1980 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team

American college football season

1980 Eastern Illinois Panthers football
Mid-Con champion
NCAA Division II Championship, L 13–21 vs. Cal Poly
Conference	Association of Mid-Continent Universities
Record	11–3 (4–0 Mid-Con)
Head coach	Darrell Mudra (3rd season)
Home stadium	O'Brien Stadium
Seasons← 1979 1981 →

1980 Association of Mid-Continent Universities football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Eastern Illinois $^	4	–	0	–	0	11	–	3	–	0
Northern Michigan ^	3	–	1	–	0	9	–	2	–	0
Northern Iowa	2	–	2	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Youngstown State	1	–	3	–	0	2	–	8	–	1
Western Illinois	0	–	4	–	0	4	–	6	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant

The 1980 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team represented the Eastern Illinois University during the 1980 NCAA Division II football season, and completed the 79th season of Panther football. The Panthers played their home games at O'Brien Stadium in Charleston, Illinois. This season was the last that Eastern Illinois played at the Division II level.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance
September 6		South Dakota*		O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL	W 34–21	6,500
September 13		at Southern Illinois*		McAndrew Stadium Carbondale, IL	L 35–37	17,150
September 20		at Indiana State*		Memorial Stadium Terre Haute, IN	L 0–14	15,368
September 27		Northeast Missouri State*		O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL	W 41–7	5,700
October 4		Illinois State*		O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL (rivalry)	W 31–14	10,500
October 11		at Central State (OH)*	No. 8	McPherson Stadium Wilberforce, OH	W 40–15	3,500
October 18		at Western Illinois	No. 6	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	W 37–7	12,144
October 25		Youngstown State	No. 5	O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL	W 32–7	5,200
November 1		at No. 1 Northern Michigan	No. 2	Superior Dome Marquette, MI	W 35–28	3,719
November 8		No. T–9 Northern Iowa	No. 1	O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL	W 14–9	12,600
November 15		Augustana (SD)*	No. 1	O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL	W 52–13	3,200
November 29	12:30 p.m.	No. 10 Northern Colorado	No. 1	O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL (NCAA Division II First Round)	W 21–14
December 6		at No. 5 North Alabama	No. 1	Braly Municipal Stadium Florence, AL (NCAA Division II Semifinal)	W 56–31
December 13		vs. No. 3 Cal Poly	No. 1	University Stadium Albuquerque, NM (NCAA Division II Championship Game—Zia Bowl)	L 13–21	2,056
*Non-conference game Rankings from Associated Press Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Tupper, Mark (October 5, 1980). "Slaughter, like Sims, knows the way to victory". Herald and Review. p. B1. Retrieved December 18, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
"EIU playoff foe revealed". Journal Gazette. Mattoon, Illinois. November 24, 1980. p. 8. Retrieved October 12, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
"Cal Poly SLO Wins Title". The Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. December 14, 1980. p. III-15. Retrieved February 21, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
"Final 1980 Cumulative Football Statistics Report". National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved June 4, 2022.
"EIU Football Online Guide, 2019" (PDF). Eastern Illinois athletics. Retrieved February 12, 2020.

v t e Eastern Illinois Panthers football
Venues	O'Brien Field (1970–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Illinois State: Mid-America Classic
Culture & lore	Billy the Panther
People	Head coaches NFL draftees
Seasons	1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold