EIU Football Schedule Completed For Upcoming Season

With the 2019 Eastern Illinois football season just under 100 days away, the 2022 schedule for the Panthers became complete on Thursday as it was announced the Panthers will play Northern Illinois to open the season on Sept. 3 in DeKalb.

The game against the FBS-level Huskies rounds out the non-conference portion of the Panthers schedule which already included a Sept. 10 home opening date against Chattanooga and the Mid-America Classic Game on Sept. 17 at Illinois State.

This will be the 28th time the two schools have met but only the sixth time since Northern Illinois moved to the FBS ranks.  The Panthers and Huskies last played in 2017 with a 38-10 NIU victory.  The 2013 meeting between the two teams was memorable as Walter Payton Award winner Jimmy Garoppolo and Heisman Trophy candidate Jordan Lynch faced off in a 43-39 NIU win which handed EIU its only regular season loss of the 2013 campaign.

EIU has won six games against FBS schools since playing its first FBS opponent, Toledo, in 1984.  One of the six wins for the Panthers came against NIU with a 24-10 win in 1998.  EIU’s last win over an FBS opponent was a 21-17 win at Miami (Ohio) in 2016.

The 2019 season will open for the Panthers on Aug. 29 as EIU plays at Chattanooga.  The home opener is on Sept. 14 when the Panthers host Illinois State for the Mid-America Classic at O’Brien Field.  Season ticket sales and renewals are now underway online at www.eiupanthertickets.com or by calling 217-581-2106.

The 2022 game against Northern Illinois joins previously announced future FBS games against Indiana this season and Kentucky in 2020.