PLAYER TO WATCH
Junior defensive lineman Eric Brunner has continued his progression into one of the best defensive tackles in the Missouri Valley Football Conference. A 2009 All-MVFC Second Team selection, Brunner has shown his ability to be the leader of the Redbird defense in 2010. The Greendale, Wis., native leads the team with 6.0 TFLs and ranks sixth among Redbird defenders with 26 tackles. He has also recorded a pair of sacks on the year.
THE GAME
Coming off a disappointing loss to No. 23 Southern Illinois Saturday, the Illinois State football team will hit the road to face off against Indiana State Saturday in Terre Haute, Ind. The Redbirds (3-2, 2-1 MVFC) will be looking for their sixth-straight win over the Sycamores (2-2, 0-1 MVFC), who are coming off an impressive 56-22 win over Quincy at home last Saturday.
THE SERIES
Illinois State leads the all-time series, 31-28-2. The Redbirds have got the better of the Sycamores of late, winning 11 of the last 12 meetings in the series overall and the last five games in a row. The last loss to the Sycamores came in 2004, a 41-38 defeat at Memorial Stadium.
THE COACHES
Illinois State: Brock Spack (Purdue, 1983) is in his second season as the head coach of the Illinois State Redbirds (9-7). After starting the 2009 season with a 1-3 record, with losses at Illinois and to nationally-ranked South Dakota State, the Redbirds won five of their last seven games to finish the season with 6-5 record and the team's first winning campaign since 2006.
Head Coach Brock Spack | ISU Coaching Staff
Indiana State: Trent Miles (Indiana State, 1987) is in his third season as the head coach of the Sycamores (3-24). An Indiana State alum and Terre Haute native, Miles returned to his alma mater and made his head coaching debut in 2008 against Eastern Michigan. After a winless season in 2008 and a just one win in 2009, Miles has led the Sycamores to a 2-2 record in 2010.
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, including a school-record 3,500 hours in 2009-10.
- Redbird student-athletes matched a record with a department-wide 3.13 grade-point average during the fall 2009 semester, while posting a 3.0 mark in six of the last seven semesters.
THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT
- Indiana State University is located in Terre Haute, Ind., and has an enrollment of 10,534 students. The Sycamores are members of the Missouri Valley Football Conference and play their home games at Memorial Stadium (12,764).
- The Sycamores return 41 letterwinners and 19 starters from last year's team that finished the season with a 1-10 record overall.
- The Sycamores improved their 2010 record to 2-2, with a 56-22 win at Memorial Stadium Saturday over Quincy. The victory was a bit of revenge for the Sycamores, after Quincy downed the Sycamores by the score of 26-20 in overtime during last year's season opener.
- A re-vamped running game for Indiana State has led to some early-season success. Senior Darrius Gates and freshman running back Shakir Bell both had over 100 yards on the ground for the Sycamores in the team's win over Quincy. Gates finished the game with 17 rushes for 139 yards and three touchdowns, while Bell had 16 carries for 158 yards. It marked the second time this season that Gates and Bell combined for dual 100-yard rushing performances, as both also eclipsed the century mark on the ground in the season opener against St. Joseph's (Ind.).
- Junior transfer quarterback Ronnie Fouch has also been a calming influence behind center. The transfer from Washington was 15-for-17 for 231 yards and four touchdowns against Quincy last weekend. Fouch's four touchdowns marked the first time since the 2006 season that a Sycamore quarterback threw that many touchdown strikes in a contest.
- The Sycamore defense has been extremely balanced, as seven players have at least 20 tackles on the season. Jacolby Washington leads the way with 26 tackles to go along with 3.0 tackles-for-loss, with linebacker Aaron Archie right behind with 25 stops.
TIES WITH THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT
- Edmund Jones, the father of Illinois State senior cornerback E.J. Jones, was a former assistant coach at Indiana State during the 2008 season. The elder Jones also holds a master's degree in physical education from Missouri Valley Football Conference member Western Illinois.
- Indiana State head coach Trent Miles played for the Sycamores from 1983-86. During that time, Illinois State posted a 3-1 record against Indiana State, with the only loss coming in 1984.
- Illinois State offensive coordinator Luke Huard was a member of the Washington coaching staff with Indiana State head coach Trent Miles. Huard spent two years on the Huskies' staff working with the quarterbacks in 2007-08, while Miles worked as the running backs coach from 2005-07.
- Illinois State's Nick Broome (Columbus), Jayme Comer (Brownsburg), Drew Kiel (Columbus), Matt Lancaster (West Lafayette), Corey Shandrick (West Lafayette), Tyrone Walker (Indianapolis) and Mike Wood (Greenwood) all hail from the state of Indiana.
- Indiana State assistant coach Harold Etheridge was the offensive line coach at Illinois State from 1991-99 under head coaches Jim Heacock (1991-95) and Todd Berry (1996-99). Etheridge helped lead the Redbirds to back-to-back playoff appearances in 1998-99 and a conference title in 1999.
MARVON MAKES GOOD
Junior wide receiver Marvon Sanders recorded his third-consecutive 100-plus yard receiving performance against Southern Illinois Saturday at Hancock Stadium. Sanders caught eight passes for 104 yards and touchdown leads all Redbird receivers with 40 catches for 483 yards on the season. Sanders also leads the Missouri Valley Football Conference in yards per game (96.6) and receptions per game (8.0).
PICKOFF ARTISTS
The Redbirds picked off 14 passes in 2009, after recording just three interceptions during the 2008 season. Whatever the team is doing on defense seems to be working, as ISU already has eight interceptions through five games in 2010. The Redbirds have tallied at least two interceptions in four-of-five games played, including six in the last three games. E.J. Jones picked off his third pass of the season against Southern Illinois, while senior defensive lineman Dave Rivas picked off his first career pass against the Salukis as well. Safety Kelvyn Hemphill, cornerback Marcus Harris and linebackers Austin Davis and Josh Howe have also recorded interceptions this season for the Redbirds.
SCOOPING AND SCORING
Not only did Southern Illinois scoop up a blocked punt and return it for a touchdown, but Illinois State did as well on Oct. 2. SIU's Luke Thuston returned a blocked Steven Fetzer punt late in the first quarter to put the Salukis up 17-0 at the time. It marked the first blocked punt return for a touchdown against the Redbirds since Oct. 6, 2001. Not to be outdone, ISU sophomore linebacker Mike Hiestand returned a blocked Kyle Dougherty punt 28 yards in the third quarter to cut the SIU lead to 24-17. It was the first blocked punt return for a touchdown by a Redbird player since Oct. 21, 2000, when Justin Frierson returned one 28 yards against Prairie View A&M.
BALL HAWK
Senior cornerback E.J. Jones has a knack for finding the football and that is resulting in a lot of turnovers for opposing quarterbacks. Jones picked off his third pass of the season Saturday against the Salukis and now has nine in the last two seasons for the Redbirds. Those nine interceptions tie him for 10th all-time at Illinois State with David Calhoun. However, Jones has long way to go to approach the school record of 23, set by Illinois State Hall of Famer and NFL star Mike Prior.
RUN BIG FELLA!
It's not often you seen a defensive lineman record an interception, but that's exactly what ISU senior Dave Rivas did against No. 23 Southern Illinois. Rivas showed quick reflexes and soft hands as caught a ball out of the air that was forced out of SIU quarterback Chris Dieker's hand by Shelby Harris. The interception was the first of Rivas' career and the first for a Redbird defensive lineman since 2006, when Jarek Thomas recorded a pair of interceptions from his defensive tackle spot.
HOWE DOES HE DO IT?
With his tackle numbers already at a career-high through five games played, junior middle linebacker Josh Howe continues to set new standards for his season. Howe totaled 51 tackles last season for the Redbirds, but surpassed that mark thanks to a career-high tying 14 tackles Saturday against No. 23 Southern Illinois. With the 14 stops, Howe has now finished three games this season with double-digit numbers in tackles and leads all Redbirds with his 55 tackles on the season through five games.
KICK IT THE OTHER WAY
Sophomore Ben Ericksen showed how dangerous he could be as a kick returner last season in limited action, but he has flourished in his second season as a full-time kick returner for the Redbirds. Ericksen returned the opening kickoff of the 2010 season 85 yards for a touchdown against Central Missouri and nearly scored on an 89-yard return on the opening kickoff against Missouri State. On the season, Ericksen is averaging 227.7 yards per return and currently ranks 22nd in the nation in that category.
CLIMBING THE CHARTS
Illinois State sophomore quarterback Matt Brown has only played in 16 games as a Redbird, but he has already moved into the top-10 on the Illinois State career passing yards list. Brown currently ranks seventh on the list with 3,517 yards and is just the 10th player in school history to top the 3,000-yard passing plateau. Brown also ranks seventh in career completions (327), 11th in career attempts (511) and is tied for 10th in school history with 18 career touchdowns passes. Brown can also stake claim to having the highest completion percentage in ISU history at 64 percent (327-511-11).
GOTTA BEAT THE BEST, TO BE THE BEST
The Missouri Valley Conference portion of the schedule is always grueling for the Redbirds and this year it doesn't get easier. The Redbirds defeated their first ranked Valley foe of the season Sept. 18 against No. 20 South Dakota State, but dropped a 38-17 decision to No. 23 Southern Illinois last weekend. After a road contest against Indiana State, the Redbirds will welcome in No. 17 North Dakota State for Homecoming on Oct. 16. A pair of tough road games will then follow against No. 15 UNI and No. 20 Western Illinois, before the Redbirds wrap up conference play on Nov. 7 at home against Youngstown State, who was ranked as high as No. 20 in week four.
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