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Viva Las Vegas! NIU to play UNLV in 2014-15

October 16, 2013
NIU President Doug Baker and Athletics Director Sean T. Frazier

NIU President Doug Baker and Athletics Director Sean T. Frazier

Bet on it! The NIU Huskies football team and UNLV will play a home-and-home series in 2014 and 2015, completing the Huskies’ non-conference schedule for 2014.

Sean T. Frazier, NIU associate vice president and director of Athletics, made the announcement Wednesday.

NIU and UNLV will play at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas on Sept. 13, 2014, with the Rebels making a return trip to DeKalb and Huskie Stadium on Sept. 5, 2015.

The games will be the fourth and fifth ever played between the schools, and the first since 1995. NIU has defeated the Rebels in all three previous meetings.

The Huskies will open the 2014 campaign at Huskie Stadium on Thursday, Aug. 28, versus Presbyterian College, a member of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) which competes in the Big South Conference.

On Saturday, Sept. 6, NIU takes on Northwestern at Ryan Field in Evanston in a meeting of the state’s top Football Bowl Subdivision teams. The game will be the first between the teams since 2005.

The Huskies travel to Las Vegas for the game versus UNLV on Sept. 13, and close out their non-conference slate at Arkansas on Sept. 20. That game will mark NIU’s first contest versus a Southeastern Conference opponent since 2008 when the Huskies dropped a 13-9 decision at Tennessee.

Paris Logan

Paris Logan

“I’m pleased to announce the completed non-conference football schedule for 2014,” Frazier said. “Las Vegas is certainly an attractive destination and the game there enables us to promote the NIU brand in a different part of the country against a quality Mountain West opponent. In addition, bringing teams like UNLV to Huskie Stadium will be an essential element of our scheduling philosophy going forward. ”

Frazier said he is working to bring balance to NIU’s future non-conference schedules that will ensure the Huskies play a minimum of six games in DeKalb. NIU is also pursuing future contests at Chicago’s Soldier Field.

“Scheduling is driven by relationships,” Frazier said. “While most of the contracts for 2014 were in place when I arrived (in July), it was great to work with Northwestern and UNLV to add a local game that many of our fans will be able to attend. I will continue to work to bring attractive non-conference opponents to Huskie Stadium.

“I have been so impressed by the passion NIU fans have displayed in selling out our first two home games this season. We need to continue to pack Huskie Stadium this season, and have a great showing at Ryan Field and everywhere we play in order to take this program to the next level.”

NIU Football 2014 Schedule
Thursday, Aug. 28 – Presbyterian College (DeKalb, Ill.)
Saturday, Sept. 6 – at Northwestern (Evanston, Ill.)
Saturday, Sept. 13 – at UNLV (Las Vegas, Nev.)
Saturday, Sept. 20 – at Arkansas (Fayetteville, Ark.)

Frazier also said the Huskies’ 2015 non-conference schedule is close to being finalized and will be released shortly and posted on NIUHuskies.com as well as the NIU Huskies Facebook page.

For more information on NIU football and Huskie athletics, visit www.niuhuskies.com.