1979 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team

1979 Association of Mid-Continent Universities football standings
	$ – Conference champion; ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant; Rankings from NCAA Division II AP Poll

1979 Eastern Illinois Panthers football
1979 Eastern Illinois Panthers football
Conference	Association of Mid-Continent Universities
1979 record	7–4 (1–4 Mid-Con)
Head coach	Darrell Mudra (2nd season);
Home stadium	O'Brien Stadium
	Seasons ← 1978 1980 →

The 1979 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team represented Eastern Illinois University during the 1979 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.

Schedule[]

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 1	South Dakota*		O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL	W 24–15
September 8	Butler*		O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL	W 38–0
September 15	Wayne State (MI)		O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL	W 58–21
September 22	at Northeast Missouri State*		Stokes Stadium Kirksville, MO	W 46–3
September 29	at Southern Illinois*	No. 1	McAndrew Stadium Carbondale, IL	W 22–14	17,769
October 6	Western Illinois	No. 1	O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL	L 7–10
October 20	at Northern Michigan	No. 4	Superior Dome Marquette, MI	W 38–21
October 27	at Northern Iowa	No. 4	UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA	L 7–10
November 3	No. 2 Youngstown State	No. 8	O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL	L 21–49
November 10	at Illinois State*		Hancock Stadium Normal, IL (rivalry)	W 24–0	10,272	^[1]
November 17	Akron		O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL	L 16–27	6,500
*Non-conference game Rankings from Associated Press Poll released prior to the game

^ "Eastern romps 24-0; Cobb runs to record". Herald and Review. November 11, 1979. p. 16. Retrieved December 18, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "EIU Football Online Guide, 2019" (PDF). Eastern Illinois athletics. Retrieved November 8, 2020.

v t Eastern Illinois Panthers football
Venues	O'Brien Field (1970–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Mid-America Classic (Illinois State)
Culture & lore	Billy the Panther
People	Head coaches NFL draftees
Seasons	1918 1928 1943 1948 1955 1968 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
National championship seasons in bold

1979 Association of Mid-Continent Universities football standings
v t	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 2 Youngstown State $^	5	–	0	–	0	11	–	2	–	0
Northern Iowa	4	–	1	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Akron	3	–	2	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Eastern Illinois	1	–	4	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Northern Michigan	1	–	4	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Western Illinois	1	–	4	–	0	3	–	8	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division II AP Poll