Eastern Illinois Panthers football
Intercollegiate American football team
This article is about the Eastern Illinois football program. For more information on all of Eastern Illinois athletics programs, see
Eastern Illinois Panthers .
Eastern Illinois Panthers football First season 1899; 125 years ago (1899 ) Athletic director Tom Michael Head coach Chris Wilkerson Stadium O'Brien Field Year built 1970 Field surface Artificial Turf Location Charleston, Illinois NCAA division Division I FCS Conference Big South–OVC Past conferences IIAC (1912–1969)AMCU (1978–1984)GCAC/GFC (1985–1995)All-time record 559–552–42 (.503) Bowl record 0–1 (.000) Playoff appearances 2 (Div. II )1978 , 1980Div. I FCS ) Playoff record 5–1 (Div. II )Div. I FCS ) Claimed national titles 1 – (Div. II ): 1978 Conference titles 19 Rivalries Illinois State (rivalry )Colors Blue and gray[ 1] Fight song Eastern State March Mascot Billy the Panther Marching band Panther Marching Band Outfitter Adidas Website eiupanthers.com
The Eastern Illinois Panthers football program is the intercollegiate American football team for Eastern Illinois University located in the U.S. state of Illinois . The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and is a member of the Ohio Valley Conference . The school's first football team was fielded in 1899. The team plays its home games at the 10,000 seat O'Brien Field , which is named after former head coach Maynard O'Brien .
History
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(November 2018 )
The inaugural football team took the field only three weeks after the first students arrived on campus in 1899.[ 2]
Affiliations
Classifications
Conference memberships
Championships
National championships
Eastern Illinois has won one national championship, doing so in 1978. They also made an appearance in the Division II National Championship Game in 1980, losing 13–21 to Cal Poly .
Conference championships
† Co-champion
Playoff appearances
NCAA Division I Football Championship playoff appearances: 1982, 1983, 1986, 1989, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2015All time playoff results [1]
NCAA Division II playoffs
The Panthers made two appearances in the Division II playoffs, with a combined record of 5-1.
Bowl games
Eastern Illinois has participated in one bowl game, going 0–1.
All-time record vs. current OVC teams
Official record (including any NCAA imposed vacates and forfeits) against all current OVC opponents as of the completion of the 2021 season.[ 4]
Rivalries
Illinois State
The Mid-America Classic is the rivalry game between Illinois State and Eastern Illinois. The rivalry began in 1901 and is the second oldest in the state of Illinois. For the 100th game in the series, representatives from both schools met and developed the Mid-America Classic renaming for the rivalry. The two schools also collaborated on a traveling trophy, which holds plaques with the results of the previous 100 games in the series and has room for results of future games in the series.[ 5]
Head coaches
# Interim head coach
Individual accomplishments
1st Team All Americans
Selectors: AP-Associated Press , AFCA-American Football Coaches Association , FBG-FB Gazette, SN-Sports Network , WC-Walter Camp Football Foundation [ 6]
Player
Year
Organization
Nate Anderson
1972
AFCA
Ted Petersen
1976
AP
James Warring
1978
AP, AFCA
Pete Catan
1979, 1980
AP, AFCA
Poke Cobb
1979
AP, AFCA
Kevin Gray
1981
AFCA
Robert Williams
1982, 1983
AP, AFCA
Bob Norris
1982
AP
Chris Nicholson
1983
AP
Jerry Wright
1984
AFCA
Roy Banks
1986
AP, AFCA
John Jurkovic
1988, 1989
AP, AFCA, SN
Tim Lance
1990
AP, SN, WC
Dan Dee
1992
WC, SN
Tim Carver
1995
FBG
Willie High
1995
FBG
J.R. Taylor
2002
AP, FBG, SN, WC
Nick Ricks
2002
AP, FBG, SN
Kevin Hill
2002
FBG, SN, WC
Tony Romo
2002
AP, AFCA, SN, WC
Clint Sellers
2005
AFCA, FBG
Tristan Burge
2006
AFCA
Erik Lora[ 7]
2012, 2013
AP, AFCA, SN, WC
Jimmy Garoppolo
2013
AP, AFCA, SN, WC
Collin Seibert[ 8]
2013, 2014
AP, AFCA, SN, WC
Dino Fanti[ 9]
2015
AFCA
Award winners
Walter Payton Award Tony Romo - 2002Jimmy Garoppolo - 2013Walter Payton Award finalists
Tim Lance - 1990...3rd
Willie High - 1994...15th
Tony Romo - 2000...11th
Tony Romo - 2001...10th
Jimmy Garoppolo - 2012...10th
Erik Lora - 2012...4th
Erik Lora - 2013...7th
Alexander Hollins - 2018...21st
Eastern Illinois has two inductees in the College Football Hall of Fame as of 2021.
Retired numbers
Eastern Illinois Panthers retired numbers
No.
Player
Pos.
Tenure
Date retired
Ref.
17 Tony Romo QB 1999–2002
October 17, 2009
[ 12]
18 Sean Payton QB
1983–1986
September 11, 2010
[ 13]
Future non-conference opponents
Announced schedules as of November 23, 2023.[ 14]
Notable alumni include the following.
References
^ "EIU BRANDING, MARKETING & LOGOS" . Retrieved January 1, 2024 .^ "History" . Eastern Illinois University Athletics. Retrieved September 3, 2015 .^ "2017 NCAA FCS Records" (PDF) .^ "2021 EIU Record book page 44" (PDF) .^ "Illinois State, Eastern Illinois unveil Mid America Classic trophy - WJBC - the Voice of Central Illinois" . Archived from the original on October 13, 2011. Retrieved September 10, 2012 .^ "Division I EIU All Anericans" (PDF) . p. 71.^ "Five OVC Players Named to College Sporting News FCS Fabulous Fifty All-American Team" . ovcsports.com .^ "Seibert, Drake named AP All-Americans | Eastern | jg-tc.com" . jg-tc.com .^ "JSU's Dunn, EIU's Fanti Named to AFCA FCS All-American Team" . ovcsports.com .^ "Darrell Mudra (2000) - Hall of Fame" . National Football Foundation .^ "Tony Romo Selected for College Football Hall of Fame's 2021 Class ✭" . January 11, 2021.^ "EIU Retired Numbers - Eastern Illinois University Athletics" .^ Kilhoffer, Kevin. "Sean Payton Jersey Retirement" . JG-TC.com . ^ "Eastern Illinois Panthers Football Schedules and Future Schedules" . Retrieved September 7, 2022 .
External links
Venues Bowls & rivalries Culture & lore People Seasons National championship seasons in bold
Teams Championships & awards Related links
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