THE GAME* Eastern Illinois opened the 2015 season with a 33-5 loss on the road at Western Illinois. It marked the second straight year that EIU has lost its season opener on the road after falling at Big Ten member Minnesota last season. It marked the first time since 2004 that EIU had lost a season opener against an FCS opponent.
* Eastern Illinois fell out of the FCS Top 25 Coaches poll after the season opening loss at Western Illinois. EIU was ranked No. 25 entering the year, marking the third straight season EIU had been nationally ranked to open a season.
* This will be the Panthers eighth game against a team in the Big Ten Conference and second time facing Northwestern. EIU is 0-7 all-time against the Big Ten.
* Eastern Illinois finished with more yards of total offense than its opponent as the Panthers had 308 yards of total offense compared to just 266 total yards for Western Illinois. EIU had five turnovers in the game compared to just three for WIU.
* Eastern Illinois extended its consecutive game scoring streak to 139 games against Western Illinois but the Panthers failed to reach the end zone, snapping a streak of 65 straight games with a touchdown.
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Bradley Dewberry made EIU history at WIU as he became the first EIU player to return a point-after-attempt for two-points, returning the blocked kick in the third quarter.
THE SERIES* This will be second meeting between Eastern Illinois and Northwestern. The two teams previously met on Sept. 10, 2011 with the Wildcats winning 42-21. The game was part of former head coach Bob Spoo's final season at EIU. Spoo, a Chicago native, coached 25 years for the Panthers retiring at the end of the 2011 season. The 2011 season was the sophomore year for current New England Patriots quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.
