1996 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team

The 1996 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team represented Eastern Illinois University as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) during the 1996 NCAA Division I-AA football season. Led by tenth-year head coach Bob Spoo, the Panthers compiled and overall record of 8–4 with a mark of 6–2 in conference play, tying for second place in the OVC. Eastern Illinois was invited to the NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship playoffs, where they lost to Northern Iowa in the first round.

1996 Eastern Illinois Panthers football
NCAA Division I-AA First Round, L 14–21 vs. Northern Iowa
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
Ranking
Sports Network	No. 16
Record	8–4 (6–2 OVC)
Head coach	Bob Spoo (10th season)
Offensive coordinator	Roy Wittke (7th season)
Home stadium	O'Brien Stadium
Seasons ← 1995 1997 →

1996 Ohio Valley Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 4 Murray State $^		8	–	0					11	–	2
No. 16 Eastern Illinois ^		6	–	2					8	–	4
Eastern Kentucky		6	–	2					6	–	5
Middle Tennessee		4	–	4					6	–	5
Tennessee Tech		4	–	4					5	–	6
Tennessee State		3	–	5					4	–	7
Southeast Missouri State		3	–	5					3	–	8
Austin Peay		1	–	7					1	–	10
Tennessee–Martin		1	–	7					1	–	10
$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
August 29	at Western Michigan*	No. 25	Waldo Stadium Kalamazoo, MI	W 28–20
September 7	No. 2 (D-II) Pittsburg State*	No. 24	O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL	W 41–31
September 14	Indiana State*	No. 17	O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL	W 35–16
September 28	at Tennessee–Martin	No. 9	Graham Stadium Martin, TN	W 38–0
October 12	Western Illinois*	No. 7	O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL	L 7–10	10,133	[1]
October 19	No. 8 Murray State	No. 14	O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL	L 28–35
October 26	at Tennessee Tech	No. 18	Tucker Stadium Cookeville, TN	W 35–27
November 2	at Austin Peay	No. 17	Fortera Stadium Clarksville, TN	W 42–7
November 9	at Southeast Missouri State	No. 17	Houck Stadium Cape Girardeau, MO	W 41–21
November 16	at Middle Tennessee	No. 14	Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium Murfreesboro, TN	L 24–31
November 23	Eastern Kentucky	No. 19	O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL	W 45–21
November 30	at No. 3 Northern Iowa*	No. 16	UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA (NCAA Division I-AA First Round)	L 14–21
*Non-conference game Rankings from The Sports Netowrk Poll released prior to the game

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