2018 Eastern Kentucky Colonels football team

2018 Eastern Kentucky Colonels football
2018 Eastern Kentucky Colonels football
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
Record	7–4 (5–2 OVC)
Head coach	Mark Elder (3rd season);
Offensive coordinator	Tommy Zagorski (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Kurt Maddix (3rd season)
Home stadium	Roy Kidd Stadium

2018 Ohio Valley Conference football standings

Team	W		L	W		L
No. 10 Jacksonville State $^	7	–	1	8	–	3
No. 15 Southeast Missouri State ^	6	–	2	8	–	3
	5	–	2	7	–	4
Murray State	5	–	3	5	–	6
Tennessee State	3	–	4	4	–	5
Eastern Illinois	3	–	5	3	–	8
Austin Peay	3	–	5	5	–	6
UT Martin	2	–	6	2	–	9
Tennessee Tech	1	–	7	1	–	10

$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2018 Eastern Kentucky Colonels football team represented Eastern Kentucky University during the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by third-year head coach Mark Elder and played their home games at Roy Kidd Stadium as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference. They finished the season 7–4, 5–2 in OVC play to finish in third place.

Preseason

OVC media poll

On July 20, 2018, the media covering the OVC released their preseason poll with the Colonels predicted to finish in sixth place.^[1] On July 23, the OVC released their coaches poll with the Colonels predicted to finish in fifth place.^[2]

Media poll
Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Jacksonville State	134 (14)
2	Austin Peay	114 (1)
3	UT Martin	96
4	Tennessee State	91
5	Eastern Illinois	83
6	Eastern Kentucky	64
7	Murray State	39
8	Southeast Missouri State	35
9	Tennessee Tech	19

Coaches poll
Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Jacksonville State	126 (14)
2	Austin Peay	112 (4)
3	UT Martin	95
4	Eastern Illinois	73
5	Eastern Kentucky	69
6	Tennessee State	64
7	Southeast Missouri State	62
8	Murray State	24
9	Tennessee Tech	23

Preseason All-OVC team

The Colonels had three players selected to the preseason all-OVC team.^[3]

Offense

Dan Paul – TE

Aaron Patrick – DL

Specialists

LJ Scott – KR

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 30	7:00 p.m.	Morehead State*	Roy Kidd Stadium Richmond, KY (Old Hawg Rifle)	ESPN+	W 49–23	10,230
September 8	6:30 p.m.	at Marshall*	Joan C. Edwards Stadium Huntington, WV	ESPN+	L 16–32	24,304
September 15	4:00 p.m.	at Bowling Green*	Doyt Perry Stadium Bowling Green, OH	ESPN3	L 35–42	17,542
September 22	4:00 p.m.	Southeast Missouri State	Roy Kidd Stadium Richmond, KY	ESPN+	W 23–14	7,720
October 6	4:00 p.m.	No. 8 Jacksonville State	Roy Kidd Stadium Richmond, KY	ESPN+	L 7–56	6,820
October 13	3:00 p.m.	at UT Martin	Graham Stadium Martin, TN	ESPN+	W 35–34	1,769
October 20	3:00 p.m.	Murray State	Roy Kidd Stadium Richmond, KY	ESPN+	L 6–34	10,440
October 27	1:00 p.m.	Eastern Illinois	Roy Kidd Stadium Richmond, KY	ESPN+	W 31–23	4,400
November 3	5:00 p.m.	at Austin Peay	Fortera Stadium Clarksville, TN	ESPN+	W 17–13	6,094
November 10	1:00 p.m.	Robert Morris*	Roy Kidd Stadium Richmond, KY	ESPN+	W 40–39 ^OT	4,165
November 17	2:30 p.m.	at Tennessee Tech	Tucker Stadium Cookeville, TN	ESPN+	W 37–6	4,559
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

^[4]

Game summaries

Morehead State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	0	7	0	16	23
Colonels	18	0	14	17	49

At Marshall

	1	2	3	4	Total
Colonels	0	6	7	3	16
Thundering Herd	13	7	7	5	32

At Bowling Green

	1	2	3	4	Total
Colonels	14	7	14	0	35
Falcons	0	28	6	8	42

Southeast Missouri State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Redhawks	7	0	0	7	14
Colonels	3	7	7	6	23

Jacksonville State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 8 Gamecocks	14	14	7	21	56
Colonels	0	0	0	7	7

At UT Martin

	1	2	3	4	Total
Colonels	21	0	7	7	35
Skyhawks	7	24	3	0	34

Murray State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Racers	0	10	14	10	34
Colonels	3	0	3	0	6

Eastern Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	10	7	0	6	23
Colonels	3	7	7	14	31

At Austin Peay

	1	2	3	4	Total
Colonels	3	0	7	7	17
Governors	7	6	0	0	13

Robert Morris

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Colonials	10	13	0	10	6	39
Colonels	6	10	7	10	7	40

At Tennessee Tech

	1	2	3	4	Total
Colonels	0	13	7	17	37
Golden Eagles	0	3	3	0	6

References

[1] "Media Pollsters Tab Jacksonville State as 2018 OVC Football Preseason Favorites".

[2] "Jacksonville State Picked as 2018 Ohio Valley Conference Football Favorites".

[3] "SEMO's Terry, JSU's Bridges Named OVC Preseason Football Players of the Year".

[4] Schedule

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

Eastern Kentucky Colonels football
Venues	Hanger Stadium (1938–1968) Roy Kidd Stadium (1969–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games 1955 Tangerine Bowl 1967 Grantland Rice Bowl Morehead State: Old Hawg Rifle Western Kentucky: Battle of the Bluegrass
Culture & lore	The Colonel "Rally Maroon and White" Marching Colonels
People	Head coaches NFL draftees
Seasons	1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901–1908 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 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
National championship seasons in bold