Redbirds take flight for FCS semifinal Contest at new hampshire

SETTING THE SCENE
Date: Dec. 20, 2014
Location: Durham, N.H.
Kickoff: 1:00 p.m. CT
Stadium: Cowell Stadium 
Stadium Capacity: 6,500
Series: First Meeting
Watch: ESPNU

THE GAME
After Illinois State (12-1) came away unscathed at "The Inferno" following a 59-46 win at Eastern Washington last weekend in the FCS playoff quarterfinals, the fifth-seeded Redbirds will now head to "The Dungeon" to face top-seeded New Hampshire (12-1) in the semifinals of the FCS playoffs Saturday at 1 p.m. CT.  The game will be broadcast live on ESPNU and the WatchESPN app, with Shawn Kenney and Jay Walker on the call.

THE SERIES
ISU and UNH will meet for the first time on the gridiron Saturday.  The Redbirds have faced off against two current teams from the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA), coming out with a 1-1 record in those contests.  ISU defeated Villanova 19-17 on Sept. 25, 1976, and lost a 37-34 decision to Maine on Nov. 14, 1987.

PLAYER TO WATCH 
Junior running back Marshaun Coprich was the star of the show in ISU's quarterfinal win at Eastern Washington.  The 2014 Walter Camp Foundation FCS All-American and MVFC Offensive Player of the Year rushed for a career-high 258 yards on 30 carries and tied a career-best with four touchdown runs against the Eagles.  Coprich also became the ISU single-season rushing leader with 2,089 yards in 2014.

THE COACHES
Illinois State: Brock Spack (Purdue, 1983) is in his sixth season as the head coach at Illinois State (45-25). Spack was named the 2014 MVFC Coach of the Year and an Eddie Robinson Award Finalist, after he led the Redbirds to a school-record 10 wins in the regular season and a share of their first conference title since 1999. 
New Hampshire: Sean McDonnell (New Hampshire, 1978) is in his 16th season as the head coach at his alma mater (126-72).  The 2014 Eddie Robinson Award winner and CAA Coach of the Year, McDonnell has led the Wildcats to 11-straight FCS playoff appearances, the longest streak in the FCS.

REDBIRDFOOTBALL IN THE FCSPLAYOFFS

• Fifth playoff appearance (1998, 1999, 2006, 2012)
• Four-time FCS quarterfinalists (1999, 2006, 2012, 2014)
• Two-time FCS semifinalists (1999, 2014)
• The 1999 team advanced to the FCS semifinals, with wins at home over Colgate and on the road against Hofstra.  ISU eventually fell to eventual national champion Georgia Southern by a score of 28-17.

THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT

• The University of New Hampshire is located in Durham, New Hampshire, and has an enrollment of 14,761 students.  The Wildcats are members of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) and play their home games at Cowell Stadium (6,500), which is also known as "The Dungeon."
• New Hampshire attained a No. 1 national ranking and top seed in the FCS playoffs with a 10-1 regular-season record, which included a perfect 8-0 record in the CAA and a conference championship.
• The Wildcats extended their school-record win streak to 12 and broke the program record for wins in a single season, with their postseason victories against No. 9 Fordham in the second round and No. 8 Chattanooga last Friday in the quarterfinals.
• UNH has also set the benchmark for consecutive home wins (14) and is 5-0 against nationally-ranked teams, including three victories against teams in the Top 10.
• New Hampshire is led on offense by senior wide receiver and All-American, R.J. Smith.  A three-time All-CAA First-Team selection, Harris has set school single-season records with 94 catches and has amassed 1,483 yards and 15 receiving touchdowns in 13 games for the Wildcats.  With those stats, Harris leads the nation in both receiving yards and receiving yards per game.

RED-EMPTION
The red turf of "The Inferno" was where the 2012 Illinois State football team saw its national championship hopes ended in the quarterfinals of the FCS playoffs after a 51-35 loss to Eastern Washington.  Just two years later, the Redbirds found themselves back in the same spot, but this time it was ISU who was on fire offensively.  The Redbirds racked up 542 yards of total offense, led by Marshaun Coprich's career-high 258 yards on the ground, in a 59-46 win over the Eagles to advance to the 2014 FCS semifinals.  ISU jumped out to a 10-0 lead and never looked back, with 21 points in the third quarter sealing the victory.

RECORD-SETTING YEAR
By virtue of their 59-46 win last Saturday at Eastern Washington, the Redbirds earned their 12th win of the season and set a new program wins record.  The previous high was 11 wins in 1999, when ISU advanced to the FCS semifinals before falling to eventual national champion Georgia Southern.  The Redbirds have also set school single-season records for points scored (526), rushing yards (3,173), rushing touchdowns (38), total offense yards (6,073) and touchdowns scored (70) during the historic 2014 campaign.

THE BULL IS LOOSE
Illinois State junior running back Marshaun Coprich is affectionately known as the "Young Bull" by his coaches and teammates, for his strong stature and tough running style.  Although he has been one of the best running backs in the country all season, the red turf of "The Inferno" seemed to really make the bull mad.  The Victorville, California, native rushed for a career-high 258 yards and tied a career best with four touchdowns to help lead the Redbirds to the semifinals for just the second time in school history.  He also became the first player in school history to rush for over 2,000 yards in a season (2,089) and just the third in school history to top the 3,000-yard career rushing plateau.

FROM COAST TO COAST
Following an impressive 59-46 win on the bright red turf of "The Inferno" last Saturday at Eastern Washington, the Redbirds will fly to the other coast to do battle at "The Dungeon" this Saturday against top-seeded New Hampshire.  The Redbirds will be making their second appearance in the FCS semifinals, with the only other trip coming in 1999. 

COMING OUT FIRING
For the ninth time this season, the Redbirds scored on their first series of the game when Nick Aussieker booted a 31-yard field goal on the team's first drive at Eastern Washington in their 59-46 quarterfinal playoff win.  It marked the second time this season that the Redbirds have come away with three points on their opening drive (7 TD, 2 FG) and the Redbirds are 8-1 on the season when scoring on their first possession.

PLAYING LIKE SUPERMAN
ISU quarterback Tre Roberson wears a Superman T-shirt under his shoulder pads each game, to remind himself to play like "The Man of Steel."  Over the past three games, he has played like a superhero himself while leading the Redbirds to a share of the MVFC title and a pair of playoff wins.  Roberson has completed 68.8 percent of his passes and thrown for 907 yards and nine touchdowns, with no interceptions, while leading the Redbirds to wins over Southern Illinois, Northern Iowa and Eastern Washington.  Roberson has averaged 302 yards passing per game over the stretch and 367 yards of total offense, while compiling a pass efficiency rating of 200.11.

COPRICH TOPS THE RECORD BOOKS
The season that Redbird running back Marshaun Coprich has put together in 2014 will go down as one of the best individual seasons in ISU history.  With his 258 yards in the quarterfinal playoff win at Eastern Washington, the Missouri Valley Football Conference Offensive Player of the Year became the first player in school history to rush for over 2,000 yards in a season and extended his record of consecutive 100-plus yard rushing games to 13 overall.  He also holds the single-season rushing touchdowns mark with 26, the single-season high with an average of 160.7 rushing yards per game, and has the most all-purpose yards in a season with 2,135. 

BIG GAME JAMES
Senior tight end James O'Shaughnessy has a knack for coming up big in important games for the Redbirds.  The Naperville, Illinois, native recorded his second career 100-plus yard receiving performance and tied a career high with two touchdown grabs in ISU's second-round playoff victory over UNI (Dec. 6).  It was his third career playoff game, and with his four catches for 105 yards, O'Shaughnessy upped his career numbers to 10 catches for 246 yards (24.6 yards per catch) with four touchdowns in playoff contests.  In 2012, he caught three passes for 63 yards at Eastern Washington and will look to continue his high-scoring play of late, with touchdown grabs in five of his last seven games overall. 

LUCKY NUMBER 13
The number 13 is often viewed as an unlucky number for many, but for the Redbirds the number 13 signifies the amount of consecutive wins at home.  Since the Hancock Stadium renovation was completed in September of 2013, the Redbirds have gone unbeaten at home. The 13-game home winning streak tops the previous streak of 11 in a row set from 1998-2000 and remains intact heading into the remainder of the playoffs, or the 2015 season.

MEREDITH ON A ROLL    
Although Cameron Meredith has been part of the Illinois State football program for five years, he has only seen time at the wide receiver position in the past two seasons.  After a solid debut at the spot in 2013, Meredith has emerged as an offensive weapon for the Redbirds in 2014.  He leads the team with 60 receptions, 980 yards and nine touchdowns and has recorded 100-yard receiving performances in four of the last five games.  He has a total of five 100-plus yard receiving performances in his career, has caught at least one touchdown pass in nine of the team's 13 games so far this season, and is 20 yards away from becoming the fifth receiver in school history to have 1,000 receiving yards in a season.

DOUBLE DIGITS IN WIN COLUMN
For the first time in program history, the Illinois State football team finished the regular season with 10 wins, thanks to its 44-29 win over Southern Illinois (Nov. 22).  It marked just the second 10-win season in school history and has since grown to 12 wins, which tops the 1999 team's total of 11  for the most wins in program history.

HISTORY IS MADE
Thanks to an outstanding offensive effort that put points on the scoreboard early, the Redbirds jumped out to an early lead and never looked back in a 44-29 victory over in-state rival Southern Illinois (Nov. 22).  The win improved the Redbirds to 10-1 overall and 7-1 in Missouri Valley Football Conference play, which gave ISU a share of the conference title along with North Dakota State.  It marked the second conference title for the Redbirds in the MVFC, with the first coming in 1999 when the team won the title outright with a perfect 6-0 conference record.