Eastern Illinois vs. No. 13/12 Illinois State
O'Brien Field (10,000)  •  Charleston, Ill.
Sept. 14, 2019  • 2 p.m.  •  TV: ESPN+
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NOTES TO KNOW
• Eastern Illinois plays its home opener under first year head coach
Adam Cushing as the Panthers host Illinois State for the Mid-America Classic. EIU is off to an 0-2 start following road losses at Chattanooga and Indiana. ISU is 1-1 following a road loss at Northern Illinois and a home win over Morehead State.
• Eastern Illinois has lost its last five home openers with the last home opening win at O'Brien Field coming on Sept. 14, 2013 when the Panthers beat Illinois State 57-24. EIU head coaches are 5-1 in their first career home opener with the Panthers dating back to the 1978 season. Â
• This will be the 108th playing of the Mid-America Classic between Eastern Illinois and Illinois State. The rivalry game was first played in 1901 and is the oldest FCS rivalry game in the State of Illinois and the 14th oldest in FCS football. The two teams began playing for a traveling trophy in 2011 to mark the 100th meeting in the series.Â
• Eastern Illinois was shutout at Big Ten member Indiana last Saturday snapping a streak of 44 straight games in which the Panthers had scored. The last time EIU had been shutout was Sept. 12, 2015 at Northwestern. On the sidelines as part of the NU coaching staff in that game was current EIU head coach
Adam Cushing. Â
THE SERIES
• Eastern Illinois and Illinois State will be meeting for the 108th time in the Mid-America Classic. Illinois State leads the all-time series 56-42-9 and has won two straight in the series following a 48-10 win in Normal last year. It marked the first win in the series by the home team since the 2013 season when EIU last won the rivalry game at O'Brien Field. The two schools first met in 1901 with a 28-0 EIU victory and have met one time in the FCS playoffs with Illinois State winning that 2006 match-up 24-13. Â
