By Tyler Wooten
GoSycamores.com
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State and Eastern Illinois have agreed to resume their 115-year-old football rivalry with a four-year home-and-home series beginning in 2017 at home in Memorial Stadium.
The Sycamores and Panthers will meet four times between 2017 and 2020, the first contests between the two schools since EIU's 31-0 win over ISU in Terre Haute in 2009. Overall, Eastern holds a 43-37-4 advantage over the Sycamores in the series that dates back to 1901.
“We are very excited to renew this long standing rivalry with Eastern Illinois, especially with it starting with a game at home in 2017,” said head coach Mike Sanford. “This series is a natural fit not only due to our location, but also due to the regional rivalry we have had for 115 years. This series is great for our program because of the respect we have for them and the all-around national respect for EIU as an FCS football program.”
The Panthers are coming off a 7-5 season that saw yet another trip to the FCS Playoffs, the 16th playoff berth in school history. EIU has been a perennial fixture in the playoffs, ranking seventh all-time among FCS schools with 16 total appearances – three berths alone since the last time the Sycamores and Panthers met up in 2009.
With the addition of Eastern Illinois to the 2017 schedule, Indiana State bolsters an already strong non-conference schedule. Following the season opener at home against EIU, the Sycamores travel to Rocky Top to take on Tennessee for the first time in school history on Sept. 9 – ISU's first SEC opponent since 1995 (at Ole Miss, L, 56-10). From there, ISU will resume its series with Liberty in Lynchburg, Va., picking up after a three-year hiatus following Indiana State's 38-19 victory in Terre Haute on Sept. 27, 2014.
The Sycamores are coming off a 5-6 season that included five losses to eventual FCS Playoff teams with narrow losses to both the five-time defending national champions North Dakota State and No. 3 Illinois State.
Indiana State will have the top-returning offensive producer in the MVFC in 2016 in the form of junior QB Matt Adam. A native of San Juan Capistrano, Calif., Adam put up the third-best offensive season in Indiana State history in 2015 with 2,592 yards of total offense – second in the MVFC last season behind FCS leader Mark Iannotti of Southern Illinois (3,911).
Indiana State is currently in the middle of spring practice, which will culminate with the Spring Game on Fri., April 29 at 4 p.m. and the Golf Outing the next day (Sat., April 30).
Indiana State – Eastern Illinois Series
2017 – Sept. 2, at Indiana State
2018 – Sept. 1, at Eastern Illinois
2019 – Sept. 7, at Indiana State
2020 – Sept. 12, at Eastern Illinois
2017 Sycamore Football Schedule
Sept. 2 – vs. Eastern Illinois
Sept. 9 – at Tennessee
Sept. 16 – at Liberty
Sept. 30 – at Illinois State
Oct. 7 – vs. North Dakota State
Oct. 14 – at South Dakota
Oct. 21 – vs. Southern Illinois
Oct. 28 – at Missouri State
Nov. 4 – vs. Youngstown State
Nov. 11 – vs. Western Illinois
Nov. 18 – at Northern Iowa
For the latest information on the Sycamore Football team, make sure to check out GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including Facebook and Twitter.
