RICHMOND, Ky. – The Eastern Kentucky University football team faces a challenging schedule in 2015, including two games against Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) programs. EKU will play five of its 11 games at Roy Kidd Stadium, highlighted by Homecoming on Oct. 24 versus Tennessee State.
For the third consecutive year, Eastern Kentucky opens the season with a Thursday night contest as the Colonels host Valparaiso on Sept. 3. This will be the first meeting between the two programs since 1947. Valparaiso is a member of the Pioneer Football Conference.
The following weekend, EKU takes on ACC foe NC State in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Colonels and Wolfpack also met in 2005, which ended in an NC State victory.
Eastern kicks off its conference schedule on Sept. 26 with a home game versus Austin Peay. The Colonels have won 14 straight meetings against the Governors at Roy Kidd Stadium.
The beginning of October has the Colonels making the short trip north along Interstate-75 to take on Kentucky. EKU has faced the Wildcats on three other occasions, with the latest coming in 2009.
The 2015 Homecoming game features Tennessee State on Oct. 24. Eastern Kentucky has won eight straight Homecoming tilts as well as three of the last four match-ups against the Tigers.
EKU winds down the regular season with three of its final four games on the road. Two of those games come against the previous two Ohio Valley Conference champions – at Jacksonville State on Oct. 31 and at Eastern Illinois on Nov. 21.
The NCAA FCS playoffs begin on Nov. 28 with 16 of the 24 qualifying teams playing in the opening round.
This past fall, Eastern Kentucky (9-4, 6-2) reached the FCS playoffs for the third time in seven seasons under head coach Dean Hood and finished second in the Ohio Valley Conference standings.
2015 Eastern Kentucky University Football Schedule
Sept. 3 – Valparaiso – Roy Kidd Stadium
Sept. 12 – at NC State – Raleigh, N.C.
Sept. 19 – OPEN
Sept. 26 – Austin Peay* – Roy Kidd Stadium (Family Weekend)
Oct. 3 – at Kentucky – Lexington, Ky.
Oct. 10 – Tennessee Tech* – Roy Kidd Stadium
Oct. 17 – at Southeast Missouri* – Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Oct. 24 – Tennessee State* – Roy Kidd Stadium (Homecoming)
Oct. 31 – at Jacksonville State* – Jacksonville, Ala.
Nov. 7 – UT Martin* – Roy Kidd Stadium
Nov. 14 – at Murray State* – Murray, Ky.
Nov. 21 – at Eastern Illinois* – Charleston, Ill.
Boldface denotes home game ~ Asterisk (*) denotes OVC game
