2021 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team

The 2021 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team represented Eastern Illinois University as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) during the 2021 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by Adam Cushing in his third and final season as head coach, the Panthers compiled an overall record of 1–10 with a mark of 1–5 in conference play, tying for sixth place in the OVC. The team played home games at O'Brien Field in Charleston, Illinois.

2021 Eastern Illinois Panthers football
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
Record	1–10 (1–5 OVC)
Head coach	Adam Cushing (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	John Kuceyeski (3rd season)
Defensive coordinator	Chris Bowers (3rd season)
Home stadium	O'Brien Field
Seasons ← 2020 2022 →

2021 Ohio Valley Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 13 UT Martin $^		5	–	1					10	–	3
Southeast Missouri State		4	–	2					4	–	7
Austin Peay		4	–	2					6	–	5
Tennessee State		3	–	3					5	–	6
Murray State		3	–	3					6	–	5
Eastern Illinois		1	–	5					1	–	10
Tennessee Tech		1	–	5					3	–	8
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

Preseason

Preseason coaches' poll

The OVC released their preseason coaches' poll on July 19, 2021. The Panthers were picked to finish in last place.^[1]

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Murray State	64 (7)
2	Austin Peay	60 (4)
	Southeast Missouri	60 (3)
4	UT Martin	38
5	Tennessee State	32
6	Tennessee Tech	28
7	Eastern Illinois	12

Preseason All-OVC team

The Panthers had two players selected to the preseason all-OVC team.^[2]

Defense Jason Johnson – LB Special teams Matt Judd – KR

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 28	5:00 p.m.	at Indiana State*	Memorial Stadium Terre Haute, IN	ESPN+	L 21–26	5,540
September 4	6:00 p.m.	at South Carolina*	Williams–Brice Stadium Columbia, SC	ESPN+/SECN+	L 0–46	64,868
September 11	12:00 p.m.	at Dayton*	Welcome Stadium Dayton, OH		L 10–17	2,008
September 18	6:00 p.m.	Illinois State*	O'Brien Field Charleston, IL	ESPN+	L 24–31	6,424
September 25	1:30 p.m.	at Tennessee Tech	Tucker Stadium Cookeville, TN	ESPN+	W 28–14	3,125
October 2	4:00 p.m.	at Murray State*	Roy Stewart Stadium Murray, KY	ESPN+	L 6–22	9,502
October 16	2:00 p.m.	No. 17 UT Martin	O'Brien Field Charleston, IL	ESPN+	L 17–28	3,189
October 23	2:00 p.m.	Tennessee State	O'Brien Field Charleston, IL	ESPN+	L 0–28	6,300
October 30	1:00 p.m.	at Southeast Missouri State	Houck Stadium Cape Girardeau, MO	ESPN+	L 15–38	3,773
November 6	2:00 p.m.	at Austin Peay	Fortera Stadium Clarksville, TN	ESPN+	L 26–42	4,088
November 20	12:00 p.m.	Murray State	O'Brien Field Charleston, IL	ESPN+	L 13–20	1,850
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

^[3]

Game summaries

at Indiana State

See also: 2021 Indiana State Sycamores football team

at South Carolina

See also: 2021 South Carolina Gamecocks football team

Game Two – Eastern Illinois Panthers (0-1) at South Carolina Gamecocks

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Eastern Illinois	0	0	0	0	0
South Carolina	15	14	3	14	46

at Williams-Brice Stadium • Columbia, South Carolina

• Date: Saturday, September 4, 2021
• Game time: 7:00 p.m. EST
• Game weather: Clear • Temperature -
• Game attendance: 64,868
• TV announcers (SECN+): Unknown
• Box Score

Game information

First quarter (10:23) SC – Nick Muse 4-yard pass from Zeb Noland (Nick Muse 2PT Run). South Carolina 8-0. Drive: 7 plays, 27 yards, 3:33. (3:25) SC – Jaheim Bell 3-yard pass from Zeb Noland (Parker White Kick). South Carolina 15-0. Drive: 10 plays, 43 yards, 5:04. Second quarter (11:49) SC – Josh Vann 12-yard pass from Zeb Noland (Parker White Kick). South Carolina 22-0. Drive: 8 plays, 38 yards, 4:00. (0:34) SC – ZaQuandre White 10-yard pass from Zeb Noland (Parker White Kick). South Carolina 29-0. Drive: 6 plays, 52 yards, 0:59. Third quarter (3:10) SC – Parker White 36-yard field goal. South Carolina 32-0. Drive: 15 plays, 66 yards, 6:12. Fourth quarter (10:24) SC – ZaQuandre White 63-yard run (Mitch Jeter Kick). South Carolina 39-0. Drive: 4 plays, 86 yards, 1:51. (7:44) SC – Jordan Burch 61-yard interception return (Mitch Jeter Kick). South Carolina 46-0.

Statistics	EIU	SC
First downs	9	22
Plays–yards	44–109	74–439
Rushes–yards	31	254
Passing yards	78	185
Passing: comp–att–int	13–22–2	18–27–0
Time of possession	25:20	34:40

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
EIU	Passing	Chris Katrenick	13/22, 78 yards, 2 INT
	Rushing	Harrison Bey-Bule	5 carries, 12 yards
	Receiving	Tyler Hamilton	5 receptions, 32 yards
SC	Passing	Zeb Noland	13/21, 121 yards, 4 TD
	Rushing	ZaQuandre White	12 carries, 128 yards, TD
	Receiving	ZaQuandre White	4 receptions, 39 yards, TD