West Virginia University will face the Eastern Washington Eagles during the 2006 football season, according to athletic director Ed Pastilong.

The game will be Saturday, September 9, at Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium as part of WVU ParentsWeekend.

Eastern Washington is a replacement for Buffalo, which has elected not to fulfill its commitment to play the game. WVU will be compensated for damages. Eastern Washington will receive a guarantee of $450,000 from WVU for the game.

Eastern Washington was 7-5 last season, losing to Northern Iowa in the first round of the I-AA playoffs. The Eagles have earned five NCAA I -AA playoff berths since 1985 and are the defending Big Sky conference champions, having won the league in 2005, 2004, 1997 and 1992.

The Mountaineers, defending BIG EAST and Sugar Bowl champions, will conclude spring drills on Saturday, April 15, with the annual Gold-Blue scrimmage at 12:30 p.m.