Big Ten Conference Foe Northwestern Next Up For The Redbirds

SETTING THE SCENE
Date: Sept. 10, 2016
Location: Evanston, Illinois
Kickoff: 2:30 p.m. CT
Stadium: Ryan Field
Stadium Capacity: 47,130
Series: NU leads 1-0
Watch: Big Ten Network

THE GAME
After a slow start, Illinois State put up 27 points in the second quarter of its 50-13 season-opening win over Valparaiso to come away with its eighth home-opening win in a row.  The Redbirds will not have the luxury of starting slow this weekend, as they travel north to Evanston to face Big Ten Conference foe Northwestern at Ryan Field in their first road contest of 2016.

NORTHWESTERN CLEAR BAG POLICY
Northwestern will introduce a new "clear bag" policy at Ryan Field in 2016, intended to maximize fan comfort and safety, and minimize wait times to enter the venue. New guidelines for permissible items Wildcats fans can bring into the stadium will be in place for the September 3 season opener. Fans are encouraged to bring only necessary items to the stadium. Each ticketed attendee will be allowed to enter Ryan Field with one (1) clear plastic bag no larger than 12" x 6" x 12," or a one-gallon clear plastic bag. The only non-clear items that will be permitted are small clutch bags no larger than 4.5" x 6.5". An exception will be made for medically necessary items.

THE SERIES
The Redbirds and the Wildcats will meet for the second time, with the only other meeting coming in 2010 at Ryan Field.  NU dominated that contest, running away with a 37-3 win over ISU in head coach Brock Spack's second season at the helm of the program.

THE COACHES
Illinois State: Brock Spack (Purdue, 1983) is in his eighth season as the head coach at Illinois State (57-29). 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.
Northwestern: Pat Fitzgerald (Northwestern, 1997) is in his 11th season as head football coach at Northwestern (70-57). During his tenure, the Wildcats have played in six bowl games and Fitzgerald is the all-time winningest coach in the history of the NU program.

PLAYER TO WATCH
True freshman running back James Robinson wasted little time making a name for himself in a Redbird uniform. The IHSA's all-time leading rusher and Rockford native made his ISU debut last weekend against Valparaiso and showed he was dangerous with the ball in his hands.  Robinson averaged 5.3 yards per carry in seven attempts against the Crusaders and also took a 33-yard swing pass to the house for his first career touchdown for the Redbirds in their 50-13 season-opening win.

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 37-7 at home under Spack's guidance
• ISU is 20-1 at Hancock Stadium since 2013
• The team tied a program-record cumulative GPA of 2.94 in the Spring 2015 semester

THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT

• Northwestern University is located in Evanston, Illinois, and has an enrollment of 8,688 students. The Wildcats are members of the Big Ten Conference and play their home games at Ryan Field (47,130).
• The Wildcats posted a 10-3 record in 2015 and advanced to the Outback Bowl, where they were defeated by No. 23 Tennessee by a score of 45-6.
• Junior running back Justin Jackson leads the way for the Wildcat offense. He carried the ball 23 times for 124 yards and a career-high three rushing touchdowns in last week's season opener versus Western Michigan. It marked Jackson's' 14th-career 100-yard performance and his fourth career multi-touchdown game. 
• Senior linebacker Jaylen Prater had a career day for the Wildcat defense last Saturday in the loss to Western Michigan. Prater recorded a career-high 18 tackles, with career-highs of nine solo stops and nine assisted tackles, in his second career 10-plus tackle game. Prater's 18 tackles were the second most in the nation last weeked and the most in a NU season opener under head coach Pat Fitzgerald.

BATTLING THE BIG TEN
For the second time in as many seasons and for the fourth time in the past eight seasons, Illinois State will square off against a Big Ten Conference foe when it faces the Northwestern Wildcats at Ryan Field on Saturday.  The Redbirds opened the 2015 season with a road defeat at the hands of the Iowa Hawkeyes, but had not played a member of the Big Ten Conference member previously since 2010, when the Redbirds dropped a 37-3 decision to Northwestern on Sept. 11.  Illinois State has played four current members of the Big Ten Conference and has gone 0-8 in those contests, with a pair of losses each to Illinois, Minnesota and Purdue and a lone loss each to the Wildcats and Hawkeyes.

GETTING OFF TO A GOOD START 
The Redbirds have played extremely well at home under the leadership of head coach Brock Spack, amassing a 37-7 record at Hancock Stadium over the past eight seasons. Perhaps even more impressive is the team's unblemished record in home-openers, which improved to 8-0 with Saturday's 50-13 win over Valparaiso in the first home game of the 2016 campaign. In those contests, the Redbirds have out-scored their opponents 411-140, averaging 51 points per game with an average margin of defeat at 34 points.  

TAKING TURNS TOTING THE ROCK
Throughout the offseason, head coach Brock Spack insinuated that his rushing attack would feature a by-committee look to start the season off. One look at the stat sheet from Saturday's season-opening win over Valparaiso and it certainly looks like Spack has plenty of options to carry the football.  Six different running backs, along with quarterback Jake Kolbe, combined to rush for 271 and score four times on the ground against the Crusaders. Sophomore George Moreira led the way with a career-best 93 yards on seven carries and scored the final touchdown of the game for the Redbirds. True freshman tailback James Robinson was also impressive, as he averaged 5.3 yards per carry and took a shovel pass 33 yards for his first career touchdown. Redshirt freshman DeMarco Corbin scored twice from short yardage, and Kolbe added a six-yard run to solidify the impressive and balanced rushing attack.

DEFENSE TURNS TAKEAWAYS INTO POINTS
Sometimes a team's defense is its best offense, and that certainly could have been the case for Illinois State in its 50-13 win over Valparaiso in the season opener Saturday night at Hancock Stadium. The Redbirds turned three turnovers into 17 points on the scoreboard, with the first turnover directly resulting in points when linebacker Alejandro Rivera returned an interception 27 yards for the first score of the game.  The second Redbird turnover, a sack/fumble by B.J. Bello that was recovered by DraShane Glass, led to a DeMarco Corbin three-yard touchdown two plays later. The team's final turnover of the day, an interception by Glass, led to a Sean Slattery field goal as time expired before halftime to give the Redbirds a 34-10 advantage at the break.

STELLAR DEBUT
When head coach Brock Spack signed the all-time leading rusher in the history of Illinois high school football, many wondered if James Robinson would find his way into the lineup immediately or wait a year as a redshirt.  After a strong showing during fall camp, it became clear to the coaches that he could help the team this year, and he suited up for his first game last weekend against Valparaiso. Based on his results, the future looks bright as Robinson averaged 5.3 yards per carry on seven attempts and also took a swing pass 33 yards untouched for his first career touchdown in his Redbird debut.

GOING FOR A THREE-PEAT
When the Redbirds won a share of the Missouri Valley Football Conference championship for the second year in row in 2015, they set a new benchmark for the program.  A chance for a third-straight league championship in 2016 would only build on that record-setting achievement, but so would a third-straight trip to the FCS playoff. Twice in school history (1998-99, 2014-15), ISU has made back-to-back trips to the FCS playoffs, but the program has never advanced to the postseason in three-straight years, something the Redbirds have a legitimate chance to do this season.

A FORTIFIED FRONT
The old cliché states that football games are won and lost in the trenches, and if you believe that kind of thing' it could be a great year for the Redbird offensive, with all five senior offensive lineman returning to start as a unit for the second season in a row. The group, comprised of Dan Pawlak, Kyle Avaloy, Mark Spelman, Cameron Lee and Ryan Gelber started for the first time together in the 2015 opener at Iowa and did not miss a game as a group in 2015 on the way to a second-straight share of the MVFC title. Having all five starters back up front will surely be a comfort for new starting quarterback Jake Kolbe and a stable of running backs led by Jamal Towns, which will have to replace the gaudy numbers put up the past couple of seasons by First-Team All-MVFC selections Tre Roberson and Marshaun Coprich.

PROTECTING THE NEST
Opposing teams coming to Hancock Stadium have not felt very welcome in the past seven seasons, as Redbird teams led by head coach Brock Spack have not been very accommodating in the win column to visitors. ISU is a combined 37-7 at home during Spack's tenure and the Redbirds have won 20 out of its 21 games at Hancock Stadium since the renovation of the facility in 2013. 

O CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN
Being voted a captain by your peers is perhaps one of the best shows of respect a collegiate football player can receive.  At the conclusion of fall camp, the Redbirds selected senior center Mark Spelman, junior safety Alec Kocour and sophomore special teams standout and defensive back Cole Bumpus as their captains for the 2016 season.  They will be joined each game by another senior voted on each week by the coaching staff.

REDBIRDS FLYING HIGH IN NATIONAL POLLS
Despite some key losses due to graduation and a tough Missouri Valley Football Conference schedule on the docket, media, coaches and FCS pundits still believe in the Redbirds and their chance at success in 2016.  Illinois State is ranked No. 9 in the FCS Coaches Poll and comes in at No. 10 in both the HERO Sports FCS Top 25 and the STATS FCS Top 25 polls.