Big Road Game At Youngstown State Awaits The Redbirds

THE RUNDOWN
Date: Oct. 28, 2017
Time: 1 p.m. CT
Site: Youngstown State
Stadium: Stambaugh Stadium (20,630)
Series: Tied 13-13
Streak: YSU won 1
Last: YSU won 20-6 at ISU on Oct. 8, 2016
Listen: WJBC AM 1230 / 93.7 FM
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Watch: ESPN3

THE GAME
Illinois State got back to its early-season success last weekend, snapping a two-game road losing skid with a big win over No. 4 South Dakota last Saturday. The Redbirds return back to the road for another tough Valley Football test, when they head to Youngstown to battle the nationally-ranked Penguins in another crucial conference test.

THE SERIES
Illinois State and Youngstown State meet for the 27th time, with the all-time series tied at 13-13. From 2008-14, the teams each won on their home fields to keep the series locked before the Redbirds took a one-game lead in the series with a 31-29 win at YSU in 2015. However, the Penguins knotted the series again with win of their own last season over the Redbirds at ISU.

PLAYERS TO WATCH
Illinois State: Spencer Schnell, WR, Jr.
Schnell had a career day in Illinois State's big Homecoming win over the No. 4 ranked Coyotes. He set a career-high with 191 yards receiving on just seven receptions and scored the game's first two touchdowns. That performance earned him MVFC Offensive Player of the Week honors for the first time in his career at Illinois State.

Youngstown State: Tevin McCaster, RB, Jr.
Junior running back Tevin McCaster has been a force in the backfield for the Penguins in 2017. He recorded back-to-back 100-yard efforts in wins over Central Connecticut State and No. 4 South Dakota State (183 yds.) and recently scored four touchdowns in a loss at No. 6 South Dakota. On the season, he's rushed for 624  yards and nine touchdowns for YSU.

THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT
>>> Youngstown State University is located in Youngstown, Ohio, and has an enrollment of 12,801 students. The Penguins are members of the Missouri Valley Football Conference and play their home games at Stambaugh Stadium (20,630).
>>> The Penguins jumped out to a 3-1 start to the season, including a win over No. 4 South Dakota State. However, YSU has struggled since that time dropping its last three contests including a hard-fought 27-24 loss in overtime to No. 2 North Dakota State. The Penguins have lost those three games by just 11 points total.
>>> Despite the losing skid, the Penguins have remained ranked in both national top 25 polls. YSU hung on to the No. 19 spot in the FCS Coaches Poll this week, and dropped to No. 21 in the STATS FCS Top 25.  The Valley continues to have seven teams ranked in the coaches poll, and the MVFC has eight teams in the Top 20 of the Sagarin rankings, including all but one (James Madison is No. 2) of the Top 7 teams.
>>> Junior tailback Tevin McCaster scored a touchdown in each of the Penguins' first six games of the season, but was shut out last week in the 19-14 loss at UNI.  McCaster, who had four scores at South Dakota on Oct. 7, scored on a one-yard run with 1:23 left in regulation to help the Penguins force overtime vs. NDSU.

THE LAST TIMe THEY MET (OCT. 8, 2016)
Illinois State suffered its fourth-straight loss in a defensive battle with Youngstown State, as the Penguins defeated the Redbirds, 20-6, in front of 12,570 fans on homecoming at Hancock Stadium. The Illinois State offense accumulated just 250 yards of total offense. With the absence of George Moreira due to injury, true freshman James Robinson stepped up and rushed for a career-best 103 yards on 14 carries, highlighted by a career-long 43-yard dash in the third quarter that eventually resulted in a field goal. 17 fourth-quarter points scored by the Penguins allowed them to pull away from the Redbirds to secure the victory.

REDBIRD TRIO WIN WEEKLY VALLEY HONORS
Spencer Schnell, Sean Slattery and Dean Helt each had standout performances in Illinois State's big Homecoming win over No. 4 South Dakota. Their efforts each earned each of them MVFC Player of the Week honors. Schnell set a career-high with 191 yards receiving on just seven receptions and scored the game's first two touchdowns to win Offensive Player of the Week plaudits. For the third time this season, Slattery made three field goals and finished the game with 13 total points for the Redbirds in the win over the Coyotes to earn Special Teams Player of the Week honors for the second time this year. Lastly, Helt graded out at 88 percent and was credited with five knockdowns, while not allowing a sack to pick up the Offensive Lineman of the Week award.
 
RE-ESTABLISHING THE RUNNING GAME
Through the first three games of the season, the Illinois State running attack rushed for over 150 yards or more and scored at least three touchdowns in three victories. However, the Redbirds found that success hard to maintain, as they could not crack the 150-yard mark in the next three contests and did not have a rushing touchdown. Against No. 4 South Dakota, Illinois State was able to re-establish its running game and amassed a season-high 331 yards on the ground. ISU is now 4-0 this season when rushing for over 150 yards and just 1-2 when falling below that mark.
 
TIMELY TURNOVERS
South Dakota quarterback Chris Streveler had totaled 25 touchdowns, 187 pass attempts and 98 carries without committing a turnover heading into Saturday's game against Illinois State. However, the Redbird defense was finally able to get the Coyotes' standout signal caller to turn the ball over for the first two times this season. Senior safety Alec Kocour out-leaped a USD receiver late in the first quarter to record the first interception of the season off Streveler and the fifth of his career at ISU. Fellow senior Davontae Harris added the second interception of the day and iced the Redbird victory with an interception late in the fourth quarter, his second of the season.
 
ROBINSON RUNS WILD
The Redbirds struggled running the ball the past few weeks, but James Robinson put an end to that rushing drought in ISU's 37-21 win over No. 4 South Dakota. The sophomore tailback from Rockford, Illinois, was held to just 39 yards on the ground at the half, but exploded for 154 yards in the second half to help the Redbirds rush for a season-best 331 yards as a team. Robinson broke free for a 47-yarder on ISU's first possession of the second half and later added a 14-yard touchdown run late in the quarter for his first score of the game. He then sealed the game with career-long 87-yard touchdown run with 5:42 left in the contest to cap off a career-best 193-yard rushing effort against the Coyotes.

RANKING THE WINS
Illinois State's Homecoming win over No. 4 South Dakota was the Redbirds' highest ranked win since their 2014 National Championship run. Illinois State topped then-ranked No. 1 New Hampshire, 21-18 in Durham, New Hampshire. Additionally, Saturday's victory was the first ranked win of the 2017 campaign and the first win over a ranked opponent since Nov. 5, 2016 when ISU topped No. 11 Western Illinois, 31-26 on the road. 

A WELCOME HOMECOMING
After a pair of tough road losses and games away from home in four of the five previous weeks, the Redbirds welcomed a return home to face nationally-ranked South Dakota for Homecoming 2017. An impassioned pregame speech from former captain Dontae McCoy and a raucous crowd fired up the Redbirds, who dominated in the second half to come away with a 37-21 win over the Coyotes. Over the past nine seasons, the Redbirds have had a lot of success on Homecoming with a 7-2 in that time under the leadership of Brock Spack. Those seven wins are part of a streak of 14 wins in the last 20 Homecoming games played dating back to 1998.

KEENE CONTINUES TO IMPRESS
Facing high-powered offenses seems to get senior defensive lineman Dalton Keene fired up to play. Keene recorded a season-high 10 tackles, recorded a sack on NAU star quarterback Case Cookus, and finished the game with a career-high three tackles-for-loss against the high-powered Lumberjacks. He then followed that up with seven tackles and two sacks against previously undefeated South Dakota and standout quarterback Chris Streveler. He now leads the Redbirds with five sacks and 9.5 tackles for loss on the season.

POINTS KEEP COMING FOR SLATTERY
For the third time this season, senior placekicker Sean Slattery made three field goals and finished the game with 13 total points for the Redbirds in the win over South Dakota. Slattery connected from 47 yards just before halftime to give ISU a three-point lead at the break and then added a 33-yarder in the fourth quarter to extend the lead to six points at 27-21. He later iced the game with his second make from 40-plus, a 45-yarder that capped the scoring at 37-21.  Slattery is now 13-for-15 on field goal attempts this season and he is a perfect 6-for-6 from 40 yards or more. He ranks No. 2 in the FCS in field goals per game (1.86), No. 7 in scoring (8.9 ppg) and No. 10 in field goal percentage (.867).

RUNNING THE GAUNTLET
The Redbirds hold a 5-2 overall record and a 3-1 mark in Valley Football play midway through the season, however the remainder of their schedule will be one of the toughest in the country to end the season. Beginning with Redbirds' game against No. 4 South Dakota, ISU will face five-straight teams that are ranked in the FCS polls. Four of those five teams (South Dakota, Western Illinois, South Dakota State and North Dakota State) are ranked in the top 15 in both polls. ISU will face No. 19/21 Youngstown State this weekend on the road, before hosting No. 12/14 Western Illinois on Nov. 4.  A trip to No. 8/11 South Dakota State will be followed by the regular season finale at Hancock Stadium on Nov. 18 against No. 2 North Dakota State.