PLAYER TO WATCH
Senior placekicker Zach Kutch set a school and Missouri Valley Football Conference record with six field goals made in Illinois State's Family Day win over the Western Illinois last Saturday. The Milton, Fla., native broke the school record (4) and conference record (5) with those six field goals, which included a career-long 48-yarder in the second quarter. For his efforts Kutch was named the MVFC Special Teams Player of the Week and a FCS National All-Star by College Sporting News.
THE GAME
The Illinois State winning streak sits at three games as the Redbirds hit the road for the final time in 2009 to take on Youngstown State Saturday. The Redbirds are fresh off a 25-7 victory over in-state rival Western Illinois, the first win for ISU against WIU at home since 1999. In contrast, the Penguins are on a three-game losing streak after a 28-7 loss to No. 11 Northern Iowa at the UNI Dome Saturday.
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 (5-4). 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.
Youngstown State: Jon Heacock (Muskingum, 1983) is in his ninth season at the helm of the YSU football program (58-44). In his time as head coach, Heacock has twice been named the MVFC Bruce Craddock Coach of the Year (2005 & 2006) and has led the Penguins to two conference championships and a FCS Playoff appearance in 2006, where YSU beat ISU 28-21 in the second round to advance to the semifinals.
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
- Youngstown State University is located in Youngstown, Ohio, and has an enrollment of 13,712. The Penguins compete in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and are members of the Missouri Valley Football Conference.
- The Penguins return 43 lettermen and 16 starters from last year's squad that finished with an overall record of 4-8 with a 3-5 mark in MVFC play (T-6th).
- YSU features a solid passing offense led by senior quarterback Brandon Summers, who has throw for 1,724 yards and 12 touchdowns in nine games for the Penguins. Wide receivers Dominique Barnes (5), Donald Jones (4) and Aaron Pitts (2) have been Summers' favorite targets while running back Kevin Smith has controlled the running game with 558 yards and three touchdowns.
- The Penguins defense is led by sophomore transfer Sir Demarco Bledsoe, who has a team-high 57 tackles in just seven games played for YSU. Senior defensive tackle Mychal Savage has also wreaked havoc on opposing defenses with his team-high 3.5 sacks and 7.0 tackles-for-loss.
- Youngstown State is coming off a tough loss at No. 11 Northern Iowa. The Panthers rushed for 230 yards to hand the Penguins a 28-7 setback at the UNI Dome. The loss was the third in a row for YSU, who last won on October 10 at home against Western Illinois (31-21)
TIES WITH THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT
- Youngstown head coach Jon Heacock is brother of former Illinois State head coach, Jim Heacock. Jim Heacock coached the Redbirds from 1988-1995 with a record of 37-49-2.
- The Redbird roster boasts four Ohio natives: Pete Cary (Cincinnati/Turpin), Ben Graves (Columbus/Grandview Hieight/Middle Tennessee State), Jon Ingerman (Springfield/ Northeastern) and Otis Merrill (Cleveland/Glenville/Wisconsin). The Penguins' roster includes 61 players from Ohio.
- San Antonio, Texas, will be well represented in today's game. Illinois State's Brandon Wilson and Youngstown State's Jabari Scott were teammates at San Antonio's John Jay High School in 2002, before Scott transferred to Taft High School. Also on that Taft High School football team was YSU sophomore strong safety Nick Gooden. Also hailing from San Antonio, Texas, are the Redbirds' Kelvyn Hemphill (O'Connor) and Jermaine Malcolm (Holmes).
- Youngstown State Assistant Media Relations Director Jamie Hall worked as a graduate assistant in the Illinois State Athletics Media Relations Office in the mid-1990s. Hall received his master's degree from ISU in 1996.
KUTCH IS CLUTCH
ISU senior placekicker Zach Kutch set a school and Missouri Valley Football Conference record with six field goals made in Illinois State's 25-7 victory over Western Illinois (Nov. 7). The Milton, Fla., native broke the school record (4) and conference record (5) with those six field goals, which included a career-long 48-yarder in the second quarter. Three of Kutch's field goals were 40 yards or longer (48, 40, 45) and four out of the six were made in the third quarter. Kutch is currently ranked No. 3 nationally in field goals per game (1.78) and is tied for 25th in scoring (7.89 ppg).
IN ELITE COMPANY
Illinois State senior wide receiver Eyad Salem hauled in eight passes for 127 yards and moved over 2,000 yards receiving for his career at ISU. Salem now has 2,116 career receiving yards, good for fourth place on the all-time list to pass Vito Golson (2,014). Salem has five games over 100 yards receiving this season, one shy of tying Laurent Robinson's tally of six games over the century mark set in 2005, and has ten 100-yard receiving games in his career.
HE DID IT AGAIN
Illinois State running back Cliffton Gordon surpassed the 100-yard mark for the second consecutive game with 28 carries for 106 yards in the Redbirds' 25-7 win over Western Illinois (Nov. 7). Gordon became the first Redbird running back to run for more than 100 yards with 30 carries for 122 yards the previous week at Missouri State (Oct. 31). The sophomore also scored the Redbirds' lone touchdown against the Leathernecks and leads the team with seven touchdowns scored this season (6 rush, 1 pass).
THE WINS KEEP COMING
The win started an official winning streak for the Redbirds, who have now won three in a row. It's the first three-game winning streak for Illinois State since 2006, when the `Birds rattled off six wins in a row after a season-opening loss at Kansas State. Saturday's win over Western Illinois also marked the first win by the Redbirds at home against the Leathernecks since 1999.
STOPPING THE RUN
Illinois State had some trouble stopping its opponent's running attacks through the first seven games of the season. However, that has drastically changed in the team's last two games as the Redbirds held the Western Illinois to just 22 yards on 28 carries and Missouri State to just 31 yards on 28 carries in back-to-back victories. In those two wins, the Redbird defense gave the Leathernecks and Bears a paltry 0.9 yards per carry and recorded 10 sacks and 13 tackles-for-loss to help turn the tide.
EXPERT RUN STUFFER
Sophomore defensive tackle Eric Brunner was key component in Illinois State holding Western Illinois to just 22 yards rushing and seven points in its 25-7 victory on Family Day (Nov. 7). The Greendale, Wis., native recorded a career-high nine tackles, including four solo stops, against the Leathernecks. He also tied a career high with 1.5 tackles-for-loss, which included a half sack that he combined with Bert Whigham on. Brunner's half sack was one of six on the day for the Redbird defense, which set a new team season high for the Redbirds.
LINEBACKER ALIGNMENT PAYS DIVIDENDS
The Illinois State linebacker corp has been in flux all season, with several players getting their shot at different positions to start games. However, head coach Brock Spack seems to have found the right combination in the form of sophomore middle linebacker Josh Howe and freshman outside linebackers Austin Davis and Mike Zimmer. Since making the switch to that alignment prior to the Missouri State game, the Redbird defense has allowed just 53 yards rushing in two straight victories with Davis (19), Howe (15) and Zimmer (12) leading the way in tackles.
A BIT LATE FOR TRICKS DON'T YOU THINK?
A week after a Halloween win over Missouri State, the Illinois State offense had a few tricks up its sleeve for the Western Illinois defense. The Redbirds employed their own version of a "wildcat" formation, as sophomore running back Cliffton Gordon rushed for 22 yards while taking the direct shotgun snap from center on four occasions. Later in the game, redshirt freshman quarterback Matt Brown caught an 18-yard halfback pass from former Nebraska baseball player Seth Hood that gained the Redbirds a crucial first down.
LOCAL KID MAKES GOOD
After playing his high school football just down the road at Normal Community High School, redshirt freshman linebacker Austin Davis is making a new home in the Redbird defense at Hancock Stadium. Davis led the way for Illinois State with a career-high 11 tackles in ISU's 25-7 Family Day victory over Western Illinois (Nov. 7). On the season, he ranks second on the team with 43 tackles (16 solo) and has recorded four tackles-for-loss.
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