PLAYER TO WATCH
Sophomore linebacker Josh Howe has asserted himself as a force on the Redbird defense with his performances in the team's last two wins over Indiana State and Missouri State. The Chicago Heights, Ill., native has racked up 17 tackles in the last two games, including a career-high nine stops last weekend at Missouri State. On the season, Howe has recorded 23 tackles, with 12 solo stops, 3.5 tackles-for-loss and a sack in his second season in a Redbird uniform.
THE GAME
Winners of two straight games, Illinois State returns home for an in-state showdown with Western Illinois Saturday at Hancock Stadium. The Redbirds are coming off an impressive 24-14 road win at Missouri State last Saturday, where they held the Bears to just 31 yards rushing. The Leathernecks have lost their last seven games, including a 14-7 loss Saturday against North Dakota State at home.
THE SERIES
Western Illinois leads the all-time series 49-38-3 and have won the last two meetings between the two schools. The Leathernecks have dominated the series of late, winning seven out of the last eight meetings overall. ISU last beat WIU in 2006 (27-14) and has not defeated WIU at home since 1999.
THE COACHES
Illinois State: Brock Spack (Purdue, 1983) is in his first season as the head coach of the Illinois State Redbirds (4-4). Prior to taking over the program at ISU, Spack spent 12 seasons as the defensive coordinator at Purdue, where he guided the Boilermakers to the top-ranked defense in the Big Ten Conference in 2002 and the 13th-best defense in the nation in 2003. He coached in 11 bowl games while at Purdue, including a Rose Bowl appearance in 2001.
Western Illinois: Mark Hendrickson (Northern Iowa, 1980) is 0-5 in 2009 since taking over as the active head coach. He served in the same capacity for the first seven games of the 2008 season while head coach Don Patterson received treatments for tonsillar cancer and led the Leathernecks to a 5-2 record and a No. 12 national ranking.
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 four 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 3.13 cumulative grade-point average (GPA) during the spring 2009 semester.
THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT
- Western Illinois University is located in Macomb, Ill., and has an enrollment of 13,331. The Leathernecks compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and are members of the Missouri Valley Football Conference.
- The Leathernecks return 32 lettermen and 12 starters from last year's team that posted a 6-5 overall record and a 4-4 mark in MVFC play (T-4th).
- Western Illinois is led on offense by senior running back Dre Gibbs. Gibbs, a native of Lawrenceville, Ga., has rushed for 895 yards on 198 carries and has scored five touchdowns for the Leathernecks.
- On defense, junior linebacker Kyle Glazier leads the way with 83 tackles and 6.0 tackles-for-loss on the season. The Geneseo, Ill., native has also added two sacks and two interceptions on the season.
- The Leathernecks have lost seven straight games, after winning their season opener at Sam Houston State 35-28. Last weekend, wide receiver Lito Senatus scored Western's only touchdown of the game at the 11:13 mark of the fourth quarter, but a late North Dakota State gave the Bison a 14-7 win on the road and dropped the Leathernecks to 1-7 overall and 0-5 in the MVFC.
TIES WITH THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT
- Western Illinois President Dr. Al Goldfarb arrived in Macomb via Normal. Prior to taking office as WIU's 10th president in July 2002, Goldfarb served as an administrator at Illinois State for 25 years. From 1998-2002, Goldfarb was ISU's provost and academic vice president.
- Today's game will feature a pair of Chris Riley's, one from each team, in fact. Illinois State's Chris Riley hails from Wadsworth, Ill., and is an offensive lineman, while Western Illinois' Chris Riley* is a native of Waukegan, Ill., and is a defensive lineman.
- Western Illinois' Ryan Waldron is from Bloomington, Ill., and attended Central Catholic High School.
- Illinois State assistant coach Jim Williams (1998-2000) and WIU running backs coach Thad Ward (2005) both coached at Independence Community College as assistant coaches.
- Illinois State defensive lineman Tom Speer is a native of Macomb, Ill.
- Western Illinois Interim Director of Media Services Katie Kane arrived in Macomb via Illinois State as well, where she completed her bachelor of science degree in communication studies. During her senior year at Illinois State, Kane served as a student intern in the athletics media relations office as the primary contact for the women's golf team.
CLIFF'S NOTES
Sophomore running back Cliffton Gordon employed his physical running style to amass a career-high 122 yards on 30 carries to help Illinois State to a 24-14 win at Missouri State (Oct. 31). Both marks were new career highs for the Gordon, who just missed out on a 100-yard effort earlier this season against Austin Peay when he collected 96 yards on the ground.
STOPPING THE RUN
Illinois State has had a problem stopping the run all season and headed into last Saturday's game giving up 223 yards per game on the ground to its opponents. However, that all changed as the Redbirds held the Bears to just 31 yards on 28 carries in a 24-14 win in Springfield (Oct. 31). The 31 yards were the second fewest given up by the Redbirds defense, which held Austin Peay to just 14 yards on 32 carries in a 38-7 win at Hancock Stadium on Sept. 19.
LOOK WHAT I FOUND
With just 0.5 seconds left on the clock before the end of the first half at Missouri State (Oct. 31), Illinois State quarterback Matt Brown threw a pass deep into the end zone in hopes of giving his team a go-ahead score heading into the locker room. Much to his surprise and everyone in the stadium as well, that's exactly what happened as ISU tight end Brandon Venson stepped under the deflected pass to score the go-ahead touchdown and give ISU a 21-14 lead at the half. The touchdown reception was the first of Venson's career and the second of the game for Brown.
IT'S BEEN 10 YEARS ALREADY?
The 1999 season was the most successful in the history of the Illinois State football program. That team recorded a school-record 11 wins on way to the school's second playoff berth in two seasons. The Redbirds stormed through the regular season on way to a conference championship and advanced to the semifinals of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) playoffs. To honor that season, members of the team will be honored at halftime today at Hancock Stadium.
TRIPLE DIGITS
Sophomore running back Cliffton Gordon became the first Redbird to rush for over 100 yards this season when he racked up 122 yards on 30 carries in Illinois State's 24-14 road win at Missouri State (Oct. 31). The Chicago Heights, Ill., set new career highs for carries and yards in a game to help ISU to its largest team rushing output of the season (178 yards).
KUTCH IS CLUTCH
Senior placekicker Zach Kutch's 42-yard field goal with 6:38 remaining put the Redbirds up 24-14 and sealed the road win at Missouri State (Oct. 31). The field goal was Kutch's fourth make on the season from 40 yards or longer. The Milton, Fla., native is now 10-for-15 in field goals on the season and leads the Redbirds in scoring with 52 total points.
SENIOR LEADERSHIP
The Redbird defense was struggling to establish a consistent pass rush early in their game at Missouri State (Oct. 31). However, that all changed when senior defensive ends Doni Phelps and Bert Whigham revved the engine and sack MSU quarterback Cody Kirby four times in the fourth quarter to preserve the 24-14 victory. The pair of sacks set a new career high for Whigham, who also tied his career high of five tackles against the Bears.
BLEDSOE PAVES THE WAY
Sophomore guard Nick Bledsoe was instrumental in Illinois State racking up a season-high 178 yards rushing at Missouri State (Oct. 31). For his efforts, Bledsoe was named the Missouri Valley Football Conference Offensive Lineman of the Week by the league office. Bledsoe led the way for Illinois State's first 100-yard rusher of the season and graded out at 91 percent in Illinois State's win over Missouri State. The Wheeling, Ill., native was credited with a pancake block and two knockdowns against the Bears and paved the way for Cliffton Gordon's career-high 122 yards rushing.
GoRedbirds.com: Your online source for Illinois State Athletics, tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
