DeKALB, Ill. – For the second consecutive season, Northern Illinois University will welcome an opponent from a "Power 5" conference to Huskie Stadium, highlighting NIU Football's 2018 schedule released Thursday.
 
NIU will play the Utah Utes, the first PAC 12 opponent ever to play in Huskie Stadium, and just the second PAC 12 foe in school history, on Saturday, September 8 to kick off a five-game home schedule in 2018. The Mid-American Conference home slate, featuring three of the MAC's other four 2017 bowl teams, begins the next weekend as NIU takes on MAC West foe Central Michigan on Saturday, September 15 at home.
 
The Huskies will celebrate the 112^th Homecoming in school history on Saturday, October 13 versus Ohio and close out the home schedule with a pair of MACtion match-ups, including a November midweek meeting versus Toledo on Wednesday, November 7.  NIU finishes its 2018 home slate versus Miami (Ohio) a week later on Wednesday, November 14. 
 
"It's good to have five games at Huskie Stadium, we have some good opponents coming in that our fans can look forward to seeing," said NIU Head Coach Rod Carey. "It's definitely a challenging schedule, and the team has a lot of work to do between now and September 1, but they are ready to work. We have a good group of players returning, and we'll get the new guys in here this summer and be ready to go. I hope everyone will be in the stands starting September 8th to support them."     
 
Overall, the Huskies' will face one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the nation, beginning with the season opener on Saturday, September 1 at Iowa, as NIU and the Hawkeyes battle for the 10^th time. NIU claimed its first win in the series in the 2013 season opener in Iowa City.  After back-to-back September home games, including the historic visit to Huskie Stadium by Utah, NIU travels to Florida State on September 22 in a rematch of the 2013 Discover Orange Bowl that marked Carey's NIU coaching debut.  Following a rare October open date (Oct. 20), NIU heads west to Provo, Utah to take on BYU on Saturday, October 27 in the first meeting between the schools. 
 
"Even before we added Florida State (in April 2017), this year's non-conference football schedule was stacked with Iowa, Utah and BYU," said NIU Associate Vice-President and Director of Athletics Sean T. Frazier. "With the addition of FSU, we have one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the country, and I appreciate our coaching staff and our student-athletes for stepping up to the challenge."   
 
The Huskies will play five of six games on the road beginning with the FSU game, as NIU travels to Eastern Michigan (Sat., Sept. 29) and Ball State (Sat., Oct. 6) in back-to-back weeks before returning home for Homecoming on October 13. The Huskies' regular season finale is set for Tuesday, November 20 at Western Michigan. 

Every November game is slated for national over-the-air television broadcast on one of the ESPN Networks (ESPN2, ESPNU) or on CBS Sports Network. Additional television games, as well as game times, will be announced at a later date.  

Season ticket packages start as low as $55 in 2018 with the Huskie Stadium Family Pack (four tickets for $220), while a general admission season ticket on the East Side is only $60. Huskie Stadium has a variety of seating options from general public to reserved bench backs or chair backs, as well as Sky Club and Sky Box availability, for just $125 for all five games. A Huskie Athletic Fund donation is required for the premium options. The entire pricing list, including both Family Pack options and discounted season ticket pricing for senior citizens, NIU Faculty and Staff, NIU Alumni Association and Varsity Club members, is available on the Football Tickets page of NIUHuskies.com.
 
Season ticket renewals are now available online at NIUHuskies.com/myhuskies with the Huskie Athletic Fund and season ticket renewal packet slated to hit mailboxes next week. New season ticket holders can reserve great seats at Huskie Stadium for as little as $35, which includes the one-time $10 shipping and handling fee. New season ticket deposits also can be made at NIUHuskies.com/myhuskies.
 
Football season ticket members have exclusive access to purchase tickets from NIU for the non-conference road games at Florida State and BYU, while Iowa game tickets are available to season ticket members who are also Huskie Athletic Fund donors.
 
-- NIU --