1980 Eastern Kentucky Colonels football team

The 1980 Eastern Kentucky Colonels football team represented Eastern Kentucky University as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) during the 1980 NCAA Division I-AA football season. Led by 17th-year head coach Roy Kidd, the Colonels compiled an overall record of 10–3, with a mark of 5–2 in conference play, and finished tied for second in the OVC. Eastern Kentucky advanced to the NCAA Division I-AA Championship Game and were defeated by Boise State.

1980 Eastern Kentucky Colonels football
NCAA Division I-AA Championship Game, L 29–31 vs. Boise State
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
Record	10–3 (5–2 OVC)
Head coach	Roy Kidd (17th season)
Home stadium	Hanger Field
Seasons ← 1979 1981 →

1980 Ohio Valley Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 5 Western Kentucky $	6	–	1	–	0			9	–	1	–	0
No. T–10 Murray State	5	–	2	–	0			9	–	2	–	0
No. T–3 Eastern Kentucky ^	5	–	2	–	0			10	–	3	–	0
Austin Peay	5	–	2	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Akron	2	–	4	–	1			3	–	7	–	1
Morehead State	2	–	5	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Middle Tennessee	2	–	5	–	0			2	–	8	–	0
Tennessee Tech	1	–	6	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from Associated Press poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 6	Kentucky State*		Hanger Field Richmond, KY		W 24–21		[1]
September 13	at Akron*		Rubber Bowl Akron, OH		L 10–21	10,402	[2]
September 20	Youngstown State*		Hanger Field Richmond, KY		W 45–0	12,800	[3]
October 4	at Austin Peay		Municipal Stadium Clarksville, TN		W 23–10	4,000	[4]
October 11	Middle Tennessee	No. 8	Hanger Field Richmond, KY		W 24–0	8,800	[5]
October 18	East Tennessee State*	No. 7	Hanger Field Richmond, KY		W 25–6	9,500	[6]
October 25	at No. 4 Western Kentucky	No. 5	L. T. Smith Stadium Bowling Green, KY (rivalry)		L 10–13	19,700	[7]
November 1	No. T–1 Murray State	No. T–11	Hanger Field Richmond, KY		W 24–14		[8]
November 8	at Tennessee Tech	No. T–5	Tucker Stadium Cookeville, TN		W 48–7		[9]
November 15	at East Carolina*	No. T–6	Ficklen Memorial Stadium Greenville, NC		W 28–16	10,021	[10]
November 22	Morehead State	No. 4	Hanger Field Richmond, KY (rivalry)		W 18–14	11,800	[11]
December 13	at No. 1 Lehigh*	No. 3	Taylor Stadium Bethlehem, PA (NCAA Division I-AA Semifinal)		W 23–20	11,500	[12]
December 20	vs. No. 7 Boise State*	No. 3	Hughes Stadium Sacramento, CA (NCAA Division I-AA Championship Game)	ABC	L 29–31	8,157	[13]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game