SETTING THE SCENE
Date: Oct. 17, 2015
Location: Springfield, Missouri
Kickoff: 2:00 p.m. CT
Stadium: Plaster Field
Stadium Capacity: 17,800
Series: ISU leads 18-16-1
Watch: ESPN3
PLAYER TO WATCH
Senior quarterback Tre Roberson did not let a hand injury hold him down in a win over No. 7 Youngstown State last Saturday. Roberson, who did not start the game, came in and threw for 130 yards and touchdown and rushed for 90 yards and a score to help lead the Redbirds to their first win in Youngstown since 2007. Roberson's 58-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter tied a career long, and his 39-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Warrum in the fourth quarter gave the Redbirds the lead for good.
THE GAME
Winners of four-straight games, No. 4 ranked Illinois State will hit the road for the second week in a row to challenge Missouri State on Saturday at Plaster Field in Springfield, Missouri. The Redbirds are off to a 2-0 start, and the Bears will be looking for their first conference win on Homecoming at Missouri State. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m., and the game will be broadcast live on ESPN3.
THE SERIES
This will be the 36th meeting all-time between the Bears and the Redbirds in a series dating back to 1971. Illinois State leads the all-time series by a small margin at 18-16-1, but has won four of the last six meetings overall against the Bears. ISU dropped a 37-10 decision to MSU in its last trip to Plaster Field in 2013.
THE COACHES
Illinois State: Brock Spack (Purdue, 1983) is in his seventh season as the head coach at Illinois State (50-27). Spack led the Redbirds to their first Missouri Valley Football Conference title in 15 years in 2014, and set the school record for wins with 13 while being named a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award.
Missouri State: Dave Steckel (Kutztown, 1982) is in his first season as the head coach at Missouri State (1-4) and his first as a collegiate head coach. Prior to taking the helm at Missouri State, Steckel spent 14 seasons at Missouri and helped the Tigers to 10 bowl appearances and five seasons with 10 or more wins.
THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT
- Missouri State University is located in Springfield, Missouri, and has an enrollment of 24,489 students. The Bears are members of the Missouri Valley Football Conference and play their home games at the Plaster Field (17,800).
- The Bears finished the 2014 season with a 4-8 overall record and a 1-7 4-4 mark in MVFC play. They return 41 letterwinners and 12 starters from last year's team in 2015.
- MSU has played a pair of FBS opponents this season, with losses at Memphis (63-7) in the season opener and at Arkansas State (70-7) in game three of the season. The Bears' lone win came in game two of the season vs. Chadron State (21-13).
- The Bears have struggled on defense through the first five games of the season, allowing 55 points per game and nearly 550 yards of total offense per contest to their opponents. MSU has particularly struggled stopping the run, allowing 306.4 yards rushing per game.
- Southern Illinois used a record-setting offensive attack last weekend in a 73-26 win over the Bears. The Salukis racked up 673 yards of total offense and eclipsed its own Valley single-game scoring record, surpassing a 72-point effort against Indiana State in 2007.
- Sophomore tailback Calan Crowder enters Saturday's game just five rushing yards shy of the 1,000 mark in his career at Missouri State. Crowder set a Bears freshman record with 766 yards last fall and leads the team with 229 yards and two touchdowns this season.
- After turning in his second record-setting performance in as many weeks, Missouri State sophomore Deion Holliman was named Missouri Valley Football Conference Special Teams Player of the Week for his effort against Southern Illinois. Holliman broke his own Missouri State single-game record for combined kick return yardage, totaling 274 yards Saturday, just one week after establishing a Bears' Division I mark with 182 kickoff-punt return yards vs. Indiana State. Holliman leads all NCAA Division I FCS players in combined return yardage (640) this season and ranks third nationally in punt return average (22.4 yards per return) through five games.
THE LAST TIME THEY MET (OCT. 25, 2014)
In a defensive slugfest, No. 9 Illinois State turned momentum gained from a third-quarter defensive stop into a fourth-quarter go-ahead touchdown, lifting the Redbirds to a 21-7 victory over Missouri State at Hancock Stadium in front of a crowd of 10,164. Tre Roberson capped an eight-play, 80-yard, fourth-quarter drive with a 7-yard rushing touchdown to secure the Redbirds' victory. Roberson finished with 169 yards passing, with two touchdowns and no interceptions, and added 85 rushing yards and one touchdown to his productive night. Marshaun Coprich powered his way to his seventh-consecutive 100-plus yard rushing game, running for 148 yards on 31 carries.
SCORING ON DEFENSE
For most teams, it's extremely difficult to put points on the scoreboard without the ball in its hands. However, for Illinois State, that has not proven to be the case as the Redbird defense has scored 12 touchdowns over the past seven season. Josh Burch's 26-yard interception return for a touchdown at Youngstown State (Oct. 10) was the second of his career and first of the season for the Redbirds. Illinois State has now scored at least one defensive touchdown in each year under head coach Brock Spack.
ELUSIVE WINS HARD TO GET
Heading into the season, Illinois State football had not won at Eastern Illinois or Youngstown State in six combined tries under head coach Brock Spack. The Redbirds have changed their road fate with a pair of wins over the Panthers and Penguins, respectively, but neither came easily. ISU had to scratch out a 34-31 win in overtime at EIU (Sept. 19) and had to come from behind in the fourth quarter to pick up a hard-fought 31-29 win over No. 7 Youngstown State last Saturday.
THE BULL IS LOOSE
A stout Iowa Hawkeye defense kept ISU All-American running back Marshaun Coprich corralled in the season-opening loss (Sept. 5). Since that time, however, the "Young Bull" has run wild against opposing defenses and once again ranks among the best running backs in FCS football. The senior has rumbled for 608 yards and eight touchdowns during ISU's four-game winning streak and earned national FCS Player of the Week honors for his 169-yard and two touchdown performance in the win over No. 6 UNI (Oct. 3). The active FCS career rushing leader has gained over 100 yards in four-straight games for the Redbirds and is now averaging 128 yards per game on the ground for ISU.
UNEXPECTED RESULTS
The Illinois State defense received a stellar performance from an unlikely source in redshirt freshman Brannon Barry, who played his first-career snaps on defense at end against No. 6 UNI (Oct. 3). Despite his unfamiliarity at the position, Barry excelled and was named the Missouri Valley Football Conference Newcomer of the Week by the league office. Barry, who spends the majority of his time running routes as a tight end, moved to defensive end earlier and finished the day with three sacks, three tackles-for-loss, and an interception in just 21 snaps on defense. He added another sack at Youngstown State (Oct. 10) and now leads the team with four total.
FEELING THE PRESSURE
Through the first three games of the season, the Redbirds found it hard to get any pressure on the quarterback and record tackles for loss. Heading into the game against No. 6 UNI (Oct. 3), the Redbirds had just four sacks, but they recorded a season-best six sacks against the Panthers to double their season output. The Redbirds also added a season-best 10 tackles-for-loss to up that total to 24 on the season. ISU also doubled its interception total with two picks against the Panthers, as the Redbirds allowed just 250 yards of total offense to the dangerous UNI offense that came into the game averaging nearly 400 yards of total offense per contest.
COPRICH APPROACHING ANOTHER MILESTONE
Already owning nearly every single-season and career rushing mark in the Illinois State record book, senior All-American running back Marshaun Coprich is just 20 yards away from becoming Illinois State's career leader in all-purpose yards. Coprich (4,352) sits 19 yards from tying Toby Davis (4,371) for the top spot and 20 yards from becoming the leader in that category. Previously this season, Coprich broke Davis' career marks for rushing yards, rushing touchdowns and total touchdowns. Coprich also is No. 1 among all active FCS players (3,868), ranks No. 14 on the all-time MVFC list and could become just the 14th player
in league history to reach 4,000 rushing yards (132 shy of that landmark).
SPACK EARNS WIN NO. 50
With his team's win over No. 7 Youngstown State (Oct. 10), Illinois State head coach Brock Spack became just the third football coach in ISU history to earn his 50th win as the head coach of the Redbirds. Spack trails longtime coaches Howard Hancock (57) and Edwin Struck (86) on the all-time wins list, and his career winning percentage of .649 (50-27) is the highest among coaches with more than one year at the helm of the program.
