2018 Eastern Kentucky Colonels football team

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.

2018 Eastern Kentucky Colonels football
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
2018 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 (Capacity: 20,000)

2018 Ohio Valley Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 10 Jacksonville State $^		7	–	1					8	–	3
No. 15 Southeast Missouri State ^		6	–	2					8	–	3
Eastern Kentucky		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

Previous season

The Colonels finished the 2017 season 4–7, 3–5 in OVC play to finish in a tie for fifth 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 Morehead, 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

See also: 2018 Morehead State Eagles football team and Old Hawg Rifle

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
52–16–4	2014	EKU, 55–13

at Marshall

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

See also: 2018 Marshall Thundering Herd football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
8–10–1	1992	MARSH, 44–10

at Bowling Green

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

See also: 2018 Bowling Green Falcons football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
3–1	2003	BGSU, 63–13

Southeast Missouri State

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

See also: 2018 Southeast Missouri State Redhawks football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
23–4	2017	SEMO, 29–10

Jacksonville State

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

See also: 2018 Jacksonville State Gamecocks football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
6–9	2017	JSU, 41–25

at UT Martin

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

See also: 2018 UT Martin Skyhawks football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
23–4	2017	BGSU, 31–21

Murray State

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

See also: 2018 Murray State Racers football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
46–27–4	2017	EKU, 26–13

Eastern Illinois

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

See also: 2018 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
13–11	2017	EIU, 23–20

at Austin Peay

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

See also: 2018 Austin Peay Governors football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
45–5	2017	APSU, 31–24

Robert Morris

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

See also: 2018 Robert Morris Colonials football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2–0	2014	EKU, 29–10

at Tennessee Tech

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

See also: 2018 Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
54–20	2017	EKU, 24–21

References

1. http://www.ovcsports.com/news/2018/7/10/media-pollsters-tab-jacksonville-state-as-2018-ovc-football-preseason-favorites.aspx
2. http://www.ovcsports.com/news/2018/7/10/jacksonville-state-picked-as-2018-ohio-valley-conference-football-favorites.aspx?path=football
3. http://www.ovcsports.com/news/2018/7/10/semos-terry-jsus-bridges-named-ovc-preseason-football-players-of-the-year.aspx?path=football
4. Schedule