Redbirds Return To Normal For Homecoming Contest Against The Penguins

SETTING THE SCENE
Date: Oct. 8, 2016
Location: Normal, Ill.
Kickoff: 2 p.m. CT
Stadium: Hancock Stadium
Stadium Capacity: 13,397
Series: ILS leads 13-12
Watch: CSN Chicago / ESPN3

THE GAME
A stretch of three road games in four weeks comes to an end today, when the No. 22 Redbirds (2-3, 0-2 MVFC) begin a two-game home stand against the No. 13 Youngstown State Penguins (3-1, 1-0 MVFC) on Homecoming at Hancock Stadium. Illinois State is coming off of three-straight losses and has not lost four in a row since the 2008 season, while the Penguins have won two-straight games including their win over South Dakota in last week's conference opener.

WATCH ON CSN CHICAGO / ESPN3
Saturday's game will be broadcast live on Comcast SportsNet Chicago, as part of the Illinois State Television Network.  Below are channel listings where the game can be found:
Comcast Cable – Channel 56/522
ATT Uverse – Channel 740/1740    
Comcast Xfinity – 37/200    
DIRECTV – Channel 665    
DISH Network – Channel 429/5429
DISH Network Hopper Channel – 412-19    
MEDIACOM – Channel 25/732
ESPN3 will also carry the telecast on WatchESPN.com and the WatchESPN mobile app through participating Internet service providers. Kurt Pegler (play-by-play) and Chris Highland (color analyst) will call the action from Hancock Stadium. 

REDBIRD PLAYER TO WATCH
Freshman running back James Robinson has become a versatile threat for the Redbirds in his first season with the team.  He is averaging 4.2 yards per carry on the ground, has caught seven passes including a 33-yard touchdown, and has returned seven kickoffs for an average of 21.0 yards per return. The Rockford, Illinois, native is the all-time leading rusher in Illinois high school football history and will be looked at to help fill the void at running back with the loss of George Moreira to injury.

THE SERIES
Illinois State and Youngstown State will meet for the 26th time when they square off on the turf at Hancock Stadium. The Redbirds own a 13-12 advantage in the all-time series, thanks to a pair of wins in the previous two match ups between the teams. ISU has won three out of the last four games overall in the series and the Redbirds have defeated the Penguins in the last four games on their home field.  

THE COACHES
Illinois State: Brock Spack (Purdue, 1983) is in his eighth season as the head coach at Illinois State (58-32). Spack, the 2014 MVFC Coach of the Year, has led the Redbirds to back-to-back shares of the MVFC title the past two seasons and FCS playoff appearances three times in the past four years.
Youngstown State: Bo Pelini (Ohio State, 1990) is in his second season as the head coach at Youngstown State (8-7) and his ninth as a collegiate head coach (74-34), after previously serving as the head coach at Nebraska for seven seasons.

THE @REDBIRDFB PROGRAM

• 6 FCS playoff appearances (1998, 1999, 2006, 2012, 2014, 2015)
• 5-time FCS quarterfinalists (1999, 2006, 2012, 2014, 2015)
• 2-time FCS semifinalists (1999, 2014)
• The team is 37-8 at home under Spack's guidance
• ISU is 20-2 at Hancock Stadium since 2013

THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT

• Youngstown State University is located in Youngstown, Ohio, and has an enrollment of 12,756 students.  The Penguins are members of the Missouri Valley Football Conference and play their home games at the Stambaugh Stadium (20,630).
• The Penguins are off to a 3-1 start to the season, with the lone loss coming to FBS foe West Virginia. YSU has played three of its first four games at home and picked up wins over Duquense, Robert Morris and South Dakota.
• YSU scored two touchdowns in the first 16 minutes of the game and had a pick six late in the fourth quarter to seal a 30-20 win over the Coyotes in the MVFC opener for both teams last Saturday at Stambaugh Stadium.
• Senior running back Martin Ruiz moved into fifth place on the Youngstown State all-time rushing list with 3,520 career rushing yards, after running for 65 yards with two touchdowns. He now has 35 career rushing touchdowns for the Penguins and leads a rushing attack that averages a conference-best 262.8 yards per game.
• Sophomore kicker Zak Kennedy was named the MVFC Special Teams Player of the Week, after he made field goals of 26, 28 and 24 yards in the Penguins' 30-20 win yesterday against South Dakota.
• Senior defensive end Derek Rivers tied for the team lead with five total tackles and had a pair of sacks against South Dakota to put his career sack record at 30 overall for the Penguins. The talented pass rusher leads the team with four sacks and 5.0 tackles-for-loss on the season.

THE LAST TIME THEY MET (OCT. 10, 2015)
No. 4 Illinois State escaped with a road win over the No. 7 Youngstown State by staving off a furious comeback by the Penguins. Holding a thin 24-23 lead with 8:35 remaining in the game, YSU stalled the Redbirds at the ISU 39-yard line, but a gutsy fake punt call from ISU head coach Brock Spack led to a six-yard run from Bryce Holm to keep the drive alive. The fourth-down conversion led to the 'Birds capping a nine-play, 82-yard drive with a 19-yard rushing touchdown by Marshaun Coprich that gave his team a 31-23 cushion. On the ensuing drive, the Penguins drove into the red zone, converting a key fourth down before quarterback Hunter Wells connected with Martin Ruiz on a 13-yard touchdown pass with 32 seconds remaining. With the scored standing at 31-29, the Penguins were forced into a two-point conversion attempt. Wells dropped back but with the pocket collapsing he took off, diving for the end zone. He extended the ball over the goal line and was initially ruled in. However, following an official review, Wells' knee was determined to have been down one yard short. The ensuing onside kick was recovered by ISU and the 'Birds took a couple of knees to secure the victory.

A WELCOME HOMECOMING
After a pair of tough road contests and games away from home in three of the last four weeks, the Redbirds will return home this weekend to start a two-game home stand against nationally-ranked Youngstown State for Homecoming 2016. Over the past seven seasons, the Redbirds have had a lot of success on the special day and gone 6-1 in that time, with three-straight wins since 2013.  Those six wins are part of a streak of 20 wins in the last 22 games play at Hancock Stadium dating back to the stadium's renovation.

FOWLER FINIDING HIS WAY
A rash of injuries at the wide receiver position thrust newcomer Anthony Fowler into a prominent role for the Redbirds in 2015.  Despite playing in 13 games and starting in three of those contests, Fowler only caught 14 passes for 192 yards during the year for the Redbirds.  Heading into the 2016 season, Fowler needed to become a bigger part of the Redbird passing attack and his performances over the past two weeks have shown he can do just that. After catching his first career touchdown last week at Indiana State, Fowler came back and set career-highs with six catches for 119 yards and scored for the second time in as many weeks against NDSU.  Through five games, Fowler has already bested last year's stats and has 16 catches for 213 yard and has averaged nearly five catches over the past three games.

RUNNING WITH THE MUTTS
The Redbird defense affectionately refers to itself as "The Mutts", partly because of the way they run together and attack opposing defenses. The group also likes to share in the dirty work, as evidenced by five different players with at least 30 tackles or more this season and seven players with multiple tackles-for-loss. Senior linebacker Alejandro Rivera leads the way with 43 tackles, but junior safety Alec Kocour is right behind with 42 and seniors B.J. Bello and Brent Spack each have 32 stops.  Defensive tackle Dalton Keene is the other tough dog with 30 stops, and ranks second only to Bello's 5.5 TFLs with five of his own.

REDBIRDS REMAIN IN NATIONAL RANKINGS
Illinois State has maintained its Top 25 national ranking for over 30 weeks and continues to do so despite three-straight losses, as the Redbirds came in at No. 22 in the newest HERO Sports FCS Poll and No. 23 in both the STATS FCS and the NCAA FCS Coaches poll. ISU is among six MVFC teams are ranked this week. North Dakota State, No. 1 in all three polls (FCS Coaches, STATS and HERO Sports), has been ranked in 85-straight top-25 regular-season polls, the league's best active streak.

KOLBE PLAYS WELL IN RELIEF
Starting quarterback Jake Kolbe was limited with shoulder soreness all week and the plan was for him to rest against Indiana State, however the standout sophomore was ready when called and nearly led the Redbirds to an epic comeback in the second half against the Sycamores.  Kolbe came into the contest with the Redbirds trailing by 17 points and proceeded to complete 25 of his 32 pass attempts for 258 yards.  He also threw a career-best three touchdowns against the Sycamores, two to Anthony Warrum and one to Anthony Fowler.  Kolbe has been solid in four games for ISU this season, completing 70 percent of his passes, throwing six touchdown passes and throwing for nearly 1000 yards with an efficiency rating of 143.89.

A LITTLE HOME COOKING
Playing back in his home state for perhaps the final time in his career, senior All-American wide receiver Anthony Warrum made sure he went out on a high note.  The Fishers, Indiana, native had his best performance of the season in front of the fans in Terre Haute and was crucial to the Redbird comeback effort in the second half.  Warrum set a season high with 151 yards on 10 receptions and caught a pair of touchdown passes. He hauled in a 30-yard pass late in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 10 points and later added a 21-yard score with 3:07 left in the game to trim the Sycamore lead to three points.  With his two touchdowns, Warrum moved into a tie for third place on the ISU all-time list with 22 career receiving touchdowns.

BELLO BRINGS THE BOOM
When B.J. Bello transferred to Illinois State, head coach Brock Spack told him that his new role on the team would be as a pass rusher. Bello was apprehensive, having never had to fill that role in his previous time at Illinois, however it looks like Spack knows best. The senior has recorded a sack in each of the first four games of the season for the Redbirds and leads the team with 5.5 tackles-for-loss. He has also forced a pair of fumbles, as he took the opposing quarterback down for a sack, and has been credited with two quarterback hurries and one pass breakup. Bello currently ranks in the top 30 in the FCS in sacks per game and forced fumbles.

A MILESTONE DAY
Senior wide receiver Anthony Warrum has piled up awards and accolades over the past two seasons at Illinois State.  With his performance against in-state rival Eastern Illinois, Warrum reached a pair of new milestones and continued to cement his name in the ISU record books. Warrum caught five passes for 96, which moved him over the 100 catch plateau and the 2,000 yard receiving mark in his time in a Redbird uniform.  Warrum currently ranks No. 5 all-time with 2,325 yards and No. 12 with 103 receptions and is tied for No. 3 on the career touchdown list with 22, seven behind Laurent Robinson in second with 29.