The Eastern Illinois Panthers and the Indiana State Sycamores will play in Week Zero in 2021, both schools announced on Tuesday.
Eastern Illinois will travel to take on Indiana State at Memorial Stadium in Terre Haute, Ind., on Saturday, Aug. 28, 2021. Kickoff for the contest is set for 6:00pm ET/5:00pm CT.
The game was moved to Week Zero following the approval of an NCAA waiver to play the game on that date. Per the release from Eastern Illinois, the move was approved after “…Eastern Illinois lost a pair of Ohio Valley Conference games this season when two schools announced they would be departing the OVC this summer.”
Eastern Illinois and Indiana State were previously scheduled to play during week one of the college football season on Saturday, Sept. 4. However, the Panthers later scheduled a contest at South Carolina for that date.
The Panthers and Sycamores first met on the gridiron in 1901 and have played a total of 86 games. Indiana State won the two most recent contests, but Eastern Illinois still leads the overall series 43-40-4.
Following the game at Indiana State, Eastern Illinois is scheduled to play at South Carolina on Sept. 4 and Dayton on Sept. 11 before hosting Illinois State on Sept. 18. The Panthers’ revised OVC schedule will be announced at a later date.
Indiana State will now have an open date on Sept. 4 before they travel to take on Northwestern on Sept. 11. The Sycamores are also scheduled to play at Eastern Kentucky on Sept. 18.
Football Schedules