FCS

Golden Eagles look to break slide at Eastern Illinois

CHARLESTON, Ill. – As the first three weeks of spring football for the Ohio Valley Conference have progressed, Eastern Illinois keeps climbing closer, but the Panthers haven’t quite hit paydirt yet.

EIU (0-3) saw Southeast Missouri hang 47 points on them in the season opener in Charleston, but in the last two weeks on the road, the Panthers have made huge strides, falling by a pair of touchdowns at UT Martin two weeks ago, then Tennessee State knocked off EIU on a last-second field goal for a 21-20 defeat.

Now the Panthers will try their luck against the Golden Eagles as Tennessee Tech heads up north to take on Eastern Illinois on Sunday. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m. Dylan Vazzano will provide the broadcast on 98.5 KISS FM, while Mike Bradd and Jack Ashmore will handle the broadcast duties on ESPN+ (subscription required).

As the Golden Eagles (1-2) enter the program’s 984th contest and 13th at O’Brien Field, the trips to Charleston have not been kind to Tech. EIU is 9-4 against the Golden Eagles on its home turf, with only three of those wins coming in Ohio Valley play – 1999, 2011 and 2019. But, to be fair, Tech only has five wins over EIU in the OVC era for the Panthers, adding an overtime win in 2004 and a 2010 win at Tucker Stadium into the mix.