1997 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team

1997 Eastern Illinois Panthers football
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
Record	8–3 (5–2 OVC)
Head coach	Bob Spoo (11th season)
Offensive coordinator	Roy Wittke (8th season)
Home stadium	O'Brien Stadium

1997 Ohio Valley Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 19 Eastern Kentucky $^		7	–	0					8	–	4
No. 16 Eastern Illinois		5	–	2					8	–	3
Murray State		5	–	2					7	–	4
Tennessee Tech		4	–	3					6	–	5
Tennessee State		4	–	3					4	–	7
Middle Tennessee		2	–	5					4	–	6
Southeast Missouri State		1	–	6					4	–	7
Tennessee–Martin		0	–	7					1	–	10
$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll

The 1997 Eastern Illinois Panthers represented Eastern Illinois University as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) during the 1997 NCAA Division I-AA football season.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Source
August 28	at Western Illinois*	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	L 0–41
September 6	UT Martin	O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL	W 42–6
September 13	Saint Joseph's (IN)*	O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL	W 41–20
September 20	at Illinois State*	Hancock Stadium Normal, IL	W 25–14
September 27	at Tennessee Tech	Tucker Stadium Cookeville, Tennessee	W 10–7
October 4	at Southeast Missouri State	Houck Stadium Cape Girardeau, Missouri	W 32–7
October 18	Middle Tennessee	O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL	W 30–17
October 25	Austin Peay*	O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL	W 42–14
November 1	at Indiana State*	Memorial Stadium Terre Haute, IN	W 21–14
November 8	at Murray State	Roy Stewart Stadium Murray, Kentucky	L 17–24
November 22	at Eastern Kentucky	O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL	L 7–49
*Non-conference game