1978 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team

The 1978 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team represented Eastern Illinois University during the 1978 NCAA Division II football season, and completed the 78th season of Panther football. The Panthers played their home games at O'Brien Stadium in Charleston, Illinois. The 1978 team came off a 1–10 record from the previous season.^[1] The 1978 team was led by coach Darrell Mudra. The team finished the regular season with a 9–2 record and made the NCAA Division II playoffs. The Panthers defeated Delaware, 10–9, in the National Championship Game en route to the program's first NCAA Division II Football Championship.^[2]

1978 Eastern Illinois Panthers football
NCAA Division II champion
NCAA Division II Championship Game, W 10–9 vs. Delaware
Conference	Association of Mid-Continent Universities
Record	12–2 (3–2 Mid-Con)
Head coach	Darrell Mudra (1st season)
Home stadium	O'Brien Stadium
Seasons ← 1977 1979 →

1978 Association of Mid-Continent Universities football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Youngstown State $^	5	–	0	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
Akron	4	–	1	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Eastern Illinois ^	3	–	2	–	0			12	–	2	–	0
Northern Michigan	1	–	3	–	1			5	–	4	–	1
Western Illinois	1	–	3	–	1			3	–	6	–	1
Northern Iowa	0	–	5	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 2		Central State (OH)*		O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL	W 41–16	7,000
September 9		at Butler*		Bud and Jackie Sellick Bowl Indianapolis, IN	W 42–3	4,300
September 16		Northern Iowa		O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL	W 38–22	8,500
September 23		Northeast Missouri State*		O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL	W 29–12	7,000
September 30		at Akron	No. 4	Rubber Bowl Akron, OH	L 16–17	3,278
October 7		at No. 4 Youngstown State	No. 8	Rayen Stadium Youngstown, OH	L 24–40	4,360
October 21		at No. 8 Northern Michigan		Memorial Field Marquette, MI	W 42–34	8,602
October 28		at Wayne State (MI)*	No. 8	Detroit, MI	W 42–34	1,800
November 4		at Illinois State*	No. 9	O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL (rivalry)	W 42–7	9,000
November 11		Murray State*	No. 7	O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL	W 35–14	6,500
November 18		at Western Illinois	No. 5	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	W 40–12	7,850
November 25	11:00 a.m.	at No. 4 UC Davis	No. 5	Toomey Field Davis, CA (NCAA Division II Quarterfinal)	W 35–31	8,500	^[3]^[4]^[5]
December 2		No. 2 Youngstown State	No. 5	O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL (NCAA Division II Semifinal)	W 26–22
December 9		vs. No. 3 Delaware*	No. 5	Lobo Stadium Longview, TX (NCAA Division II Championship)	W 10–9	5,500	^[6]
*Non-conference game Rankings from Associated Press Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

^[7][8]

References

1. "Eastern Illinois Panthers - College Football (NCAA)". College-football-results.com. Retrieved September 18, 2016.
2. DeLassus, David (2016). . College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on August 27, 2016. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
3. Dunning, Bob (November 20, 1978). "Aggies, E. Illinois Meet In Playoffs". The Sacramento Bee. Sacramento, California. p. C2. Retrieved May 10, 2022 – via Newspapers.com  .
4. Dunning, Bob (November 26, 1978). "Ags Fall Short To EIU, 35-31". The Sacramento Bee. Sacramento, California. p. D1. Retrieved May 10, 2022 – via Newspapers.com  .
5. Dunning, Bob (November 26, 1978). "Aggies (continued)". The Sacramento Bee. Sacramento, California. p. D6. Retrieved May 10, 2022 – via Newspapers.com  .
6. "Late kick off mark, Eastern wins title". The Pantagraph. December 10, 1978. Retrieved November 30, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "Final 1978 Cumulative Football Statistics Report". National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved June 4, 2022.
8. "EIU Football Online Guide, 2019" (PDF). Eastern Illinois athletics. Retrieved May 29, 2020.