THE GAME
After beginning the 2014 season with four-consecutive home games, No. 15 Illinois State (4-0, 1-0 MVFC) will hit the road for a tough conference matchup against No. 20 Indiana State (4-1, 1-0 MVFC) Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Terre Haute, Indiana. The showdown between the two ranked foes will be broadcast live on CSN Chicago and ESPN3, beginning at 2 p.m. CT.
ILLINOIS STATE TV NETWORK
Saturday's game will be broadcast live on Comcast SportsNet Chicago, as part of the Illinois State Television Network and will also be streamed live on ESPN3.com. Below are channel listings where the game can be found:
- Comcast Cable - Channel 56 or 522 (HD)
- ATT Uverse - Channel 740 or 1740 (HD)
- Comcast Xfinity - Channel 37 or 200 (HD)
- DIRECTV - Channel 665
- DISH Network - Channel 429 or 5429 (HD)
- DISH Network Hopper Channel - Channel 412-19
- MEDIACOM - Channel 40 or 732 (HD)
THE SERIES
Illinois State and Indiana State will meet for the 66th time on the gridiron on Saturday, with the Redbirds leading the all-time series 34-29-2. The Redbirds have won 14 out of the last 16 meetings in the series overall and have won the last three meetings against the Sycamores, with the last loss coming in Terre Haute in 2010.
THE COACHES
Illinois State: Brock Spack (Purdue, 1983) is in his sixth season as the head coach at Illinois State (37-24). Spack led the Redbirds to their first playoff victory since 2006, just the third nine-win season in school history and was a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award during the 2012 season.
Indiana State: Mike Sanford (USC, 1978) is in his second season as the head coach at Indiana State (5-12) and is in his seventh season as a collegiate head coach (21-55). He came to Indiana State from Utah
State, where he spent the 2012 season as the assistant head coach, running backs and tight ends coach on Gary Andersen's staff.
THE #REDBIRDFOOTBALL PROGRAM
- Four FCS playoff appearances (1998, 1999, 2006, 2012).
- Three-time FCS quarterfinalists (1999, 2006, 2012).
- The team is 26-6 at home under Spack's guidance.
- ISU has won nine games in a row at home dating back to 2013.
- The team set a program-record cumulative GPA of 2.94 in the Spring 2014 semester.
PLAYER TO WATCH
Junior running back Marshaun Coprich continued his torrid start to the 2014 season with a career-best day against No. 9 South Dakota State last Saturday. The Victorville, California, native set a career high with 174 yards on the ground and scored a career-best four touchdowns in the 45-10 win over the Jackrabbits. For his efforts, Coprich was named the MVFC Offensive Player of the Week and a College Sporting News All-Star.
THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT
- Indiana State University is located in Terre Haute, Indiana, and has an enrollment of 12,448 students. The Sycamores are members of the Missouri Valley Football Conference and play their home games at Memorial Stadium (12,764).
- The Sycamores finished the 2013 season with a 1-11 overall record in the first season under head coach Mike Sanford.
- Indiana State is off to a 4-1 start to the 2014 campaign, its best since a similar start to the 2011 season which also included a FBS win (at Western Kentucky).
- The Sycamores lead the MVFC in passing yards per game with a 282.2 average, a number which ranks 11th nationally. Quarterback Mike Perish is 129-of-192 passing for 1,373 yards and nine touchdowns against one interception to lead the Sycamores through the air, and he also leads the league in passing average per game and is ranked 10th nationally.
- Defensively, the Sycamores are led by a player whose last name is very familiar to Redbird fans. Junior linebacker Connor Underwood, the younger brother of former Redbird All-American defensive end Colton Underood and son of former Redbird Scott Underwood, was recently added to the 2014 Buck Buchanan Award Watch List. He leads Indiana State with 39 total tackles, six sacks and 10.5 tackles for loss on the season.
LAST TIME THEY MET (OCT. 19, 2013)
Illinois State scored more points in the first 25 minutes than it had in an entire game all season, as a 38-point first half paved the way for a 55-14 victory over Indiana State at Hancock Stadium. Marshaun Coprich posted over 100 yards rushing for the third-consecutive game, totaling 137 yards on 18 carries with three touchdowns. Illinois State was equally efficient through the air, as Blake Winkler went 10-of-15 for 215 yards and two touchdowns and kick returner Josh Burch returned the opening kickoff of the second half 100 yards for a touchdown.
GROUND AND POUND
Heading into the season, Illinois State head coach Brock Spack wanted his running attack to be more of a focus and it certainly is. The Redbirds have the No. 1 rushing offense in the Missouri Valley Football Conference and rank No. 7 nationally in that category with an average of 267.5 yards per game. Junior running back Marshaun Coprich has been a huge part of that, as his 10 rushing touchdown tie for the best mark in the nation and his average of 151 yards per game ranks sixth in all of FCS football and second in the MVFC. Coprich also leads the country in scoring, with an average of 15 points scored per game through four contests.
NINE IS FINE
Since the renovations at Hancock Stadium were completed in September of 2013, opposing teams have found it impossible to get a victory over the Redbirds on their home turf. With ISU's 45-10 win over No. 9 South Dakota State on Saturday, the Redbirds have won all nine games they have played in Hancock Stadium since the renovation. The nine-consecutive wins tie a streak that ISU put together at the end of the 1998 season under head coach Todd Berry and continued to the 2000 home opener against West Virginia Tech.
WELCOME HOME
With the Redbirds' 45-10 win over No. 9 South Dakota State on Homecoming, the Redbirds have now won five of their six contests under head coach Brock Spack with thousands of Illinois State alumni in the stands cheering them on. The team has also had big success on Homecoming against ranked opponents, as the Redbirds defeated their third ranked opponent in the Homecoming game in the last five games and their seventh overall.
CAREER DAY FOR COPRICH
All-American Zach Zenner received a lot of deserved attention in the lead up to Illinois State's game against South Dakota State (Oct. 4), but it was the Redbirds' tailback Marshaun Coprich who stole the attention on game day. Coprich had a career day against the Jackrabbits and helped the Redbirds rush for a season-high 331 yards on the day. The Victorville, California, native set career-bests with 174 yards rushing and four touchdowns and averaged 7.2 yards per carry. With his 100-plus yard effort, Coprich extended his streak of games with over 100 yards rushing to four in a row and recorded his eighth 100-plus yard game of his career at ISU.
REDBIRDS FLY UP THE TOP 25 POLLS
A convincing 45-10 win over then-No. 9 South Dakota State on Saturday has propelled the Illinois State football program up seven spots in both national Football Championship Subdivision polls to No. 15. Seven different MVFC schools are ranked in top-25 polls this week and the league has had seven or more ranked teams for three-straight weeks, establishing a record on Sept. 29 as 8-of-10 teams were ranked. The Redbirds picked up their second win over a ranked opponent this season with the 35-point victory over the Jackrabbits. ISU currently ranks second in the country in scoring at 49 points per game and is first in the country in scoring defense, allowing just 7.8 points per game to opponents.
TAKE IT TO THE HOUSE
Tevin Allen made the most of his first kickoff return of the season, as he returned it 95 yards for a touchdown late in the second quarter of Illinois State's 45-10 win over No. 9 South Dakota State (Oct. 4) at Hancock Stadium. The Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, native answered a SDSU field goal with a touchdown on the ensuing play, when he caught the kickoff at the 5-yard line and ran along the Illinois State sideline nearly untouched for the score. It was just the seventh kickoff return of Allen's career and was the first by a Redbird since Josh Burch returned one 100 yards for a score against Indiana State (Oct. 19, 2013). Allen also recorded four tackles and broke up a pass from his safety position on defense to round out a strong day for the senior.
STEADY TEDDY
In his previous two seasons playing for the Redbirds, Teddy Corwin had been a key contributor on special teams and as a backup on the defensive line. However, he was given the opportunity to earn a starting role in 2014, and he has not taken that for granted. The junior defensive end has been one of the most consistent defenders for the Redbirds and leads the team with 32 total tackles on the season. He set a career-high with 12 tackles in ISU's 45-10 win over No. 9 South Dakota State (Oct. 4), and added a sack. He has 1.5 sacks and 3.5 tackles-for-loss through four games and has added an interception, a pass breakup and been credited with three quarterback hurries for the Redbirds.
SUPER TRE
Redbird junior quarterback Tre Roberson has worn a Superman shirt under his pads in all four of ISU's wins this season, and one could say it has given him special powers. The transfer from Indiana accounted for four touchdowns (two pass, two rush) and 245 yards of total offense in the 62-0 victory over Mississippi Valley State (Sept. 6) and helped ISU amass 622 yards of total offense against the Delta Devils. He followed that up with a pair of touchdown throws in a win over No. 24 Eastern Illinois (Sept. 13) and set season bests with four touchdown passes and 222 yards through the air in a dominant 55-6 win over Austin Peay (Sept. 27). Then, in a 45-10 win over No. South Dakota State, Roberson completed seven passes for 168 yards with a touchdown and an interception, but also rushed for a career-high 151 yards on the ground to help the Redbirds pull away from the Jackrabbits. That performance earned him MVFC Newcomer of the Week honors for the first time in his career at ISU.
