EIU, N'western To Meet September 12 On ESPN News

CHICAGO – Northwestern, in conjunction with the Big Ten Conference and its television partners, has announced the kickoff time and television designation for its home game on Sept. 12 against Eastern Illinois. The Panthers and Wildcats will meet at 3 p.m. with the game to be televised on ESPN News.

This will be the second time that EIU and Northwestern have met with the previous meeting on Sept. 10, 2011, a 42-21 win by Northwestern at Ryan Field. This will be EIU’s first appearance on ESPN News with previous appearances on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Classic and ESPN3 Digital Streaming contests. This will mark the second straight year that EIU has played a team from the Big Ten Conference and eighth time overall.

Fans can purchase tickets in the EIU section for the game by calling the EIU Athletic ticket office at 217-581-2106. As part of the EIU game at Northwestern, Panther Athletics is partnering with the EIU Alumni Association for a pregame tailgate function at the Northwestern game. Details and pricing on that event will be released on both the www.eiupanthers.com and www.eiu.edu/alumni websites.

EIU has been ranked in the FCS preseason top 25 this year by both Sporting News and Athlons. EIU returns 16 starters from last year’s team that was in the thick of the Ohio Valley Conference race until the final week of the season. The Panthers will open the season on Thursday, Sept. 3 at Western Illinois. The home opener is Saturday, Sept. 19 against Illinois State in the Mid-America Classic. Kickoff for the home opener is set for 6 p.m. Season tickets are now on sale by calling 217-581-2106 or online at www.eiupanthertickets.com