1986 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team

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

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

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

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