2007 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team

The 2007 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team represented Eastern Illinois University as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) during the 2007 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The team was led by 20th-year head coach Bob Spoo and played their home games at O'Brien Field in Charleston, Illinois. The Panthers finished the season with an 8–4 record overall and a 7–1 record in conference play. The team received an at-large bid to the NCAA Division I Football Championship playoffs, where they lost to Southern Illinois in the first round.^[1] Eastern Illinois was ranked No. 18 in The Sports Network's postseason ranking of NCAA Division I FCS teams.^[2]

2007 Eastern Illinois Panthers football
NCAA Division I First Round, L 11–30 vs. Southern Illinois
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
Ranking
Sports Network	No. 18
Record	8–4 (7–1 OVC)
Head coach	Bob Spoo (20th season)
Offensive coordinator	Jorge Munoz
Defensive coordinator	Roc Bellantoni
Home stadium	O'Brien Field
Seasons ← 2006 2008 →

2007 Ohio Valley Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 13 Eastern Kentucky $^		8	–	0					9	–	3
No. 18 Eastern Illinois ^		7	–	1					8	–	4
Austin Peay		5	–	3					7	–	4
Jacksonville State		5	–	3					6	–	5
Tennessee State		4	–	3					5	–	6
Tennessee–Martin		4	–	4					4	–	7
Samford		2	–	6					4	–	7
Tennessee Tech		2	–	6					4	–	7
Southeast Missouri State		1	–	6					3	–	8
Murray State		1	–	7					2	–	9
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll

Wide receivers coach Jorge Munoz was promoted to offensive coordinator prior to the season, though he had already handled play-calling duties in 2006.^[3]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
August 30	Tennessee Tech	No. 17	O'Brien Field Charleston, IL	W 45–25		[4]
September 8	at Purdue*	No. 12	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	L 6–52	52,504	[5]
September 15	No. 17 Illinois State*	No. 14	O'Brien Field Charleston, IL (rivalry)	L 21–24	9,028	[6]
September 22	at Indiana State*	No. 20	Memorial Stadium Terre Haute, IN	W 54–20	4,079	[7]
September 29	at Southeast Missouri State	No. 19	Houck Stadium Cape Girardeau, MO	W 31–16	9,925	[8]
October 6	Eastern Kentucky	No. 16	O'Brien Field Charleston, IL	L 21–28	9,861	[9]
October 13	at Murray State	No. 24	Roy Stewart Stadium Murray, KY	W 27–24	5,843	[10]
October 20	Tennessee–Martin		O'Brien Field Charleston, IL	W 29–23	8,151	[11]
October 27	at Tennessee State		LP Field Nashville, TN	W 38–35	8,935	[12]
November 10	at Jacksonville State	No. 25	Paul Snow Stadium Jacksonville, AL	W 37–23	8,202	[13]
November 17	Samford	No. 21	O'Brien Field Charleston, IL	W 33–17	3,083	[14]
November 24	at No. 4 Southern Illinois*	No. 18	McAndrew Stadium Carbondale, IL (NCAA Division I First Round)	L 11–30	6,124	[15]
*Non-conference game Rankings from The Sports Network Poll released prior to the game