The Northern Illinois Huskies have added the Arkansas Razorbacks to their 2014 football schedule, NIU Associate Vice-President and Director of Athletics Jeff Compher announced Wednesday.
NIU will travel to face Arkansas at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville on Sept. 20, 2014. In their only previous meeting, Arkansas defeated Northern Illinois 30-27 in Fayetteville in 1994.
“It’s always good to play elite schools from other conferences,” Compher said. “This is a place we haven’t been to for quite some time and provides a great opportunity to showcase our program in an SEC venue. It’s a game our players and our fans will look forward to. I want to thank [Arkansas AD] Jeff Long and his staff for working with us to get this game on the 2014 schedule.”
NIU is 1-9 against teams from the SEC, with their only victory coming against the Alabama Crimson Tide in 2003. Arkansas is 2-0 against the MAC after defeating NIU in 1994 and Eastern Michigan in 2009.
The Huskies’s 2014 schedule also includes games at Wake Forest and home against Idaho. They need one more game to complete the non-conference portion of their schedule.
As for Arkansas, Northern Illinois is the first non-conference game scheduled for 2014. The Razorbacks need three more games if the SEC continues to play an 8-game conference schedule.
Football Schedules:
NIU needs to start playing its football peers like Arkansas instead of its peer’s little brothers like the opponent in the 2012 GoDaddy.com Bowl.
Good move.