2024 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team explained

The 2024 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team represented Eastern Illinois University as a member of the Big South–OVC Football Association during the 2024 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Panthers were led by third-year head coach Chris Wilkerson and played their home games at O'Brien Field located in Charleston, Illinois. They finished the season 3–9, 2–6 in Big South–OVC play to finish in eighth place.

Preseason

Preseason poll

The Big South-OVC Conference released their preseason poll on July 17, 2024. The Panthers were picked to finish second in the conference.^[1]

1	UT Martin	61 (5)
2	Eastern Illinois	53 (2)
3	Southeast Missouri State	51 (2)
4	Tennessee State	41
5	Gardner-Webb	40
6	Charleston Southern	27
7	Tennessee Tech	24
8	Lindenwood	18
9	Western Illinois	9

Schedule

^{[2] [3]}

Game summaries

at Illinois (FBS)

See also: 2024 Illinois Fighting Illini football team.

Statistics	EIU	ILL
First downs	9	27
Total yards	196	488
Rushing yards	49	246
Passing yards	147	242
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	16-32-2	21-29-0
Time of possession	23:59	36:01

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Eastern Illinois	Passing	Pierce Holley	16-32, 147 yards, 2 INT
Rushing	MJ Flowers	9 carries, 28 yards
Receiving	DiAirious Smith	5 receptions, 63 yards
Illinois	Passing		19-24, 213 yards, 4 TD
Rushing		16 carries, 108 yards, 1 TD
Receiving		5 receptions, 63 yards, 2 TD

Indiana State

See also: 2024 Indiana State Sycamores football team.

Statistics	INST	EIU
First downs	20	16
Total yards	334	354
Rushing yards	74	86
Passing yards	260	268
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	30–37–3	19–32–1
Time of possession	31:15	28:41

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Indiana State	Passing	Elijah Owens	30/37, 260 yards, 3 TD, 3 INT
Rushing	Elijah Owens	12 carries, 44 yards
Receiving	Rashad Rochelle	4 receptions, 45 yards, 1 TD
Eastern Illinois	Passing	Pierce Holley	19/32, 268 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing	MJ Flowers	24 carries, 93 yards, 1 TD
Receiving	Terrance Gipson	6 receptions, 100 yards

at Northwestern (FBS)

See also: 2024 Northwestern Wildcats football team.

Statistics	EIU	NW
First downs	13	22
Total yards	207	450
Rushing yards	40	203
Passing yards	167	247
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	17–31–1	21–32–0
Time of possession	24:28	35:32

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Eastern Illinois	Passing	Pierce Holley	17/31, 167 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing	Jay Pearson	8 carries, 29 yards
Receiving	Cooper Willman	6 receptions, 66 yards
Northwestern	Passing		20/31, 227 yards, 2 TD
Rushing	Cam Porter	15 carries, 77 yards, 1 TD
Receiving		7 receptions, 117 yards, 1 TD

at No. 17 Illinois State (Mid-America Classic)

See also: 2024 Illinois State Redbirds football team and Mid-America Classic.

Statistics	EIU	ILST
First downs	9	28
Total yards	192	518
Rushing yards	105	253
Passing yards	87	265
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	12–22–2	22–28–1
Time of possession	24:03	35:57

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Eastern Illinois	Passing	Pierce Holley	10/19, 72 yards, 2 INT
Rushing	MJ Flowers	19 carries, 117 yards, 1 TD
Receiving	Eli Mirza	2 receptions, 19 yards
Illinois State	Passing	Tommy Rittenhouse	17/22, 228 yards, 3 TD
Rushing	Wenkers Wright	25 carries, 150 yards, 1 TD
Receiving	Daniel Sobkowicz	7 receptions, 93 yards, 2 TD

Lindenwood

See also: 2024 Lindenwood Lions football team.

Statistics	LIN	EIU
First downs	20	25
Total yards	453	458
Rushing yards	170	132
Passing yards	283	326
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	14–19–1	26–44–0
Time of possession	29:22	30:38

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Lindenwood	Passing	Nate Glantz	14/19, 283 yards, 4 TD, 1 INT
Rushing	Cortezz Jones	20 carries, 104 yards
Receiving	Jeff Caldwell	4 receptions, 115 yards, 4 TD
Eastern Illinois	Passing	Pierce Holley	26/43, 326 yards, 2 TD
Rushing	MJ Flowers	28 carries, 123 yards
Receiving	Terrance Gipson	9 receptions, 93 yards

No. 13 Southeast Missouri State

See also: 2024 Southeast Missouri State Redhawks football team.

Statistics	SEMO	EIU
First downs	26	19
Total yards	426	385
Rushing yards	61	19
Passing yards	364	366
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	30–43–1	27–42–0
Time of possession	34:02	25:58

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Southeast Missouri State	Passing	Paxton DeLaurent	30/43, 364 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT
Rushing	Darrell Smith	18 carries, 63 yards
Receiving	Tristan Smith	8 receptions, 124 yards, 1 TD
Eastern Illinois	Passing	Pierce Holley	27/42, 366 yards, 2 TD
Rushing	MJ Flowers	14 carries, 48 yards, 2 TD
Receiving	MJ Flowers	11 receptions, 72 yards

at Tennessee State

See also: 2024 Tennessee State Tigers football team.

Statistics	EIU	TNST
First downs	23	20
Total yards	435	365
Rushing yards	75	128
Passing yards	360	237
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	30–51–1	21–33–0
Time of possession	31:54	28:06

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Eastern Illinois	Passing	Pierce Holley	28/46, 338 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing	MJ Flowers	21 carries, 57 yards, 1 TD
Receiving	Cooper Willman	8 receptions, 141 yards
Tennessee State	Passing	Draylen Ellis	20/32, 224 yards, 4 TD
Rushing	Jaden McGill	9 carries, 47 yards
Receiving	Karate Brenson	6 receptions, 121 yards, 1 TD

at UT Martin

See also: 2024 UT Martin Skyhawks football team.

Statistics	EIU	UTM
First downs	23	20
Total yards	396	460
Rushing yards	48	212
Passing yards	348	248
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	36–54–3	16–23–0
Time of possession	32:16	27:44

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Eastern Illinois	Passing	Pierce Holley	36/54, 348 yards, 2 TD, 3 INT
Rushing	MJ Flowers	14 carries, 49 yards
Receiving	Cooper Willman	11 receptions, 143 yards, TD
UT Martin	Passing	Kinkead Dent	16/22, 248 yards, 3 TD
Rushing	Patrick Smith	13 carries, 87 yards, 2 TD
Receiving	Max Dowling	3 receptions, 70 yards, 2 TD

Western Illinois

See also: 2024 Western Illinois Leathernecks football team.

Statistics	WIU	EIU
First downs	24	22
Total yards	395	534
Rushing yards	86	196
Passing yards	309	338
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	29–43–0	19–27–0
Time of possession	30:30	29:30

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Western Illinois	Passing	Nathan Lamb	29/43, 309 yards, 3 TD
Rushing	Cameren Smith	17 carries, 66 yards, 1 TD
Receiving	Elijah Aragon	9 receptions, 83 yards, 1 TD
Eastern Illinois	Passing	Pierce Holley	19/27, 338 yards, 5 TD
Rushing	MJ Flowers	27 carries, 194 yards, 1 TD
Receiving	Alex Ginnever	6 receptions, 100 yards, 2 TD

at Gardner–Webb

See also: 2024 Gardner–Webb Runnin' Bulldogs football team.

Statistics	EIU	GWEB
First downs	21	25
Total yards	465	464
Rushing yards	7	127
Passing yards	458	337
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	20–36–1	26–34–0
Time of possession	27:46	32:14

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Eastern Illinois	Passing	Pierce Holley	20/36, 458 yards, 4 TD, 1 INT
Rushing	MJ Flowers	15 carries, 45 yards
Receiving	Cooper Willman	11 receptions, 291 yards, 3 TD
Gardner–Webb	Passing	Tyler Ridell	26/34, 337 yards, 1 TD
Rushing	Carson Gresock	9 carries, 50 yards, 2 TD
Receiving	Taylor Shields	3 receptions, 86 yards

Charleston Southern

See also: 2024 Charleston Southern Buccaneers football team.

Statistics	CHSO	EIU
First downs	11	17
Total yards	201	232
Rushing yards	125	64
Passing yards	76	168
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	10–19–0	17–26–2
Time of possession	27:05	27:34

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Charleston Southern	Passing	Rob McCoy Jr.	7/13, 52 yards
Rushing	Autavius Ison	12 carries, 42 yards
Receiving	Chris Rhone	1 reception, 18 yards
Eastern Illinois	Passing	Pierce Holley	17/23, 168 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT
Rushing	MJ Flowers	22 carries, 73 yards, 1 TD
Receiving	Quenton Rogers	5 receptions, 66 yards

at Tennessee Tech

See also: 2024 Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles football team.

Statistics	EIU	TNTC
First downs	18	17
Total yards	241	328
Rushing yards	80	200
Passing yards	161	128
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	18–28–1	11–20–0
Time of possession	30:23	29:37

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Eastern Illinois	Passing	Pierce Holley	14/20, 129 yards
Rushing	Jay Pearson	11 carries, 69 yards, 1 TD
Receiving	Cooper Willman	9 receptions, 86 yards
Tennessee Tech	Passing	Dylan Laible	9/16, 88 yards
Rushing	Jalen Mitchell	20 carries, 131 yards
Receiving	Torin Baker	3 receptions, 49 yards

Notes and References

1. Web site: UT Martin Voted 2024 Preseason Big South-OVC Football Association Favorite . www.bigsouthovcfootball.com . July 17, 2024 . 20 November 2024 . en.
2. Web site: 2024 Eastern Illinois Football Schedule . FBSchedules.com . 8 April 2024.
3. Web site: Eastern Illinois Panthers Schedule 2024 . ESPN . 8 April 2024.