2009 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team

The 2009 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team represented Eastern Illinois University as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) during the 2009 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The team was led by 22nd-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 6–2 record in conference play, making them conference champions. The team received an automatic 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. 19 in The Sports Network's postseason ranking of NCAA Division I FCS teams.^[2]

2009 Eastern Illinois Panthers football
OVC champion
NCAA Division I First Round, L 7–48 vs. Southern Illinois
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
Ranking
Sports Network	No. 19
Record	8–4 (6–2 OVC)
Head coach	Bob Spoo (22nd season)
Home stadium	O'Brien Field
Seasons ← 2008 2010 →

2009 Ohio Valley Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 16 Jacksonville State		6	–	1					8	–	3
No. 19 Eastern Illinois $^		6	–	2					8	–	4
Tennessee Tech		5	–	3					6	–	5
Eastern Kentucky		5	–	3					5	–	6
UT Martin		4	–	4					5	–	6
Tennessee State		3	–	4					4	–	7
Austin Peay		3	–	5					4	–	7
Murray State		2	–	6					3	–	8
Southeast Missouri State		1	–	7					2	–	9
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Jacksonville State had the best record in conference play, but was not eligible for the FCS playoffs because of APR violations. Rankings from The Sports Network poll

The team retired former quarterback Tony Romo's jersey number before their October 17 game against Tennessee Tech.^[3]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 3	Illinois State*		O'Brien Field Charleston, IL (rivalry)	W 31–6	10,013	[4]
September 12	at Indiana State*		Memorial Stadium Terre Haute, IN	W 31–0	2,977	[5]
September 19	at Southeast Missouri State		Houck Stadium Cape Girardeau, MO	W 23–14	9,053	[6]
September 26	at Austin Peay	No. 24	Fortera Stadium Clarksville, TN	W 30–20	4,618	[7]
October 3	No. 18 Eastern Kentucky	No. 23	O'Brien Field Charleston, IL	L 31–36	11,271	[8]
October 10	at No. 14 (FBS) Penn State*	No. 25	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA	L 3–52	104,488	[9]
October 17	Tennessee Tech		O'Brien Field Charleston, IL	W 23–15	8,708	[3]
October 24	at No. 13 Jacksonville State	No. 25	Paul Snow Stadium Jacksonville, AL	W 28–20	12,380	[10]
October 31	at Murray State	No. 20	Roy Stewart Stadium Murray, KY	W 16–10	2,444	[11]
November 14	UT Martin	No. 14	O'Brien Field Charleston, IL	W 49–13	5,346	[12]
November 19	Tennessee State	No. 14	O'Brien Field Charleston, IL	L 10–21	3,509	[13]
November 28	at No. 1 Southern Illinois*	No. 19	McAndrew Stadium Carbondale, IL (NCAA Division I First Round)	L 7–48	6,391	[14]
*Non-conference game Rankings from The Sports Network Poll released prior to the game