FRISCO, Texas – Illinois State football student-athletics and coaches soaked it all in Thursday, as the Redbirds spent their first day in Frisco, Texas, in preparation for the 2015 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game on Saturday. The day was full of work and fun for ISU, who is making its first appearance in the FCS title game.
The day began with a 7:45 wake up call for the players, followed by a team breakfast and individual position meetings before the entire team gathered together in the banquet room of the Westin Stonebriar for a talk. The group then departed for Toyota Stadium, the site of Saturday's championship game, to conduct interviews with local and national media before taking their championship game team photo.
After the media commitments concluded, coaches, players and staff headed to the practice fields adjacent to the stadium to polish up for their matchup against three-time defending national champion North Dakota State. When practice concluded at approximately 4:30 p.m., the buses were loaded to take the travel party to a flag football game with kids from the Miracle League of Frisco.
Once the team had a chance to take photos with their Miracle League buddies and their families, the Redbirds departed for Main Event Entertainment in Frisco for some friendly fun and competition. Both the Redbirds and the Bison were treated to a barbecue buffet dinner, before competing in several challenges to see which team would take home the 2015 Great Texas BBQ Bowl championship trophy.
The first event featured a barbecue eating contest between NDSU Director of Athletics Matt Larsen and ISU Director of Athletics Larry Lyons. The competition was close, but Lyons pulled it out in the end to give the Redbirds an early lead in the standings. A speed billiards competition followed, with the team of Tevin Allen, Oshay Dunmore and Cameron Meredith picking up a win over their counterparts in yellow and green.
An agility competition knows as "Meltdown" followed, with true freshman defensive back Mitchell Brees holding on longer than his Bison counterpart to give the Redbirds a 2-1 win in the event. The final contest of the night was a five-man, baker-style bowling competition that would decide the winner. The strong ISU unit comprised of Teddy Corwin, Mark Spelman, Bradon Prate, Dontae McCoy and Tim Wright out-rolled their competition in dominant fashion to secure the trophy for ISU.
The Redbirds will have another busy day on Friday, with the FCS Championship Banquet and a press conference on the docket before their final practice tune-up from 4-5 p.m. The team will then return to its hotel to get a good night's sleep, before clashing with their fellow Missouri Valley Football Conference foes, Saturday at Noon, on ESPN2 for the FCS championship.
GoRedbirds.com: Your online source for Illinois State Athletics, tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
