No. 18 Redbirds Fly To Fargo To Face No. 1 Bison

SETTING THE SCENE
Date: Oct. 1, 2016
Location: Fargo, N.D.
Kickoff: 1 p.m. CT
Stadium: Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome 
Stadium Capacity: 18,700
Series: NDSU leads 6-2
Watch: ESPN3

THE GAME
For the first time since 2013, No. 18 Illinois State (2-2, 0-1 MVFC) and No. 1 North Dakota State (3-0, 0-0 MVFC) will square off during the regular season when the Redbirds travel to Fargo, N.D. to take on the five-time defending national champion Bison at Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome. The Redbirds are coming off back-to-back losses for the first time since 2013 and have never lost three straight games under the leadership of head coach Brock Spack.

THE SERIES
Illinois State and North Dakota State will meet for the ninth time when they square off in the first regular-season contest between the two schools since 2013. NDSU leads the all-time series 6-2, having won the previous four match ups with ISU including the 2014 FCS National Championship game.  The Redbirds' last win over the Bison came in 2010, when ISU came from behind to defeat NDSU, 34-24, at Hancock Stadium.

PLAYER TO WATCH
After a quiet start to the season in the opening win over Valparaiso, senior All-American wide receiver Anthony Warrum has certainly made his presence known in the past three games for the Redbirds. The Fishers, Indiana, native has averaged eight catches and 121 yards receiving over that span, with a pair of 100-plus yard receiving performances.  Warrum also caught his first two touchdown passes of the season last week at Indiana State, while hauling in a career-high 10 receptions for a season-best 151 yards through the air against the Sycamores.

THE COACHES
Illinois State: Brock Spack (Purdue, 1983) is in his eighth season as the head coach at Illinois State (58-31). 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.
North Dakota State: Chris Klieman (Northern Iowa, 1990) is in his third season as the head coach at North Dakota State (31-3). Since taking over as head coach, Klieman has guided the Bison to a pair of 7-1 runs through the MVFC and to the
program's fourth and fifth straight national titles.

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

• North Dakota State University is located in Fargo, North Dakota, and has an enrollment of 14,432 students.  The Bison are members of the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) and play their home games at Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome (18,700).
• After not playing a home overtime game in the history of the program, the Bison started the season with back-to-back OT home wins over nationally-ranked foes Charleston Southern (24-17) and Eastern Washington (50-44).
• NDSU extended its streak to six wins in a row against Football Bowl Subdivision foes, following its 23-21 defeat of No. 11 Iowa at Kinnick Stadium in week three. The Bison now have a 9-3 record against FBS opponents, with victories at Kansas, Minnesota, Colorado State, Kansas State, Iowa State and Iowa.
• The Bison received an FCS-record 74 votes in the AP Top 25 poll after beating No. 11 Iowa in Week 3. NDSU was tied for 27th in the voting and dipped to 28th in voting this week with 58 points following a bye week.
• The Redbirds will have a tough task on their hands facing the Bison in the Fargodome today, as NDSU is 50-4 at home since 2010.
• Quarterback Easton Stick remains undefeated as a starter at quarterback for the Bison. The sophomore from Omaha, Nebraska, is 11-0 as a starter for NDSU and helped lead the team to its fifth national championship last season.  Stick has completed 62.5 percent of his passes in 2016, with 575 yards passing and five touchdown passes, while also rushing for 140 yards and a score as well.

THE LAST TIME THEY MET (JAN. 10, 2015)
A 58-yard touchdown run by quarterback Tre Roberson with 1:38 left in the game gave the Redbirds a late lead, before Bison quarterback Carson Wentz scored from five yards out with 37 seconds left to come away with a 29-27 win at Toyota Stadium in the FCS National Championship game.

KNOCKING OFF NO. 1
In order to advance to its first-ever appearance in the FCS National Championship, Illinois State had to knock off the top seed and No. 1 ranked New Hampshire Wildcats.  It was not easy, but the Redbirds pulled out the 21-18 win on the road, marking the program's third win over a team ranked at the top of the polls.  The Redbirds previously defeated Southern Illinois in 2005 and Youngstown State in 1993, when both schools were ranked No. 1 in the country. The Redbirds will have a chance to improve that win total to four, when they face the No. 1-ranked Bison today in the Fargodome.

STOPPING THE SKID
For the second week in a row, the Redbirds dropped a tough decision by less than a touchdown to move to 2-2 on the season overall. The back-to-back losses for the Redbirds are rare, as the team has not lost two in a row since the end of the 2013 season. ISU will look to end the losing skid this weekend, however the task will be difficult travelling to play No. 1 North Dakota State in the Fargodome in front of a sold out crowd.  The Redbirds have not lost three games in a row since the 2008 season and have never lost three games in a row under the leadership of head coach Brock Spack.

REDBIRDS REMAIN IN NATIONAL RANKINGS
Illinois State has maintained its Top 25 national ranking for over 30 weeks and continues to do so despite a couple tough losses, as the Redbirds came in at No. 18 in the newest STATS FCS national poll. ISU is among seven MVFC teams in the Top 25 this week, marking the 11th time that has been achieved in the league's history, most recently Oct. 26, 2015. 

TWO OF THE BEST SQUARE OFF IN THE FARGODOME
It's becoming the norm for a pair of ranked teams to face each other in MVFC play, and that's exactly what will happen with No. 18 ISU takes on No. 1 NDSU at the Fargodome. The two teams have played twice previously when both were ranked in the Top 25, with the Bison winning both of those contests. There have been 143 games in league history when two top-25 MVFC teams squared off, with the home team having a 83-57 advantage in those games.
 
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 20 in the FCS in sacks per game (12) and forced fumbles (16).

A MILESTONE DAY FOR WARRUM
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. 6 all-time with 2,092 yards and No. 12 with 103 receptions and is just two touchdowns away from tying for No. 3 on the career touchdown list.

SPACK PASSES A LEGEND
The history of the Illinois State football program has been altered greatly during the tenure of head coach Brock Spack, with numerous 10-win seasons, playoff appearances and a national championship game appearance.  With the team's 9-7 win over Northwestern, Spack continued to cement his legacy as one of the best coaches in ISU football history. The victory was No. 58 for Spack, which moved him past legendary coach and stadium namesake Howard Hancock for second on the all-time wins list.  Spack still needs 18 more wins to tie Edwin Struck (86) for the all-time wins record at ISU, but already has the best winning percentage (.652) among all coaches with over two years coaching at Illinois State.

THAT'S A FIRST
The Redbirds were 0-for-8 in previous tries against Big Ten Conference opponents heading into the game against Northwestern at Ryan Field.  ISU had recorded a pair of losses each to Illinois, Minnesota and Purdue and a lone loss each to Iowa (in 2015) and the Wildcats (in 2010).  However, that all changed when Sean Slattery connected on a 33-yard field goal as time expired to give the Redbirds a 9-7 win over the Wildcats and their first win over a Big Ten team in school history.  The win was the second for the Redbirds against a FBS foe in the past five seasons, with the last win coming at Eastern Michigan in 2012.