2002 Eastern Illinois Panthers football
OVC co-champion
ConferenceOhio Valley Conference
Ranking
Sports NetworkNo. 15
Record8–4 (5–1 OVC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorRoy Wittke (13th season)
Defensive coordinatorRoc Bellantoni (1st season)
Home stadiumO'Brien Stadium
2002 Ohio Valley Conference football standings
ConfOverall
Team W L  W L 
No. 13 Eastern Illinois +^  5 –1   8 –4  
No. 20 Murray State +^  5 –1   7 –5  
No. 21 Eastern Kentucky  4 –2   8 –4  
No. 24 Southeast Missouri State  4 –2   8 –4  
Tennessee Tech  2 –4   5 –7  
Tennessee State  1 –5   2 –10  
Tennessee–Martin  0 –6   2 –10  
  • + – Conference co-champions
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from The Sports Network poll

The 2002 Eastern Illinois Panthers represented Eastern Illinois University as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) during the 2002 NCAA Division I-AA football season.[1] Led by 16th-year head coach Bob Spoo, the Panthers compiling an overall record of 8–4 and shared the OVC title with a mark of 5–1 in conference play. They were invited to the NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship playoff, where they lost to Western Illinois in the first round.

Quarterback Tony Romo's efforts earned him the Walter Payton Award given to the most outstanding offensive player in NCAA Division I-AA, now known as NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision. Despite not being selected at the 2003 NFL Draft, Romo later signed with the Dallas Cowboys as a free agent, eventually landing the starting job in 2006 season, and earned four Pro Bowl selections before his retirement in 2016.

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteResultAttendanceSource
August 3110:00 p.m.at Hawaii*No. 4
L 36–6139,958
September 141:10 p.m.at Kansas State*No. 8
L 13–6345,642
September 21Indiana StateNo. 13
W 26–198,340
September 28Illinois StateNo. 13
  • O'Brien Stadium
  • Charleston, IL (rivalry)
W 45–1010,731[2]
October 5at Tennessee TechNo. 13
W 35–2810,850
October 12No. 19 Eastern KentuckyNo. 9
  • O'Brien Stadium
  • Charleston, IL
W 25–248,397
October 19at Southeast Missouri StateNo. 7
W 44–279,178
November 2at Tennessee StateNo. 6
W 54–487,216
November 9Tennessee–MartinNo. 6
  • O'Brien Stadium
  • Charleston, IL
W 55–433,822
November 16Florida Atlantic*No. 3
  • O'Brien Stadium
  • Charleston, IL
W 47–63,740
November 23at Murray StateNo. 2
L 35–376,112
November 30at No. 3 Western Illinois*No. 10
L 9–482,429[3]

[4]

Roster

2002 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
QB 17 Tony Romo Sr
RB 22 J. R. Taylor Sr
 Defense
Pos.#NameClass
CB 8 Nick Allison So
LB 99 Lance Thompson Sr
 Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Roster
Last update: 2002-12-16

Game summaries

At Kansas State

1 2 3 4 Total
Panthers 13 0 0 0 13
Wildcats 15 28 13 7 63

Tony Romo was 13-14 for 120 yards and a TD in the first quarter, but Kansas State grabbed control and cruised to the 50-point win.[5]

Team players in the NFL

No Eastern Illinois players were selected in the 2003 NFL Draft.

The following finished their college career in 2002, were not drafted, but played in the NFL.

PlayerPositionFirst NFL team
Tony RomoQuarterbackDallas Cowboys

References

  1. ↑ "College Football Statistics". www.totalfootballstatistics.com. Total Football Statistics. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016. Retrieved March 26, 2020.
  2. ↑ "Panthers dominate Redbirds in record win". Herald & Review. September 29, 2002. p. C7. Retrieved December 7, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ↑ "WIU storms Eastern". Quad-City Times. December 1, 2002. p. D3. Retrieved October 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ "Statistics Summary for 2002". static.eiupanthers.com. eiupanthers. Retrieved March 26, 2020.
  5. ↑ "Kansas State Rout Is a Dunn Deal". Los Angeles Times. September 15, 2002. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
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