ST. LOUIS – For the 10th-consecutive game, Illinois State running back Marshaun Coprich rushed for over 100 yards, as the No. 7 Redbirds earned a 45-26 win at South Dakota. For his efforts, Coprich was named the Missouri Valley Football Player Co-Offensive Player of the Week on Sunday by the league office.
The offensive player of the week honor is the second for Coprich this season, as he previously won the award on Oct. 5 following a 174-yard and four touchdown performance in a win over South Dakota State. Coprich shared this week's honor with South Dakota State quarterback Austin Sumner, who threw for 366 yards and a career-high six touchdowns, setting the school record for career touchdown passes in the process, in leading the Jackrabbits to a 59-24 victory over Western Illinois.
Coprich, a native of Victorville, California, rushed for a career-high 221 yards on 31 carries (7.1 yards per carry) and scored a pair of touchdowns against the Coyotes to help the Redbirds improve to 9-1 on the season and 6-1 in MVFC play. The Walter Payton Award Watch List selection became the first Redbird to rush for over 200 yards in a game since 2008, and had over 100 of those yards in the first quarter of play.Â
His 56-yard touchdown run gave ISU a lead just over two minutes into the game that it would never relinquish, and he later added a 28-yard score early in the second quarter. With his performance against the Coyotes, Coprich has now rushed for 1,523 yards on the season and 19 touchdowns, one shy of the ISU single-season record of 20 set by Toby Davis in 1992.
Coprich and the Redbirds will host Southern Illinois, Saturday, Nov. 22, looking to secure at least a share of the MVFC championship with a win in the regular-season finale. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m., at Hancock Stadium,  with the game broadcast live on Comcast SportsNet Chicago.
GoRedbirds.com:Â Your online source for Illinois State Athletics, tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.ÂÂÂÂ
