Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Football to play at Northwestern in 2008
08/31/2005 | 12:00:00 | Football
Aug. 31, 2005
The Southern Illinois University football program has added Big Ten opponent Northwestern to its 2008 football schedule, Saluki Director of Athletics Paul Kowalczyk confirmed Wednesday.
It will be the first meeting on the gridiron between the two schools, and just the fourth time SIU has played a Big Ten opponent. Southern lost at Illinois in 1985 (28-25) and 1990 (56-21), and will play at Indiana in 2006.
"We're tremendously excited to play Northwestern," Kowalczyk said. "It's a school with a proud football past and a recent series of Big Ten championships."
Before taking his current position at Southern Illinois, Kowalczyk was an assistant AD with the Wildcats from 1991-2000 and an integral part of NU's success. Northwestern won Big Ten championships in football in 1995, 1996 and 2000.
Kowalczyk said the game is also a plus for SIU because Evanston is so close to a large concentration of Saluki fans.
"Anytime we can play this caliber of a football team in our second home of Chicago, we're going to do it," he said. "We're always trying to reach our fan base in the Chicagoland area, and we know they'll be excited about watching us compete in historic Ryan Field."
The game will be played on Sept. 13, 2008.
