SETTING THE SCENE
Date: Dec. 13, 2014
Location: Cheney, Wash.
Kickoff: 3:00 p.m. CT
Stadium: Roos Field
Stadium Capacity: 8,600
Series: Tied 1-1
Watch: ESPN3
THE GAME
For the second time in three seasons, fifth-seeded Illinois State (11-1, 7-1 MVFC) will travel to Cheney, Washington, and face off against fourth-seeded Eastern Washington (11-2, 7-1 BIG SKY) in the quarterfinals of the FCS Playoffs. The game can be viewed live on ESPN3, with Mark Neely and Jay Walker on the call.
THE SERIES
ISU and EWU will face off for the third time Saturday. The Redbirds picked up a 31-14 victory over the Eagles in 1987 at Albi Stadium in Spokane, Washington, in the first meeting between the two programs. The Redbirds were defeated by the Eagles, 51-35, in the quarterfinals of the 2012 FCS Playoffs at "The Inferno" in the only other matchup. ISU is 2-3 all-time against current members of the Big Sky Conference.
PLAYER TO WATCH
Redbird quarterback Tre Roberson had a career day in ISU's second-round playoff win over UNI. The 2014 MVFC Newcomer of the Year threw for 382 yards and tied a career best with four touchdown passes to help the Redbirds to advance to the quarterfinals of the FCS Playoffs for the second time in three seasons. In his last two contests, Roberson has thrown for 701 yards and seven touchdowns with no interceptions, and has rushed for 131 yards and a touchdown for the Redbirds.
THE COACHES
Illinois State: Brock Spack (Purdue, 1983) is in his sixth season as the head coach at Illinois State (44-25). Spack was named the 2014 MVFC Coach of the Year and an Eddie Robinson Award Finalist, after he led the Redbirds to a school-record 10 wins in the regular season and a share of their first conference title since 1999.
Eastern Washington: Beau Baldwin (Central Washington, 1996) is 67-24 in his seventh year as the head coach at Eastern Washington and is 77-27 overall in his eighth season as a collegiate head coach. Baldwin, also a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award, guided EWU to the 2010 NCAA Division I National Championship and has led the Eagles to six conference titles.
REDBIRDFOOTBALL IN THE FCSPLAYOFFS
- Fifth playoff appearance (1998, 1999, 2006, 2012)
- Four-time FCS quarterfinalists (1999, 2006, 2012, 2014)
- 5-4 overall record in FCS playoff games in school history
- The 1999 team advanced to the FCS semifinals, with wins at home over Colgate and on the road against Hofstra. ISU eventually fell to eventual national champion Georgia Southern by a score of 28-17.
THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT
- Eastern Washington University is located in Cheney, Washington, and has an enrollment of 12,130 students. The Eagles are members of the Big Sky Conference and play their home games at Roos Field (8,600), which is also known as "The Inferno" for its bright red artificial turf.
- Eastern Washington won the 2010 NCAA Division I National Championship, after defeating No. 9 Southeast Missouri State (37-17), No. 25 North Dakota State (38-31 in overtime) and defending champion No. 10 Villanova (41-31) in three home playoff games, before defeating No. 5 Delaware (20-19) in the championship game in Frisco,Texas.
- EWU is making its 11th FCS playoff appearance this season, after finishing the regular season with a 10-2 record and winning its eighth Big Sky Conference title in school history and third in a row.
- The Eagles advanced to the quarterfinals after a 37-20 victory over conference rival Montana last Saturday at "The Inferno," where EWU is now is 31-4 all-time and 8-2 in the playoffs.
- Quarterback Vernon Adams is one of three finalists for the coveted Walter Payton Award, given annually by The Sports Network to the top player in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision. Despite missing four games with a foot injury, Adams has 3,058 yards passing and 32 touchdowns in nine games played, completing 67 percent of his 336 passes with just six interceptions on the season.
THE LAST TIME THEY MET (DEC. 8, 2012)
Despite tallying 520 yards of total offense, the Redbirds could not erase a 21-point second half deficit, and fell to second-seeded EWU by a score of 51-35 at Roos Field. Redbird quarterback Matt Brown threw for 372 yards on 27-of-48 passing and wide receiver Tyrone Walker added nine catches for 148 yards with one touchdown, as the duo completed their storied careers as Redbirds.
COMING OUT FIRING
For the seventh time this season, the Redbirds scored a touchdown on their first series of the game when Cameron Meredith hauled in a 6-yard touchdown pass from Tre Roberson on the team's first drive vs. UNI in their 41-21 second-round playoff win. It marked the eighth time this season that the Redbirds have come away with points on their opening drive (7 TD, 1 FG) and the Redbirds are 7-1 on the season when scoring on their first possession.
COPRICH TOPS THE RECORD BOOKS
The season that Redbird running back Marshaun Coprich has put together in 2014 will go down as one of the best individual seasons in ISU history. With his 148 yards in the second-round playoff win over UNI, the Missouri Valley Football Conference Offensive Player of the Year became Illinois State's single-season rushing champion with 1,831 yards, extending his own record of consecutive games with over 100 yards rushing to 12 overall. He also sits atop the school's single-season rushing touchdowns list with 22 and holds the single-season mark with an average of 152.6 rushing yards per game.
BIG GAME JAMES
Senior tight end James O'Shaughnessy has a knack for coming up big in important games for the Redbirds. The Naperville, Illinois, native recorded his second career 100-plus yard receiving performance and tied a career high with two touchdown grabs in ISU's second-round playoff victory over UNI. It was his third career playoff game, and with his four catches for 105 yards, O'Shaughnessy upped his career numbers to 10 catches for 246 yards (24.6 yards per catch) with four touchdowns in playoff contests. In 2012, he caught three passes for 63 yards at Eastern Washington and will look to continue his high-scoring play of late, with touchdown grabs in five of his last seven games overall.
DÉJÀ VU
For the second time in three years, the Redbirds will head to Cheney, Washington, to play Eastern Washington in the FCS Playoff quarterfinals this Saturday. ISU's first trip to "The Inferno" was a memorable one; however, the result was not what the Redbirds had hoped for. Despite tallying 520 yards of total offense, the Redbirds could not erase a 21-point second half deficit, and fell to second-seeded EWU by a score of 51-35 at Roos Field. Matt Brown threw for 372 yards on 27-of-48 passing and wide receiver Tyrone Walker added nine catches for 148 yards with one touchdown, as the duo completed their storied careers as Redbirds.
IN FAMILIAR TERRITORY
Just two years ago, the Redbirds found themselves in the exact same spot as they do in the quarterfinals of the 2014 FCS Playoffs. ISU played at Eastern Washington and a total of 17 players that saw action in the 2012 game return in 2014. Six players, including five on offense, started in that game and include: OL Mike Liedtke, OL Rocco Ammons, OL Jermaine Barton, TE James O'Shaughnessy, WR Lechein Neblett and DB Mike Banks. Many others, including longsnapper Chris Highland and kicker Nick Aussieker saw action in that game on special teams. Current starters Marshaun Coprich, Dontae McCoy, Tevin Allen, Josh Burch, Tim Wright, Teddy Corwin, Bradon Prate, Pat Meehan and Alex Donnelly contributed heavily in the playoff runs in both seasons.
LUCKY NUMBER 13
The number 13 is often viewed as an unlucky number for many, but for the Redbirds the number 13 signifies the amount of consecutive wins at home. Since the Hancock Stadium renovation was completed in September of 2013, the Redbirds have gone unbeaten at home. The 13-game home winning streak tops the previous streak of 11 in a row set from 1998-2000 and remains intact heading into the remainder of the playoffs, or the 2015 season.
REDBIRDS FLYING BACK HOME
Despite the two states being over 1,000 miles apart, the Illinois State football program has a lot of Washington state representation on it. Junior linebacker Alex Donnelly (Kirkland, Wash.) and junior tight end Joe Farmer (Snoqualmie, Wash.) each return to their home state and will no doubt bring several fans to Cheney to root for the Redbirds.
MEREDITH ON A ROLL
Although Cameron Meredith has been part of the Illinois State football program for five years, he has only seen time at the wide receiver position in the past two seasons. After a solid debut at the spot in 2013, Meredith has emerged as an offensive weapon for the Redbirds in 2014. He leads the team with 51 receptions, 907 yards and eight touchdowns and has recorded 100-yard receiving performances in four-straight games. He has a total of five 100-plus yard receiving performances in his career and has caught at least one touchdown pass in eight of the team's 12 games so far this season.
DOUBLE DIGITS IN THE WIN COLUMN
For the first time in program history, the Illinois State football team finished the regular season with 10 wins, thanks to its 44-29 win over Southern Illinois (Nov. 22). It marked just the second 10-win season in school history and has since grown to 11 wins, which ties the 1999 team for the most wins in program history.
HISTORY IS MADE
Thanks to an outstanding offensive effort that put points on the scoreboard early, the Redbirds jumped out to an early lead and never looked back in a 44-29 victory over in-state rival Southern Illinois (Nov. 22). The win improved the Redbirds to 10-1 overall and 7-1 in Missouri Valley Football Conference play, which gave ISU a share of the conference title along with North Dakota State. It marked the second conference title for the Redbirds in the MVFC, with the first coming in 1999 when the team won the title outright with a perfect 6-0 conference record.
HE DID IT AGAIN!
Junior running back Marshaun Coprich recorded his 12th consecutive 100-plus yard rushing game, finishing with 148 yards and a touchdown against UNI (Dec. 6). He holds the most-consecutive over 100-plus yard rushing games to start a season and has tied the record of 12 games of over 100-yards, set by Pierre Rembert in 2006. Coprich's 148 yards rushing also moved him up to No. 1 on ISU's single-season rushing yards list with 1,831, ahead of Rembert's record of 1,743 yards in 2006, and his rushing touchdown upped his total to 22, which set a school record for single-season rushing touchdowns, passing the previous mark of 20 set by Toby Davis in 1992.
TO BE THE BEST, YOU HAVE TO BEAT THE BEST
The road to 11-1 for Illinois State has not been easy, as the Redbirds have had to knock off five teams ranked in the FCS polls. The Redbirds have earned wins against No. 24 Eastern Illinois (34-14), No. 22 South Dakota State (45-10), No. 20 Indiana State (20-18) and, most recently, No. 10 Youngstown State (35-21) on Nov. 8. In addition, ISU's only loss was to No. 22 Northern Iowa, who knocked off No. 1 North Dakota State (Nov. 8) the following week. The Redbirds avenged a win over No. 10 UNI last week, with a 41-21 second-round playoff victory.
