Football Statistics. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016. Retrieved March 26, 2020.
^ "Panthers dominate Redbirds in record win". Herald & Review. September 29, 2002. p. C7. Retrieved December 7, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Eastern wins despite Tennessee State's 675 yards". Herald and Review. November 3, 2002. Retrieved March 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "WIU storms Eastern". Quad-City Times. December 1, 2002. p. D3. Retrieved October 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Statistics Summary for 2002". static.eiupanthers.com. eiupanthers. Retrieved March 26, 2020.
^ "Kansas State Rout Is a Dunn Deal". Los Angeles Times. September 15, 2002. Retrieved September 9, 2019.