GAME INFORMATION
No. 25 Eastern Illinois (4-1, 2-1 OVC)
at No. 12 Penn State (4-1, 1-1 Big Ten)
Beaver Stadium (107,282) • State College, Pa.
October 10, 2009 • 11 a.m. • TV: ESPN Classic
THE GAME
Eastern Illinois will face Penn State on Saturday afternoon in a nationally televised game on ESPN Classic. This will mark the first appearance on the network by either school. The game will feature two of the longest tenured head coaches in NCAA Division I football. Joe Paterno heads the list serving as the head man at Penn State since 1966. Bob Spoo is tied with Virginia Tech's Frank Beamer for fifth place on that list with both joining their current schools in 1987.
Eastern Illinois is coming off a tough home loss to Eastern Kentucky in a battle of teams that were tied for first place in the Ohio Valley Conference. The loss was EIU's first of the season and ended their best start to a season since the 1996 campaign. That year they rallied after that first loss to finish at 8-4 losing in the first round of the NCAA FCS playoffs to Northern Iowa.
Penn State picked up a road win at Illinois on Saturday as the Nittany Lions improved to 4-1 overall and 1-1 in the Big Ten Conference. This will be Penn State's fifth home game of the season after previously hosting Akron, Syracuse, Temple and Iowa to open the year.
THE SERIES
This will be the first meeting between Eastern Illinois and Penn State. It will also be the first meeting between a team coached by Bob Spoo against Penn State. Spoo was an assistant coach at Wisconsin and Purdue from 1973-86 and never faced Penn State as the Nittany Lions joined the Big Ten in 1993. This will be Eastern Illinois fourth game against a Big Ten opponent with the Panthers having twice faced Illinois (2006 & 2008) and once facing Spoo's alma mater Purdue (2007).
EASTERN ILLINOIS - PENN STATE GAME INFORMATION
