1986 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team

1986 Eastern Illinois Panthers football
1986 Eastern Illinois Panthers football
GCAC champion
NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal, L 22–24 vs. Eastern Kentucky
Conference	Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference
Record	11–2 (5–1 GCAC)
Head coach	Al Molde (4th season);
Home stadium	O'Brien Stadium
	Seasons ← 1985 1987 →

1986 Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference football standings
v t e	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

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.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
August 30	at Illinois State	No. 18	Hancock Stadium Normal, IL (rivalry)	L 20–23		^[1]
September 6	Northeast Missouri State*	No. 18	O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL	W 41–31		^[2]
September 13	at Northern Michigan*	No. 18	Memorial Field Marquette, MI	W 24–21		^[3]
September 20	No. 20 Southern Illinois		O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL	W 52–7	10,100	^[4]
October 4	Liberty*	No. 16	O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL	W 40–15	6,850	^[5]
October 11	No. 8 Northern Iowa	No. 11	O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL	W 31–30	11,052	^[6]
October 18	at Western Illinois	No. T–9	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	W 37–3		^[7]
October 25	at Southwest Missouri State	No. T–8	Briggs Stadium Springfield, MO	W 34–20	6,000	^[8]
November 1	Winona State*	No. 6	O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL	W 64–0		^[9]
November 8	at Indiana State	No. 4	Memorial Stadium Terre Haute, IN	W 31–14		^[10]
November 15	Western Kentucky*	No. 4	O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL	W 35–18	6,020	^[11]
November 29	No. 18 Murray State*	No. 3	O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL (NCAA Division I-AA First Round)	W 28–21	4,500	^[12]
December 6	No. 10 Eastern Kentucky*	No. 3	O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL (NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal)	L 22–24	4,149	^[13]
*Non-conference game Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee Poll released prior to the game

^[14]

Roster

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

Al Molde

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

References

^ "Illinois State quarterback will miss 4 weeks with broken collarbone". Chicago Tribune. September 1, 1986 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Eastern Illinois 41, NE Missouri 31". The Rock Island Argus. September 7, 1986 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Eastern wins 24-21". Herald and Review. September 14, 1986 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "E. Illinois 52, S. Illinois 7". The Dispatch. September 21, 1986 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "LU falls to Eastern Illinois despite Johnson's passing". The News & Daily Advance. October 5, 1986. Retrieved March 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Late field goal sinks No. 8 UNI". Quad-City Times. October 12, 1986. Retrieved December 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Eastern Illinois bops Western". The Pantagraph. October 19, 1986. Retrieved December 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Bears discover unfriendly skies with Eastern". The Springfield News-Leader. October 26, 1986. Retrieved December 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Warriors whipped 64–0". The Winona Daily News. November 2, 1986. Retrieved December 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Eastern Illinois tops Sycamores". The South Bend Tribune. November 9, 1986. Retrieved December 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Eastern Illinois wins 10th straight". The Pantagraph. November 16, 1986. Retrieved December 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Payton, E. Illinois vanquish Murray St". Chicago Tribune. November 30, 1986. Retrieved March 23, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Eastern Illinois eliminated when 2-point attempt fails". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. December 7, 1986. Retrieved March 23, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "EIU Football Online Guide, 2019" (PDF). Eastern Illinois athletics.

[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] "Late field goal sinks No. 8 UNI". Quad-City Times. October 12, 1986. Retrieved December 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[7] "Eastern Illinois bops Western". The Pantagraph. October 19, 1986. Retrieved December 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[8] "Bears discover unfriendly skies with Eastern". The Springfield News-Leader. October 26, 1986. Retrieved December 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[9] "Warriors whipped 64–0". The Winona Daily News. November 2, 1986. Retrieved December 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[10] "Eastern Illinois tops Sycamores". The South Bend Tribune. November 9, 1986. Retrieved December 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[11] "Eastern Illinois wins 10th straight". The Pantagraph. November 16, 1986. Retrieved December 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[12] "Payton, E. Illinois vanquish Murray St". Chicago Tribune. November 30, 1986. Retrieved March 23, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[13] "Eastern Illinois eliminated when 2-point attempt fails". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. December 7, 1986. Retrieved March 23, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[14] "EIU Football Online Guide, 2019" (PDF). Eastern Illinois athletics.

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v t e Eastern Illinois Panthers football
Venues	O'Brien Field (1970–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Illinois State: Mid-America Classic
Culture & lore	Billy the Panther
People	Head coaches NFL draftees
Seasons	1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
National championship seasons in bold

Schedule

Roster

References

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