Eastern Illinois’ football team will look to bounce back from an opening weekend loss as they face the Indiana State Sycamores on Saturday night in the Panthers’ home opener.
EIU (0-1) had the opportunity to play against the University of Illinois in Champaign, but turned the ball over 4 times en route to a 45-0 defeat.
Head coach and Charleston native Chris Wilkerson talked about how the team can rebound after the Week 1 performance: “In practice, we stress the turnover margin ALL the time. It’s one of the [key] things we can control… We’ve got to take better care of the football, and we also need to eliminate the [unnecessary] penalties,” Wilkerson said.
Indiana State (0-1) also had a big opportunity in the opener, traveling to Purdue to face the Boilermakers, but offensive woes resulted in a 49-0 defeat for the Sycamores in their opening contest.
EIU and ISU faced off in the season opener in 2023, where Eastern Illinois’ defense shined in a 27-0 victory.
Coach Wilkerson emphasized that this matchup is not at all impacted by the events of a year ago: “Last year’s matchup against ISU will have no impact on Saturday night. Whichever team is the most explosive and has the fewest penalties will win the game,” Wilkerson said.
Kickoff is at 6 p.m. in O’Brien Stadium for the first time this year, and new LED scoreboards have been installed to help boost the fan experience.
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