Sept. 19, 2008
| ILLINOIS STATE (1-1) VS. EASTERN ILLINOIS (1-2) | NORMAL, ILL. |
| Date |
Saturday, Sept. 20 |
Location
|
Normal, Ill. |
Kickoff
|
6:30 p.m. CST |
Stadium
|
Hancock Stadium |
Stadium Capacity
|
15,000 |
| Radio |
WJBC (Dick Luedke - Play-by-Play | Ted Schmitz - color commentary) |
| Webcast |
Redbird All-Access |
Game Sponsor
|
Bank of Illinois |
Promotions
|
CommUniversity; fireworks at halftime; Family Packs are $20 (2 youth GA, 2 Adult GA): 80's-cover band "Hairbangers Ball" pregame in the East Lot at 4:00pm.
|
PLAYER TO WATCH
Junior fullback Garin Harcar has had some luck as a receiver out of the backfield against Eastern Illinois. In Harcar's two previous games against EIU, he has five catches for 53 yards and a touchdown. Harcar has 24 career receptions with over 20 percent of his catches coming against EIU. His 22-yard catch against the Panthers last season was the longest of his career. This season, he has three catches for 28 yards.
THE GAME
Illinois State will finally play a home game Saturday. After two road games sandwiched around a bye week, the Redbirds will play in Hancock Stadium for the first time in 2008. The last time the Redbirds began their home schedule this late in the season was in 2001. ISU hosted Southeast Missouri State Sept. 22 that year, but were supposed to have its first home game a week earlier (Sept. 15) against Eastern Illinois. That game was cancelled due to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
THE SERIES
Tonight's game renews the oldest football rivalry in the State of Illinois and the 13th-oldest at the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level. ISU and EIU have played 96 times, with the first game being played in 1901. ISU has won six-straight games against the Panthers and leads the series, 50-37-9.
THE COACHES
Illinois State: Denver Johnson (Tulsa, 1981) is 67-59 (.532) in his 12th season as a head coach, and 46-47 (.495) in his ninth season with the Redbirds. At Illinois State, Johnson is 26-28 against the Missouri Valley Football Conference, 20-19 versus non-conference opponents, 28-17 at home, 18-30 on the road, 1-1 in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) Playoffs, 13-25 versus ranked opponents, 27-10 against the Ohio Valley Conference and 10-1 against Eastern Illinois.
Eastern Illinois: Bob Spoo (Purdue, 1960) is in his 21st season at Eastern Illinois, his only head coaching position, and has compiled a 128-104-1 (.549) career record. He is 8-9-1 against Illinois State.
THE PROGRAM
Illinois State was home to the Missouri Valley Football Conference's Defensive Player of the Year each season from 2002-06.
The Redbirds had at least one player selected in the NFL Draft each year from 2005-07.
In each of the past three years, ISU student-athletes have contributed more than 2,000 hours of community service to the Bloomington-Normal area.
Redbird student-athletes posted a school-record 3.05 cumulative grade-point average (GPA) during the fall 2007 semester.
THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT
Eastern Illinois is located in Charleston, Ill., and has an enrollment of 12,129. The Panthers are members of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC).
The Panthers return 11 starters, with six on defense and five on offense.
Eastern Illinois was picked to finish third in the 2008 OVC Preseason Poll. The Panthers placed four student-athletes on the all-conference preseason team, including three defensive selections in Pierre Walters (DL), Rashad Haynes (DB) and Ke'Andre Sams (DB). Offensive guard Chaz Millard also earned preseason All-OVC honors.
The preseason all-conference attention on Haynes and Sams appears warranted for the EIU secondary, as the Panthers rank No. 17 nationally in pass defense with 144.3 yards allowed per game.
The EIU run defense hasn't been as dominant, ranking No. 100 nationally with 249 yards allowed per game on the ground.
TIES WITH THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT
Illinois State enters Saturday's game with the top punt-return average in all of FCS football with 27.75 yards per return, while Eastern Illinois, which is averaging 18-yards per punt return, ranks No. 14.
Eastern Illinois assistant coach Forrest Jackson (linebackers) lettered at Illinois State in 1998 before transferring to West Georgia. He was the last Redbird to start on the ISU defense as a true freshman, before senior Tom Nelson duplicated the effort in 2005.
Former ISU basketball star Chad Altadonna is an assistant coach for the EIU men's basketball team, while Mary Wallace, EIU's assistant athletics director/senior Secondary coach Bobby Babich, who is in his second season on the sidelines for the Panthers, was a four-year letterwinner with one of the Valley Football Conference's newest members, North Dakota State.
EIU's Trent Steckel and ISU starting quarterback Kevin Brockway played high school football together at Crystal Lake South High School in Crystal Lake, Ill.
As in recent history, the Fort Lauderdale, Fla., area will be well represented in the EIU-ISU matchup. Illinois State's Kelvin Chandler (Dillard HS) is one of 10 players who will be on the field tonight from that area. Joining Chandler will be the Panthers' Travorus Bess (Plantation HS), Seymour Loftman (American Heritage), Charles James (Northeast HS), Norris Smith (Ely HS), Irvin Jean-Charles (Northeast HS), Sean Campbell (South Plantation HS), William Hodor (Hallandale Beach HS), Lorence Ricks (Fort Lauderdale HS) and Andre Lima (Northeast High School).
The Twin Cities will also be well represented in tonight's game. The Panthers' Adrian Arrington played with the Redbirds' Brent Holtz at Bloomington High School.
DOWNING THE OVC
As of late, the Redbirds have been "naughty by nature" when facing members of the Ohio Valley Conference. Illinois State has won 10-straight games against members of the OVC, including five-straight wins against Murray State and six-straight versus Eastern Illinois, next week's opponent.
BLOW(N) AWAY
The Missouri Valley Football Conference office was so blown away with Geno Blow's performance at Murray State, he was named the league's offensive player of the week. Blow led the Illinois State rushing attack, which collectively scored five touchdowns and ran for 235 yards. Blow finished the game with 98 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 20 carries.
TAKING 20, AND THEN ANOTHER 10
Football is certainly a team sport, and for senior quarterback Kevin Brockway, this mantra has been exemplified in both of the Redbirds' games this season. The first-year starting quarterback took a helmet to the chin on the Redbirds' second offensive play in ISU's season-opener at Marshall Aug. 30. The deep gash required 20-plus stitches (internal and external) to repair. In Illinois State's next game, a 42-23 win over Murray State (Sept. 13), Brockway once again took one for the team, this time 10-plus stitches to repair the same original cut on his chin.
A REPLACEMENT FOR REGGIE?
Illinois State's mascot, Reggie Redbird, is a lovable icon for the athletics department and there definitely is not a push to eliminate him. However, if things go well on the field this season, the Redbird football team might push for a new mascot, or even a new nickname, at the end of the year. During ISU's training camp, a red fox resided at Hancock Stadium. The last time a red fox was seen around the Redbird camp was in 2006, a year in which ISU posted a 9-4 record and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division I FCS Playoffs.
THE FIRST OF MANY
The Illinois State football team will have its first chance and what appears to be many in 2008 - to knock off a ranked opponent. Eastern Illinois enters Saturday's game ranked No. 20, and EIU is one of seven Redbird opponents in 2008 currently ranked. ISU has posted at least one victory over a ranked foe in 10 of the last 11 seasons.
TEN TALES OF A 108-YEAR-OLD RIVALRY
Oct. 27, 1906 - Illinois State's six-hour bus drive to Charleston, Ill., only Nov. 3, 1915 - Both teams fumbled inside each other's 10-yard line in this 0-0 game played at EIU.
Nov. 11, 1916 - EIU visits Normal, Ill., for the first ever Homecoming game on Illinois State's campus. ISU scored its only points on a 45-yard blocked punt by Ritter in a 24-7 loss.
Nov. 5, 1921 - ISU rolls to a 42-3 victory in its Homecoming game, which was the first of the annual tradition, as five different ISU players scored a touchdown (Brown, Stewart, Clark, Jensen, Frkyman).
Nov. 14, 1959 - Illinois State linemen wear gloves for the first time on a snowy, icy day, as Dave Babcock scores the only Illinois State touchdown in a 6-6 tie.
Sept. 30, 1961 - Illinois State's Keith Reiger's touchdown pass to Bill Monken "probably set an IIAC record for the shortest TD pass: 18 inches" in the Redbirds' 18-0 win.
Sept. 29, 1962 - Paul Whitmore's 91-yard punt return remains the longest in Illinois State history and it was the only score in this 6-0 Redbird victory.
Oct. 10, 1981 - ISU reserve Andy Fladung comes off the bench to intercept a school-record four passes in the Redbirds' 25-3 win.
Sept. 16, 2006 - First time in the history of the Illinois State-Eastern Illinois series where both teams are nationally ranked. Redbirds enter game No. 7 and Panthers are No. 18. ISU trailed, 10-0, after the first quarter, but a 23-point second quarter put the 'Birds in control of a 44-30 win. Pierre Jackson had a career-high 132 receiving yards on six catches.
Nov. 25, 2006 - Two months after facing each other in the regular season, ISU and EIU meet each other in the first round of the 2006 NCAA Division I FCS Playoffs. ISU's Jason Tate (41 yards) and Jesse Caesar (45 yards) each return interceptions for touchdowns in the 24-13 Redbird win.
IT'S AN ISU FOOTBALL COACH'S BEST FRIEND
It could be said with a fair degree of certainty that home-openers are head coach Denver Johnson's favorite games, at least when it comes to his won-loss record in those contests. In the Johnson-era (2000-present), ISU is 6-2 in home-openers, including a string of five-straight wins from 2002-06. That winning streak was snapped, however, last season by Drake when it upset the Redbirds, 27-24.
THAT'S A WINNER!
While it may have been the famous tag line of the late St. Louis Cardinals' broadcaster Jack Buck, for the Illinois State football team under head coach Denver Johnson, it speaks volumes to the Redbirds' success against non-conference opponents from non-Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) schools. Under Johnson, Illinois State is 19-7 in non-conference games against non-FBS schools, dating back to the 2000 season. That impressive record includes a 7-1 mark against Saturday's opponent, Eastern Illinois.
ALL-AMERICAN U.
ISU has produced at least one All-American player in 22 of the last 25 seasons. Over the last eight seasons, 30 players from 12 different positions have been honored. Kye Stewart was an All-America selection in 2007.
THE THREE DEGREES OF ST-PIERRE
While Jonathan St-Pierre is in his third season with the Redbirds, he has already walked across the stage to receive two degrees, a bachelor's in economics from Illinois State and a bachelor's degree in business administration from Miami (Fla.). The Longueuil, Quebec, Canada, native is on pace to finish with three degrees by the time he leaves ISU in 2009. He is currently working on his master's degree in economics and is on target to have it completed in May 2009. In addition to three degrees, St-Pierre was also selected in the second round of the 2008 Canadian Football League Draft by the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
MISSOURI VALLEY FOOTBALL CONFERENCE - NEW NAME, SAME GAME
Not only has the Illinois State football team undergone several changes this season, with new personnel in key positions, but so has the conference that the Redbirds play in. The Missouri Valley Football Conference replaces the former Gateway Football Conference with a new name, but it's still the same game. The league, which has sponsored football since 1985, also welcomed two new members to its fold July 1, as North Dakota State and South Dakota State now compete as part of the revamped nine-member Valley Football Conference.
ABOUT THE OFFENSE
Under head coach Denver Johnson, Illinois State has produced the single-season record holder in both rushing and receiving, along with the No. 1 career receiver, the No. 2 career passer and the No. 2 career rusher.
Illinois State has scored at least one touchdown in every game dating back to Under Johnson, ISU has rushed for at least 200 yards 39 times, including 25 times since 2003.
During the same time, the Redbird offense has totaled 21 games with 500 or more yards of total offense and 15 games with 300 or more passing yards.
 ISU's 2007 team missed perfect offensive balance by just 43 yards (2,237 passing and 2,194 rushing).
CINCO OUCHO
Chad Johnson might not be able to wear the "Cinco Ocho" name in the NFL, but the Illinois State football team made its five rushing touchdowns hurt Sept. 13 at Murray State. Running backs Geno Blow (two), Parrish Fisher (two) and Walter Mendenhall (one) accounted for the five scoring runs on the ground. It was the most rushing touchdowns by the Redbirds in a single game since Illinois State ran for seven against Indiana State last season.
RUN, BABY, RUN!
For the first time since a 69-17 victory over Indiana State Oct. 13, 2007, Illinois State had three different running backs score in its 42-23 win over Murray State Sept. 13. Against the Racers, running backs Parrish Fisher and Geno Blow each ran the ball into the end zone twice, while senior transfer Walter Mendenhall scored his first-career touchdown for the Redbirds late in the fourth quarter with a 10-yard scamper into the end zone.
FOUR QUARTERS EQUAL A FULL GAME OF OFFENSE
Scoring came in droves in Illinois State's 42-13 victory over Murray State Sept. 13. The Redbirds scored in all four quarters, including a dominant 21-point fourth quarter. Not since its 69-17 Homecoming thumping of Indiana State Oct. 13, 2007, at Hancock Stadium has the Illinois State offense been so successful with scoring opportunities.
SAVING THE BEST FOR LAST
Scoring 21 points in any quarter is not exactly an easy feat, let alone putting up that many points in the last quarter of a game. But despite the odds, Illinois State's offense still managed to look dominant against Murray State Sept. 13, as the Redbirds scored 21 fourth-quarter points for the first time since they put up 21 in the final 15 minutes of the game against Indiana State Nov. 9, 2006. The Redbirds also had a 20-point fourth quarter in a 69-17 victory over the Sycamores Oct. 13, 2007.
SALEM'S LOT
The football seems to be gravitating toward junior wide receiver Eyad Salem. He has led the Redbirds in receiving in each of the first two games. In his last five games for the Redbirds, dating back to last season, he has recorded 30 catches for 421 yards, while scoring four touchdowns.
ROURKE IS ON THE MONEY
Jake Rourke equaled his career-best with three catches at Murray State, but for the senior wide receiver, it has always been about quality, not quantity. Of Rourke's three catches, two resulted in a first down. That's kind of the trend throughout his Illinois State career. For his career, Rourke has 33 career catches, 23 of which were "money" catches, or first-down grabs.
ABOUT THE DEFENSE
Illinois State returns eight starters from a defense that ranked No. 102 last season nationally among 116 teams. The Redbirds allowed 427.9 yards per game, including 230.1 yards per game rushing. The ISU rushing defense ranked No. 110 nationally.
Assistant coach David Ross enters his first season as the defensive coordinator at Illinois State and his third with the Redbird staff.
In the Denver Johnson-era, the Redbird defense has held its opponent without a touchdown seven times, but only once in the last two seasons.
PAPER OR PLASTIC, IT DOESN'T MATTER
After the defense was shut out on quarterback sacks in the season-opener at Marshall, the Redbirds responded at Murray State. The ISU defense finished with three quarterback sacks, including solo efforts by Eric Brunner and Brandon Wilson and half-sacks by Doni Phelps and Tommie Westbrook.
DEFENSE DRAWS THE LINE
While it may have been the bane of the Illinois State football team last season, this year, the Redbird defensive unit has been anything but subpar. The ISU defense showed that it has started to make a comeback in a big way against Murray State Sept. 13. In the Redbirds' 42-13 victory over the Racers, the Redbird defense recorded 11.0 tackles-for-loss, with defensive lineman Mike Piton and cornerback Jason Tate leading the way with two TFLs apiece. Illinois State's 11.0 TFLs against Murray State marks the most it has had in a game since the Redbird defense took down Central Arkansas behind the line of scrimmage a total of 13 times in an 18-3 victory over the Bears.
LITTLE MAN TATE
The tackles-for-loss category is typically dominated by the big defensive linemen up front, or by the linebackers. However, after collecting two more at Murray State, Illinois State's TFL leader is 5-foot-11, 175-pound defensive back Jason Tate. Not only does Tate lead the Redbirds with three tackles-for-loss for minus-11 yards, but he ranks tied for No. 38 nationally in the category.
GIVING THE OPPONENT A HARD DOSE OF THE THIRD-DEGREE
Opposing offenses have practically been having their Miranda Rights read by the Illinois State defense in the first two games of the season. The Redbird defense has allowed only four first downs in 24 third-down situations. The 17-percent success rate has Illinois State ranked No. 2 nationally in the FCS in third-down conversion defense. Only Prairie View A&M is having more success defensively at 9.5 percent.
THE BUCK STOPS HERE
The Buck Buchanan Award is presented annually by The Sports Network to the nation's best NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) defensive player. When acquiring a list of potential candidates, or a watch list, Illinois State is as good of place to start as any. Since 2002, the Redbirds have had one player finish in the top-five of the Buck Buchanan Award voting in each season. Even though Illinois State hasn't been able to claim the top honor, a Redbird has finished second twice and third twice. Here is a list of ISU's Buck Buchanan Award finalists:
2002 - Boomer Grigsby (LB) - Third
2003 - Boomer Grigsby (LB) - Second
2004 - Boomer Grigsby (LB) - Third
2005 - Brent Hawkins (DE) - Second; Cameron Siskowic (LB) - 13th
2006 - Cameron Siskowic (LB) - Fifth
2007 - Kye Stewart (LB) - Fourth
WHO'S GOT NEXT?
For the last six seasons, the Missouri Valley Football Conference's top tackler has worn an Illinois State uniform. Three-time league defensive player of the year Boomer Grigsby set the stage by leading the conference in stops in 2002, 2003 and 2004. Former Redbird linebacker Cameron Siskowic followed suit with back-to-back tackle titles in 2005 and 2006, and Kye Stewart led the league last season with 131 stops. Kelvyn Hemphill hands been the odds-on-favorite after posting back-to-back career-tackle highs in the first two games of 2008. Hemphill collected 11 tackles at Marshall and followed it up with a 17-stop performance two weeks later at Murray State.
ABOUT THE SPECIAL TEAMS
Under head coach Denver Johnson, Illinois State has scored four touchdowns on special teams, with two punt returns, including Tom Nelson's 82-yard return this season at Murray State, and one each via blocked punt and kickoff return. The Redbirds also have one extra-point return during that time.
The Redbirds have blocked 23 kicks since 2000.
SEE YA!
Senior safety Tom Nelson must have been saying that from the time he caught the ball at ISU's own 18-yard line, early in the second quarter, until he ran the ball into the end zone for a touchdown 82 yards later. Nelson's punt return for a touchdown was Illinois State's first punt-return touchdown since Joe Walkins ran in a 52-yard punt return for a touchdown against Youngstown State Oct. 23, 2004. Nelson's punt return also marked the fourth-longest in Illinois State history and the second-longest to be returned for a touchdown.
RETURNING TO HIS ROOTS
If senior safety Tom Nelson wasn't dodging defenders on a football field, he would make a great long-distance sprinter on the track. That's how successful the Arlington Heights, Ill., native has been at returning a football on both punt and kickoff returns. The ISU record-holder in career kick return yards (1305) displayed his speed and guile against Murray State Sept. 13 to the tune of 178 total return yards (76 KR; 102 PR), including an 82-yard punt return for a touchdown in the second quarter. Nelson's total return yards marked the most by a Redbird since Joe Walkins had 147 total return yards (87 KR; 60 PR) in a 41-14 loss to then-No. 1 Southern Illinois Nov. 6, 2004.
A TWO-HEADED KICKING MONSTER
It's atypical, but after two games, it working. After the first two games of the season, the Redbirds are perfect in their kicking game, splitting the uprights on all of their extra-point (seven) and field-goal (one) tries. However, it was the work of two kickers, not just one. Sophomore Steven Fetzer is handling the majority of the extra-point duties, while newcomer Zach Kutch, a transfer from Auburn, is serving as the field-goal kicker. Kutch has also added one PAT.
LOWERING THE BOOM
After Illinois State's second-straight stalled offensive drive in the third quarter at Murray State, Bobby Kelsey gave the Redbirds a "leg-up" in the field position race - literally. With Kelsey standing on ISU's goal line and the ball snapped from the Redbird 14-yard line, the senior punter boomed the longest punt of his career, as the ball rolled out-of-bounds at the Murray State 9-yard line. The kick totaled 77 yards, 17 yards longer than his previous career-best.
2-FOR-2
Entering Saturday's game against Eastern Illinois, the Redbirds, thanks to senior Tom Nelson, rank No. 2 nationally in the FCS in punt return average. The Redbirds, and Nelson, are averaging 27.75 yards per game. Since Nelson has accounted for all of ISU's punt returns, the Redbird senior also ranks No. 2 individually in punt returns.
KELSEY GETS HIS KICKS
Illinois State's Bobby Kelsey is in his final season with the Redbirds. Kelsey started his ISU career as a field-goal kicker, but has evolved into one of the conference's top punters, and he handles the kickoff duties as well.
>Kelsey ranks No. 5 in school history with a 39.53 career punting average.
He has accumulated 4,022 yards on 102 punts during his career, including 77 yards on one punt earlier this season at Murray State, his career long.
Last season, the Redbirds ranked No. 23 nationally in kickoff return defense. ISU allowed 18.38 yards per return on Kelsey's 59 kickoffs in 2007.
Not only does Kelsey pin the opponent with his kickoffs, he's also willing to go downfield and make the tackle. Kelsey has posted 24 tackles as a Redbird, including 16 solo stops.
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