1986 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team

The 1986 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team represented Eastern Illinois University as a member of the Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference (GCAC) during the 1986 NCAA Division I-AA football season. Led by fourth-year head coach Al Molde, the Panthers played their home games at O'Brien Stadium in Charleston, Illinois. Eastern Illinois finished the season with an overall record of 11–2 and won the GCAC title with a mark of 5–1 in conference play. The team was invited to the NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship playoffs, where they beat Murray State in the first round before losing to Eastern Kentucky in the quarterfinals.

1986 Eastern Illinois Panthers football
GCAC champion
ConferenceGateway Collegiate Athletic Conference
Record11–2 (5–1 GCAC)
Head coach
Home stadiumO'Brien Stadium
Seasons
← 1985
1987 →
1986 Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 3 Eastern Illinois $^ 5 1 0 11 2 0
No. 17 Southern Illinois 4 2 0 7 4 0
Northern Iowa 4 2 0 7 3 1
Illinois State 3 3 0 5 5 0
Western Illinois 2 4 0 6 5 0
SW Missouri State 1 5 0 3 7 0
Indiana State 1 5 0 3 8 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll

Schedule

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DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendanceSource
August 30at Illinois StateNo. 18L 20–23[1]
September 6Northeast Missouri*No. 18W 41–31[2]
September 13at Northern Michigan*No. 18Marquette, MIW 24–21[3]
September 20No. 20 Southern Illinois
  • O'Brien Stadium
  • Charleston, IL
W 52–710,100[4]
October 4Liberty*No. 16
  • O'Brien Stadium
  • Charleston, IL
W 40–156,850[5]
October 11No. 8 Northern IowaNo. 11
  • O'Brien Stadium
  • Charleston, IL
W 31–3011,052
October 18at Western IllinoisNo. T–9W 37–3
October 25at Southwest Missouri StateNo. T–8W 34–20
November 1Winona State*No. 6
  • O'Brien Stadium
  • Charleston, IL
W 64–0
November 8at Indiana StateNo. 4W 31–14
November 15Western Kentucky*No. 4
  • O'Brien Stadium
  • Charleston, IL
W 35–186,020
November 29No. 18 Murray State*No. 3
W 28–214,500[6]
December 6No. 10 Eastern Kentucky*No. 3
  • O'Brien Stadium
  • Charleston, IL (NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal)
L 22–244,149[7]

[8]

Roster

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1986 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
WR 2 Roy Banks Sr
QB 11 Pat Carroll Jr
OT 78 Chris Geile Sr
WR 44 Dave Lewandowki Jr
TE 32 Shon McCray Jr
WR 13 Mike Milosovic Jr
QB 18 Sean Payton Sr
OT 63 Dave Popp So
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
SS 42 Bob Bronaugh Sr
LB 59 Bill Cochrane Jr
FS 12 Scott Johnson So
DT 67 John Jurkovic So
DE 95 Dave Lewandowki Jr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
LS 75 Walter Brzeski Jr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  •   Injured
  •   Redshirt

References

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  1. ^ "Illinois State quarterback will miss 4 weeks with broken collarbone". Chicago Tribune. September 1, 1986 – via Newspapers.com.  
  2. ^ "Eastern Illinois 41, NE Missouri 31". The Rock Island Argus. September 7, 1986 – via Newspapers.com.  
  3. ^ "Eastern wins 24-21". Herald and Review. September 14, 1986 – via Newspapers.com.  
  4. ^ "E. Illinois 52, S. Illinois 7". The Dispatch. September 21, 1986 – via Newspapers.com.  
  5. ^ "LU falls to Eastern Illinois despite Johnson's passing". The News & Daily Advance. October 5, 1986. Retrieved March 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Payton, E. Illinois vanquish Murray St". Chicago Tribune. November 30, 1986. Retrieved March 23, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Eastern Illinois eliminated when 2-point attempt fails". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. December 7, 1986. Retrieved March 23, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "EIU Football Online Guide, 2019" (PDF). Eastern Illinois athletics.