The Eastern New Mexico football program recently finalized the official 2019 regular season schedule and will look to get back into the mix atop of the Lone Star Conference standings this fall.

The schedule features the same 11 opponents for the Hounds as the 2018 slate featured, but will flip whether those games against each team will take place on the road or at home for Eastern New Mexico. The Hounds will square off with their typical eight Lone Star Conference opponents as well as Missouri S&T, Colorado Mesa and Western Oregon in non-conference action and will look to improve on a 5-6 record a season ago against the exact same competition that the squad will face in 2019.

“Last year’s schedule proved to be one of the most difficult in the nation and we have the same 11 teams in the exact same order this year, so we know we have our work cut out for us,” head coach Kelley Lee said, “We feel like we have made some major progress this offseason and this spring and we are excited about the challenge.”

The Hounds will open up 2019 with a home match-up against Missouri S&T inside Greyhound Stadium on Sep. 7 at 6 p.m. The last time Eastern New Mexico hosted a game for the first weekend of the season came back in 2017 and saw the Greyhounds take down Southwest Baptist by a final score of 23-21.

Eastern will follow up their 2019 home opener with two road match-ups in the upcoming weeks, the first of which will take place in Grand Junction, Colo. against Colorado Mesa for the two program’s first meeting in Grand Junction since the 1983 season. The Mavericks finished last year with a record of 7-4 and will once again serve as a key in-region non-conference opponent for the Hounds after getting the better of Eastern by a final score of 34-21 a season ago in the 2018 home opener.

The second of those two road games, the lone back-to-back road stretch for Eastern, will come against Texas A&M-Commerce on Sept. 21 inside Memorial Stadium. The Hounds haven’t left Commerce, Texas with a win since the 2013 season, a 42-35 final decision, but will catch the Lions in their first LSC game with newly appointed head coach David Bailiff.

The Hounds will figure to have a large crowd to come home to on Sept. 28 as they welcome Texas A&M-Kingsville for Homecoming Weekend. Eastern will look to record their third straight win on Homecoming Weekend and will look to take down the Javelinas for the eighth time in the last nine meetings.

The next two opponents for the Hounds in the coming weeks combined for a record of 20-3 last season in MSU Texas and Tarleton State. Eastern will make the trip over to Wichita Falls, Texas to square off with MSU Texas on Oct. 5 and will then host Tarleton State on Oct. 12 for the second annual Family Weekend and Hall of Honors Weekend.

Tarleton State finished the 2018 season 8-0 in LSC play and advanced three rounds in the NCAA Division II Playoffs before being defeated by a 13-10 final at the hands of Minnesota State-Mankato.

Eastern New Mexico will follow up those two games with two annual rivalry games against Western New Mexico on Oct. 19 in Silver City, N.M. in the second annual Chili Bowl and the 32nd edition of the Wagon Wheel Game on Oct. 26 inside Greyhound Stadium between the Greyhounds and West Texas A&M. The Hounds were dominate in the two games against their arch rivals last season, rolling up 83 points against the Mustangs and Buffs combined, while conceding just nine points to Western New Mexico and shutting out West Texas A&M for the first time since 1992.

The following week sets the stage for the Hounds to remain undefeated all-time against UT-Permian Basin on Nov. 2 before returning home on Nov. 9 for Senior Day against Angelo State. The Greyhounds will once again solidify their standing in the LSC with Angelo State after falling by a final score of 34-17 to the Rams in San Angelo, Texas for last year’s LSC finale.

The final game of the 2019 season will take place in Monmouth, Oregon on Nov. 16 for the second meeting all-time between Eastern New Mexico and Western Oregon after the Greyhounds took the inaugural meeting in the series between the two in-region foes by a 19-14 final score.