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.

2016 Eastern Illinois Panthers football
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
Record	6–5 (4–4 OVC)
Head coach	Kim Dameron (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Greg Stevens (3rd season)
Co-defensive coordinator	Michael Hodges (1st season)
Co-defensive coordinator	DeMarcus Covington (1st season)
Home stadium	O'Brien Field

2016 Ohio Valley Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 6 Jacksonville State $^		7	–	0					10	–	2
UT Martin		6	–	2					7	–	5
Tennessee Tech		5	–	3					5	–	6
Tennessee State		4	–	3					7	–	4
Eastern Illinois		4	–	4					6	–	5
Murray State		4	–	4					4	–	7
SE Missouri State		3	–	5					3	–	8
Eastern Kentucky		2	–	6					3	–	8
Austin Peay		0	–	8					0	–	11
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

Schedule

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

Roster

2016 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR 2 Tyrin Stone-Davis GS WR 3 Anthony Taylor  Sr WR 4 Isaiah Nelson  Sr RB 5 Brandon Neverdon  Sr WR 6 Dennis Turner Jr QB 8 Bud Martin  So RB 9 Devin Church  Sr QB 11 Scotty Gilkey Jr Fr QB 13 Mitch Kimble  Jr QB 14 Austin Green  Jr QB 15 Jared Pilson  So WR 19 Robbie Lofton Fr WR 20 Corey Patterson  Fr RB 22 Korliss Marshall  Jr RB 24 Darshon McCullough Fr WR 32 Javon Turner  So RB 33 Christopher Anderson  Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DB 2 Cedric Julius Sr DB 3 Corneliuss Page  Fr S 4 Pono Choy  Sr S 5 Iziah Gulley Fr S 6 Tray Mitchell  So S 7 Bradley Dewberry Jr DE 8 Mack Weaver  Jr DB 9 Jermiah Rainey Sr DB 12 DySaun Smith  So DB 13 Xzavier Shugars  Fr DL 16 Jeff Jones  Fr DB 21 Mark Williams Fr DB 23 Tyree Stone-Davis GS DB 25 Hess Fr DB 26 Jordan Jackson Fr S 27 Raymond Crittenden Fr S 28 Vince Speller  Jr DB 29 Elven Walker  Sr LB 30 Nick Horne  Jr DB 31 Malcolm Miller  Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Kim Dameron Coordinators/assistant coaches Michael Hodges Assistant Coach / co-Defensive Coordinator & Linebackers Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster

Game summaries

Western Illinois

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

See also: 2016 Western Illinois Leathernecks football team

At Miami (OH)

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

See also: 2016 Miami RedHawks football team

At Illinois State

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

See also: 2016 Illinois State Redbirds football team and Mid-America Classic

Austin Peay

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

See also: 2016 Austin Peay Governors football team

At Southeast Missouri State

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

See also: 2016 Southeast Missouri State Redhawks football team

Tennessee State

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

See also: 2016 Tennessee State Tigers football team

At Tennessee Tech

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

See also: 2016 Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles football team

Murray State

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

See also: 2016 Murray State Racers football team

At Jacksonville State

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

See also: 2016 Jacksonville State Gamecocks football team

Tennessee–Martin

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

See also: 2016 UT Martin Skyhawks football team

At Eastern Kentucky

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

See also: 2016 Eastern Kentucky Colonels football team

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes

	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	—	—	—	—