Sept. 6, 2010
PLAYER TO WATCH
Junior middle linebacker Josh Howe was all over the field for the Redbirds in ISU's 55-54 win over Central Missouri in the season-opener last Thursday night. The Chicago Heights, Ill., native recorded eight tackles, four of which were solo stops, and tallied 1.5 tackles-for-loss against the Mules. Howe also added his first career interception in the victory for the Redbirds. As the Redbirds defense's signal-caller, Howe totaled 51 tackles, 4.0 tackles-for-loss and a sack in 2009 while playing in 10 games and starting in four contests.
THE GAME
Coming off a come-from-behind victory in the season opener against Central Missouri, the Illinois State football team heads north to face off against Big Ten Conference and Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) foe Northwestern on Saturday. The Redbirds will play a FBS opponent for the 16th straight season and will have a tough task in front of them in the Wildcats, who are coming off a 23-21 win at Vanderbilt last weekend..
THE SERIES
Illinois State and Northwestern will face off on the gridiron for the first time in the history of either program Saturday. However, the Redbirds are very familiar with members of the Big Ten Conference, with the last match-up last season against in-state foe Illinois. Northwestern has played one other Missouri Valley Football Conference team, beating Southern Illinois in 2008 by a score of 33-7.
THE COACHES
Illinois State: Brock Spack (Purdue, 1983) is in his second season as the head coach of the Illinois State Redbirds (7-5). After starting the 2009 season with a 1-3 record, with losses at Illinois and to nationally-ranked South Dakota State, the Redbirds won five of their last seven games to finish the season with 6-5 record and the team's first winning campaign since 2006.
Head Coach Brock Spack | ISU Coaching Staff
Northwestern: Pat Fitzgerald (Northwestern, 1997) is in his fifth season as the head coach at his alma mater (28-23). In the past two years, Fitzgerald has guided the Wildcats to 17 wins and back-to-back bowl berths. NU has earned bowl eligibility four times in the last five seasons under Fitzgerald.
THE PROGRAM
- Illinois State was home to the Missouri Valley Football Conference's Defensive Player of the Year each season from 2002-06.
- The Redbirds had at least one player selected in the NFL Draft each year from 2005-07.
- In each of the past four years, ISU student-athletes have contributed more than 2,000 hours of community service to the Bloomington-Normal area, including a school-record 3,500 hours in 2009-10.
- Redbird student-athletes matched a record with a department-wide 3.13 grade-point average during the fall 2009 semester, while posting a 3.0 mark in six of the last seven semesters.
THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT
- The Northwestern University is located in Evanston, Ill., and has an enrollment of 8,000 undergraduate students. The Wildcats are members of the Big Ten Conference and play their home games at Ryan Field (47,130).
- The Wildcats return a school-record 55 letterwinners from last year's 8-5 team that played in the Outback Bowl on New Year's Day. NU also has 16 starters returning, including eight on offense.
- NU will be seeking it third-straight bowl appearance in 2010, after advancing to the 2010 Outback Bowl against Auburn and the 2008 Alamo Bowl against Missouri.
- Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald, who is in his fifth season as the Wildcats' mentor, has won more games faster than any previous Northwestern coach in the last 100 years (28-23).
- Northwestern won its fifth-consecutive season opener under head coach Pat Fitzgerald, and its sixth-straight opener overall with a 23-12 win last Saturday at Vanderbilt, Led by the strong play of quarterback Dan Persa, who threw for 222 yards and three touchdowns, the Wildcats defeated against their academic rival from the SEC.
- The Wildcats also continued its regular-season road magic of late, winning away from home for the eighth time in its last 11 road outings.
'Birds And The Big Ten
Illinois State is 0-5 all-time against the Big Ten Conference in the FBS era. The Redbirds last match-up with a Big Ten Conference member was last season against in-state rival Illinois. The Redbirds were competitive early, but suffered a 45-17 loss to the Illini in their second game of the season.
Gimmie a I-A ... er, FBS
When the Redbirds travel to Northwestern Sept. 11, it will be the 16th-straight season that Illinois State has played a Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) opponent. The last time the 'Birds didn't schedule an FBS game was in 1994. It will also mark the second of two-consecutive games against the Big Ten Conference, after last year's 45-17 loss to Illinois in Champaign, Ill.
FBS Woes
Missouri Valley Football Conference member North Dakota State proved it wasn't a slouch last weekend with an upset win over Kansas and the Redbirds were a point of knocking off Kansas State to kick off the 2006 season, but FBS opponents have historically given the Redbirds fits. Illinois State is 3-31 all-time against FBS opponents, with the team's last win coming against Akron (25-3) on Sept. 14, 1991. The Redbirds also have wins against Western Michigan (Sept. 12, 1987) and Eastern Michigan (Sept. 19, 1981).
Lighting Up The Scoreboard
The final outcome was a little close for comfort for Illinois State against Central Missouri in the season-opener, thanks to an offensive explosion on the field that nearly wore out the scoreboard. The Redbirds and the Mules combined for a 109 points, the most in Illinois State history, and piled up a combined 1,114 yards of total offense in the game. Illinois State rushed for 187 yards in the game, its highest total since 2008, and Redbird quarterbacks Matt Brown and Drew Kiel combined for 322 yards passing.
That's One Way To Start The Season
When Illinois State won the toss and decided to receive the ball against Central Missouri, sophomore Ben Ericksen and Kelvyn Hemphill awaited the kick deep in the Redbirds' end. What happened next shocked everyone in attendance, as returned the game's opening kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown. The Greendale, Wis., native returned a total of seven kickoffs for 220 yards for an average of 31.4 yards per return. The kickoff return touchdown was the first of Ericksen's career and the first for a Redbird since Tom Nelson's 97-yard return at Western Illinois in 2008.
There's A First Time For Everything
There were a lot of points scored Thursday night in ISU's season-opening win against Central Missouri, and most of them were scored by players who had never found the end zone in a Redbird uniform. A total of six Redbirds scored their first career touchdowns at ISU and about in every way imaginable. Redshirt-freshman Corey Shandrick (26-yard pass), sophomore Ben Ericksen (85-yard kickoff return) and Casey Cline (4-yard pass) all recorded their first career touchdowns in the game, while true freshmen Marcus Harris (42-yard interception return) and Cameron Hunt (7-yard run) both scored in their first career game at ISU. In addition, transfer running back Ashton Leggett scored his fifth career touchdown but first at ISU in the victory for the Redbirds.
Look What I Found
True freshman cornerback Marcus Harris knew he was going to get a chance to play in the season-opener against Central Missouri, but he couldn't have predicted that his first career game would be as memorable as it was. Harris snagged a 42-yard interception for a touchdown in the first quarter, marking the second-consecutive game that ISU has had an interception for a touchdown, after Chris Garrett's in the 2009 season finale against Northern Iowa. Harris wasn't the only Redbird to record a turnover in the game, as Josh Howe recorded an interception and Austin Davis forced a fumble that Mike Zimmer returned for 11 yards.
Picking Up Right Where He Left Off
After a record-setting freshman campaign that earned him 2009 Missouri Valley Football Conference Freshman of the Year honors, ISU sophomore quarterback Matt Brown proved it wasn't a fluke in his first game of 2010. Brown was extremely efficient throughout Illinois State's 55-54 victory over Central Missouri Thursday night, as he completed 23-of-30 passes (76.7 percent) for 298 yards and a career-high three touchdowns. He even showed an affinity for coming through in the cluch, as he led the game-winning six-play, 78-yard scoring drive that was capped off by a 26-yard touchdown pass to Corey Shandrick with 2:22 left in the game.
Go Big Or Go Home
Illinois State head coach Brock Spack was faced with a tough decision right at the outset of the season late in the team's season-opener against Central Missouri. Trailing 54-47 with less than five minutes to go, the Redbirds
marched 78 yards in six plays and pulled to within one point thanks to a 26-yard TD reception by redshirt freshman Corey Shandrick with 2:22 left . Then, following an off sides call against Central Missouri, Spack decided to go for the two-point conversion and called transfer running back Ashton Leggett's number. Leggett proceeded to bowl his way into the end zone to give the Redbirds a 55-54 win.
Ride The Lighting
The Redbirds and the Mules had to wait out a severe storm, complete with high winds and a lightning show that would have rivaled the halftime fireworks display that was scheduled. After and hour and 20 minute delay, the teams finally took the field but Missouri State was not as lucky, as the Bears had to re-schedule their season opener against Eastern Kentucky after a three-hour lightning delay that included three stadium evacuations and a tornado warning. Although the Redbirds got their game in, they were not as lucky on Sept. 25, 2004 when their game against Florida Atlantic was rescheduled for later in the season due to Hurricane Jeanne.
They Haven't Missed A Beat
The Redbirds' passing offense ranked first in the Valley with an average of 246.4 yards-per-game and finished the season ranked No. 20 in the nation in passing offense in 2009. Based off what the offense did in the season opener against Central Missouri, the Redbirds haven't missed a beat. The Redbirds currently rank 7th in the country in passing offense (322.0) and ninth in total offense (509.0) after the first game of the season and also rank 7th in scoring offense with 55.0 points per game.
What Are We Saving Them For?
When asked if head coach Brock Spack would play any of his true freshmen in the season opener, he would quickly respond "What are we saving them for?" Well, Spack stuck to his word as six true freshman suited up and competed in their first collegiate game against the Mules. Wide receiver Matt Younger, defensive back Matt Goldsmith, running back Cameron Hunt, defensive lineman Colton Underwood, defensive back Marcus Harris and kicker Nick Aussieker all donned Redbird uniforms and all contributed to the team's 55-54 victory.
