Eastern Illinois Panther Football
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September 1, 2016 • Eastern Illinois vs. Western Illinois • Page 1 • www.eiupanthers.com • #EIUBleedBlue EASTERN ILLINOIS PANTHER FOOTBALL Contact: Rich Moser • [email protected] • (217) 581-7480 • Fax (217) 581-7001 • www.EIUpanthers.com GAME 1 Eastern Illinois Hosts Western Illinois To Open 2016 Season Under The Lights Eastern Illinois vs. Western Illinois O’Brien Field (10,000) • Charleston, Ill. Sept. 1, 2016 • 6 p.m. • TV: OVC Digital Network & WEIU NOTES TO KNOW COACHES: • Eastern Illinois made its 16th FCS playoff appearance last season as the Panthers rank sixth Kim Dameron (Arkansas, 1983) all-time in FCS playoff appearances. EIU has made ten appearances since the 2000 season EIU Record ................... 12-12 (3rd year) which ranks fourth most in that time span. OVC Record ................... 12-4 (3rd year) • Head coach Kim Dameron became the sixth EIU coach to guide EIU to the FCS playoffs vs. Western Illinois ............................ 0-1 finishing 7-5 overall last year. He joins former coaches Darrell Mudra, Al Molde, Bob Spoo, Charlie Fisher (Springfield College, 1981) Mark Hutson (interim 2006) and Dino Babers in leading EIU to the FCS playoffs. WIU Record ...................... 0-0 (1st year) • Eastern Illinois will be opening a season on a Thursday night for the 17th time in school MVFC Record ................................Same history. EIU is 10-6 all-time in those games with a 9-3 record against FCS opponents. EIU is Overall Record ..............57-30 (8th year) 4-1 in Thursday night home openers at O’Brien Field including four straight wins. vs. Eastern Illinois .............First Meeting • Eastern Illinois and Western Illinois will open the season against each other after both advanced to the FCS playoffs last season. It marks just the second time in school history SERIES that EIU will open the year against another playoff team when both played in post season 67th meeting - WIU leads 41-21-4 the previous year. Ironically the other time was also against Western Illinois in 1997 and the Last: @WIU 33, EIU 5 on Sept. 3, 2015 previous playoff season EIU had lost in the opening round at Northern Iowa. WIU won 41-0. • Eastern Illinois was picked to finish third in the Ohio Valley Conference preseason and coaches polls released during the summer. The Panthers finished second last year with a 7-1 RANKINGS OVC mark. Jacksonville State was picked to repeat as OVC Champions in both polls. Eastern Illinois ......................... RV / RV • Eastern Illinois had three players named to the preseason All-OVC team with seniors Seth Northern Iowa ..............................20 / 24 McDonald (LB), Devin Church (RB) and junior Bradley Dewberry (Safety) being selected. ................................. STATS Media/FCS Coaches THE SERIES RADIO • This will be the 67th meeting between Eastern Illinois and Western Illinois as the two former Panther Radio Network conference rivals complete a home-and-home series. WIU holds a 41-21-4 all-time series lead Hit Mix 88.9 FM, WSVZ 98.3 FM, including a 33-5 win over EIU in Macomb last season. It was the first time the two schools had WHOW 1520 AM & WMKR 94.3 FM met in the regular season since the 1997 season. EIU’s last win in the series was in 1995, a 20- www.network1sports.com/station/wsvz 17 home win over WIU. Western Illinois has won four straight in the series including a win in www.weiu.net/hitmix/ the 2002 FCS playoffs. The series began in 1930. Play-by-Play ........................ Mike Bradd Analyst ............................. Jack Ashmore Eastern Illinois (7-5, 7-1 OVC) Western Illinois (7-6, 5-3 MVFC) TELEVISION Date Opponent Score/Time Date Opponent Score/Time OVC Digital Network & WEIU Sept. 1 WESTERN ILLINOIS 6 pm Sept. 1 at Eastern Illinois 6 pm Play-by-Play ........................ Mike Bradd Sept. 10 at Miami (Ohio) 2:30 pm Sept. 10 NORTHERN ARIZONA 3 pm Analyst ............................. Jack Ashmore Sept. 17 at Illinois State 2 pm Sept. 24 at Northern Illinois TBA Sept. 24 • AUSTIN PEAY 1 pm Oct. 1 • at South Dakota State 6 pm FOLLOW-US Oct. 1 • at Southeast Missouri 6 pm Oct. 8 • INDIANA STATE 3 pm Live Stats ...................... eiupanthers.com Oct. 8 • TENNESSEE STATE 6 pm Oct. 15 • at Missouri State 2 pm Live Video ..... OVCDigitalNetwork.com Oct. 15 • at Tennessee Tech 6 pm Oct. 22 • NORTH DAKOTA STATE 6 pm Facebook ........................... /EIUPanthers Oct. 22 • MURRAY STATE (HC) 1 pm Oct. 29 • at South Dakota 2 pm Twitter ...........................@EIU_Panthers Oct. 29 • at Jacksonville State 2 pm Nov. 5 • ILLINOIS STATE 1 pm Instagram ......................eiupanthernation Nov. 5 • UT MARTIN 1 pm Nov. 12 • NORTHERN IOWA 1 pm SnapChat ............................ EIUPanthers Nov. 19 • at Eastern Kentucky TBA Nov. 19 • at Southern Illinois 2 pm • Ohio Valley Conference Game • Missouri Valley Football Conference Game #EIUBleedBlue All Times Central All Times Central EASTERN ILLINOIS FOOTBALL • 16 NCAA FCS Playoff Appearances • OVC Champs 2013, 2012, 2009, 2006, 2005, 2002, 2001 September 1, 2016 • Eastern Illinois vs. Western Illinois • Page 2 • www.eiupanthers.com • #EIUBleedBlue FCS TOP 25 • Eastern Illinois’ offensive line returns three starters from last season. The Panthers ranked fifth in the nation in fewest sacks allowed with just nine. EIU closed out the season with 2016 STATS FCS MEDIA a streak of 636 straight plays without allowing a sack. The last sack was by Austin Peay (PRESEASON) on the first play from scrimmage in the Ohio Valley Conference opener on Oct. 3, 2015. Rk. Team 2015 Record 1. North Dakota State (152) 13-2 • Running back Devin Church was a jack of all trades last season for the Panthers leading 2. Sam Houston State (2) 11-4 the team in rushing yards with 743, pass receptions with 36 and ranking second on the team 3. Jacksonville State (4) 13-2 in kick return yards. Church as a second team All-OVC selection last year and named to 4. Richmond 10-4 the preseason squad this year. In the Panthers FCS playoff game at Northern Iowa, he set 5. Northern Iowa 9-5 6. Chattanooga 9-4 the EIU single game record for receptions by a running back with ten. 7. Charleston Southern 10-3 8. South Dakota State 8-4 • Eastern Illinois had a quarterback battle through fall camp for the starting position with 9. William & Mary 9-4 both Austin Green and Mitch Kimble slated to take snaps in the opener against Western 10. Illinois State 10-3 11. McNeese State 10-1 Illinois. Transfer Bud Martin is listed as third on the depth chart and will get on the field 12. James Madison 9-3 as the holder for field goals. Green had 16 pass attempts last season in back-up action 13. Montana 8-5 throwing for 74 yards and one touchdown. Kimble was hurt last fall after transferring from 14. Eastern Washington 6-5 Syracuse where he played in three games as a redshirt freshman. 15. The Citadel 9-4 16. Coastal Carolina 9-3 17. Portland State 9-3 • Senior Seth McDonald led the Panthers in tackles last season finishing the year with 109 18. Northern Arizona 7-4 tackles. He ranked fourth in the OVC in tackles and was named a preseason All-OVC 19. North Dakota 7-4 selection for 2016. McDonald became the 38th player in school history to record 100 or 20. Western Illinois 7-6 21. Colgate 9-5 more tackles in a season. He was twice named the OVC Defensive Player of the Week for 22. New Hampshire 7-5 his performances against Western Illinois and Illinois State. 23. Villanova 6-5 24. Towson 7-4 • Bradley Dewberry was named a preseason All-OVC selection at safety. Dewberry was 25. North Carolina A&T 10-2 the Panthers second leading tackler last year finishing with 73 stops. He was second on the Receiving Votes (OVC & 2016 EIU opponents): Eastern Kentucky, EASTERN ILLINOIS, UT team with four interceptions with two of those picks coming in the regular season finale Martin, Southeast Missouri, Tennessee State. over Eastern Kentucky which helped secure an FCS playoff bid for EIU. Dewberry was second on the team in solo tackles with 53. • Eastern Illinois defense tied for third in the nation in turnovers gained last season as the 2016 FCS COACHES Panthers forced 31 turnovers. The national lead was 32 by Dartmouth and Grambling State. (PRESEASON) EIU finished the year with 19 interceptions and 12 fumble recoveries. The Panthers turned four of those turnovers into touchdowns with Seth McDonald, Jarvis Williams and Thomas Rk. Team 2015 Record 1. North Dakota State (25) 13-2 Coronado all returning interceptions for touchdowns. Nick Horne returned a fumble 62 2. Sam Houston State 11-4 yards for a touchdown, the fourth longest fumble return in school history. 3. Jacksonville State 13-2 4. Richmond 10-4 • Eastern Illinois defense will be young in terms of returning starters this season as the 5. Northern Iowa 9-5 6. Charleston Southern 10-3 Panthers return Seth McDonald, Bradley Dewberry, Jarvis Williams and Vincent Speller 7. Chattanooga 9-4 as full-time starters last year. EIU does have some experience moving into those starting 8. Illinois State 10-3 roles with Pono Choy, DySaun Smith and Nick Horne each earning at least one career start 9. McNeese State 10-1 prior to this season. 10. William & Mary 9-4 11. James Madison 9-3 12. Portland State 9-3 • The Panthers return six starters on offense this season with another four players listed 13. Montana 8-5 in the two deep that started at least one game last season. Four of the five starters on the 14. South Dakota State 8-4 offensive line started at points during the 2015 season.