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This year marks the 50th Anniversary for O'Brien Field as the Panthers began competition at the renovated complex for the 1970 season.

With no football on the docket for the fall of 2020, every Wednesday this fall we bring you some memorable moments, players and teams to cap the Golden Anniversary. 

The location for the current football and track field was in place prior to the 1970 season and referenced as Lincoln Field.  The current grandstand and press box were constructed for that year replacing smaller sideline bleachers converting the space into a true college football and track facility.

The first football game played at the newly dubbed location was on Sept. 12, 1970 with a 28-18 loss to regional rival Indiana State.  The Panthers would get their first win the following week with a 19-14 win over Milwaukee on Sept. 19.

It would be another eight years before the stadium gained some national exposure when EIU hosted Youngstown State for the 1978 NCAA Division II Semifinals with the game carried on ABC.  We start our Golden Anniversary recap by looking back at the ten playoff games EIU has hosted at O'Brien Field.  (Check for an NCAA bonus event at the bottom)

Dec. 2, 1978 – NCAA Division II Semifinals… Eastern Illinois rallied to score two touchdowns in the fourth quarter as the Panthers beat Youngstown State, 26-22.  Eastern Illinois rallied to score two touchdowns in the fourth quarter as the Panthers knocked off Youngstown State, 26-22, in the NCAA Division II semifinals.  Earlier in the season YSU had beaten EIU 40-24 in Youngstown.  EIU opened the game with Mark Campana returning the opening kick 90 yards for a score.  Lonnie Denton gave the Panthers a 14-6 lead with a 5-yard run at the end of the first quarter.  Heading into the fourth quarter EIU trailed 22-14.  James Warring caught a 12-yard touchdown pass and Poke Cobb scored from 3-yards out to account for the touchdowns.  EIU failed on both fourth quarter two-point conversion attempts.  The Panther defense held YSU to only seven yards passing as Randy Melvin recorded 17 tackles.  Wilbert James had a pair of interceptions.


 
Nov. 29, 1980 – NCAA Division II Quarterfinals… Deacon Nauslar returned an interception 24 yards in the opening minute to give Northern Colorado an early 7-0 lead.  Eastern Illinois would score the next 21 points of the contest as they won 21-14 over the Bears in the opening round of the NCAA Division II playoffs.  It was the Panthers fourth straight D-II playoff victory.  Scott McGhee caught a pass from Chuck Wright to open the Panthers scoring in the first quarter.  Wright later scored on a quarterback keeper in the second quarter.  EIU's defense was led by Alonzo Lee with 11 tackles and Randy Melvin with 11.
 
Nov. 27, 1982 – FCS Playoffs First Round… Reggie Taylor forced a Jackson State fumble in overtime that was recovered by Randy McCue as Eastern Illinois picked up its first NCAA I-AA playoff victory, 16-13 in overtime.  JSU opened a 10-0 lead in the first half on a 1-yard run by Odis Brown and 31-yard field goal by Eric Dozier.  EIU tied the contest early in the fourth quarter as Jerry Wright had the ball stripped from his hands at the two yard line.  Pat Blair recovered the ball in the end zone accounting for the Panthers game tying score.  Dave Strauch drove home a 23-yard field goal in the extra session to give EIU the win.
 
Nov. 29, 1986 – FCS Playoffs First Round… James Marable scored from nine yards out and then caught a two-point conversion from Sean Payton as Eastern Illinois came from behind to beat Murray State, 28-21, in the opening round of the NCAA I-AA playoffs.  Murray State took a 14-0 lead on a pair of touchdown passes by Michael Proctor.  The Panthers tied the score at the half, 14-14, as Marable and DuWayne Pitts both had rushing touchdowns.  Rich Ehmke gave EIU a 20-14 lead with a pair of third quarter field goals.  Trailing 21-20, EIU scored with 7:24 left in the game and went up by a touchdown on a two-point conversion.  Rod Reynolds sealed the game with an interception for EIU with 2:21 left in the game.
 
Dec. 6, 1986 – FCS Playoffs Quarterfinals… Eastern Kentucky broke up a two-point conversion with 27 seconds remaining in the game as the Colonels held on to beat Eastern Illinois, 24-22.  Trailing 24-10, EIU scored twice in the fourth quarter on a pair of touchdown passes from Sean Payton to Roy Banks.  EIU missed the extra point following the first fourth quarter touchdown setting up the need to go for two on the next score.  Payton passed for 394 yards and three touchdowns in his final game as a Panther.  Banks hauled in nine passes for 117 yards while teammate Calvin Pierce had eight catches for 177 yards.  EKU dominated time of possession as the Colonels held the ball for nearly 39 minutes.  EIU had possession of the ball for just under 13 minutes in the final quarter.
 
Dec. 1, 2001 – FCS Playoffs First Round…In the highest scoring game in Eastern Illinois playoff history the Panthers fell in a shootout to Northern Iowa, 49-43.  EIU entered the playoffs as the No. 4 seed and faced No. 5 seed UNI as the FCS playoffs went to a regionalized format for the first time.  Tony Romo passed for 386 yards and five touchdowns while Frank Cutolo was on the receiving end of 11 passes for 217 yards and three scores.  EIU cut the lead to three points to start the fourth quarter when Romo hit Cutolo for a touchdown pass with 14:08 left.  UNI then drove the length of the field with Adam Benge scoring his third rushing touchdown of the day for UNI to help them hold on for the win.
 
Nov. 26, 2005 – FCS Playoffs First Round… Arkee Whitlock scored three rushing touchdowns as Southern Illinois knocked off Eastern Illinois in the opening round of the FCS playoffs.  Whitlock rushed for 89 yards on 23 carries with scores in the first, third and fourth quarters.  EIU took the lead in the game scoring on its first drive as Zach Yates knocked home a 32 yard field goal with 10:14 to go in the first quarter.  EIU's only other score of the contest would come on a Tyler Wilke 34-yard field goal to open the fourth quarter.  EIU held the ball for 20 minutes in the opening half but was unable to take advantage trailing 7-3 at the break.


 
Nov. 28, 2006 – FCS Playoffs First Round… Pierre Rembert scored on an 18-yard touchdown with 2:07 left in the contest as Illinois State rallied to win a hard fought NCAA first round playoff game over Eastern Illinois.  The Panthers appeared to have taken the lead for good as Terrance Sanders picked off a Luke Drone pass and raced 87 yards for a go-ahead score with 10:48 left in the fourth.  EIU would pick off another pass on the next ISU drive but failed to pick up a first down, thus turning over the ball to ISU for the game winning drive.  The Redbirds also returned two interceptions for touchdowns while Zach Yates kicked two long field goals to account for Eastern Illinois other six points.  Senior Vincent Webb ended his career second on the EIU career rushing list.
 
Dec. 7, 2013 – FCS Playoffs First Round… Eastern Illinois snapped a long FCS playoff drought with a 51-10 victory over Tennessee State in the FCS 2nd round.  The Panthers the No. 2 seed in this year's field jumped out to a 37-0 lead at halftime.  Jimmy Garoppolo threw for three first half touchdowns hitting Erik Lora, Jeff LePak and Adam Drake.  The Panthers tacked on a special teams touchdown as DJ Bland blocked a punt that Anthony Goodman scooped up and scored on from five yards out.  Shepard Little rushed for 184 yards and two second half touchdowns as EIU won in the playoffs for the first time since 1989.  The Panthers stuffed the TSU run allowing just 45 yards on the ground and 287 yards of total offense.  It was the most points EIU has scored in a playoff game and the least number of points the Panthers defense has allowed in the FCS playoffs.
 
Dec. 13, 2013 – FCS Playoffs Quarterfinals… Eastern Illinois jumped out to a 14-0 first quarter lead but the Panthers could not slow down Towson running back Terrance West during a 49-39 loss in the FCS quarterfinals.  West rushing for an FCS playoff record 354 yards and five touchdowns.  Walter Payton Award winning quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo did all he could for the Panthers offense passing for 321 yards with two passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns.  Senior wide receiver Erik Lora ended his career with 18 catches for 129 yards and one score.  EIU tied the game to open the second half and closed to within 3 points to open the fourth quarter.  EIU's defense could not find an answer for West or the Tigers as they rushed for 472 total yards and seven rushing touchdowns. The game was televised nationally on ESPN and played during a snow storm that blanketed the field.
 
1974 NCAA Division II Track Championship... In addition to playoff football, Eastern Illinois also hosted the NCAA Division II Track Championship in 1974.  Of note is the fact that the Panthers would end up winning the NCAA team title at O'Brien Field.  The Panthers scored 51 points to edge Norfolk State and Cal Poly in the team standings.  The team was coached by Maynard "Pat" O'Brien giving him his third national championship at EIU.  Darrell Brown was the only EIU athlete to place first at the national meet winning the long jump with a leap of 25'07.25" feet.