SETTING THE SCENE
Date: Oct. 10, 2015
Location: Youngstown, Ohio
Kickoff: 6:00 p.m. CT
Stadium: Stambaugh Stadium
Stadium Capacity: 20,630
Series: Tied 12-12
Watch: ESPN3
THE GAME
For the second week in a row, Illinois State will have to face a top-10 opponent, when the Redbirds take to the skies to travel to Youngstown, Ohio, to face off against the No. 7-ranked Youngstown State Penguins.
THE SERIES
This will be the 25th meeting all-time between the Penguins and the Redbirds in a series dating back to 1979. Illinois State evened the series at 12 games apiece with a 35-21 win over Youngstown State last year in Normal, Illinois. However, YSU has won the last three games overall on their home turf, and ISU is just 4-8 in games played in Youngstown.
THE COACHES
Illinois State: Brock Spack (Purdue, 1983) is in his seventh season as the head coach at Illinois State (49-27). 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.
Youngstown State: Bo Pelini (Ohio State, 1990) is in his first season as the head coach at Youngstown State (3-1) and his eighth as a collegiate head coach (70-28). The Youngstown, Ohio, native returns home after seven years as the head coach at Nebraska, where he guided the program to nine wins or more in each campaign, including 10 victories on three occasions.
REDBIRD PLAYER TO WATCH
After a tough start to the season against the Iowa Hawkeyes, senior All-American running back Marshaun Coprich has bounced back and looks like the runner that led the FCS in rushing yards and touchdowns in 2014. Over the past three games, Coprich has averaged 159 yards per game and scored at least two touchdowns in each contest. His 169-yard and two touchdown performance last week against No. 6 UNI earned him FCS National Player of the Week honors from NCAA.com.
THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT
- Youngstown State University is located in Youngstown, Ohio, and has an enrollment of 12,337 students. The Penguins are members of the Missouri Valley Football Conference and play their home games at the Stambaugh Stadium (20,630).
- The Penguins finished the 2014 season with a 7-5 overall record, just missing out on the FCS playoffs. YSU tied for fourth in the MVFC with a 4-4 mark and return 44 letterwinners and 14 starters from the squad in 2015.
- Winners of three-straight games, the Penguins have moved up to No. 7 in the FCS rankings under the leadership of first-year head coach Bo Pelini. After dropping a heartbreaker to Pitt in the season opener, the Penguins have picked up wins over Robert Morris (21-14), St. Francis (48-3) and South Dakota (31-3).
- Through the first four games of the season, the Youngstown State defense leads the FCS in total defense allowing just 243.8 yards per contest. The Penguins also lead the FCS in fewest passing yards allowed (69.5 yard per game), team passing efficiency defense (63.11) and first-downs defense (42) as well.
- YSU jumped out to quick lead and rode a strong defensive effort to a 31-3 win over South Dakota last Saturday at the DakotaDome in the conference opener for both teams. The 28-point margin of victory was the most in a conference road win since YSU beat Indiana State, 28-0, on the road at Memorial Stadium in Terre Haute in 2009.
- Quarterback Hunter Wells completed 15-of-26 passes for 158 yards and two scores against the Coyotes to lead the Penguins to victory. His big play of the day came on a 51-yard completion to Andrew Williams that game the Pengins a 17-0 lead at the time.
- Derek Rivers leads the way for the stout Penguin defense and ranks third in the MVFC with 7.5 tackles for loss on the season. His three sacks are also tied for fourth in the league and he has 19 tackles and a forced fumble on the season as well
THE LAST TIME THEY MET (NOV. 8, 2014)
One week after suffering their first loss of the season, No. 12 Illinois State bounced back, dropping No. 10 Youngstown State by a score of 35-21 at Hancock Stadium. The Redbirds fell behind by a touchdown three separate times throughout the game; however, Tre Roberson connected with senior wide receiver Cameron Meredith for a 29-yard touchdown to put the Redbirds ahead, 28-21, early in the fourth quarter, and ISU never looked back. Roberson finished the game 16-for-24 with 178 yards passing and two touchdowns and added 79 yards rushing and a touchdown late in the game. Running back Marshaun Coprich added two scores and totaled 144 yards rushing in the win as well for the Redbirds.
COPRICH TAKES THE TOP SPOT
Already owning nearly every single-season and career rushing mark in the Illinois State record book, senior All-American running back Marshaun Coprich needed a good performance against UNI (Oct. 3) to take over the top spot on the career rushing yardage list. Needing 133 yards coming into the game, Coprich amassed 169 yards and scored twice as the Redbirds defeated No. 6 UNI, 21-13. Coprich moved his career total to 3,737 yards (in 121 less carries), which topped the previous mark of 3,702 set by former Redbird great Toby Davis. Earlier this season, Coprich broke Davis' career records for touchdown rushes and total touchdowns as well. Coprich also is No. 1 among all active FCS players and ranks No. 15 on the all-time MVFC list.
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.
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.
THE BULL IS LOOSE
A stout Iowa Hawkeye defense kept ISU All-American running back Marshaun Coprich corralled in the season-opening loss. 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 477 yards and seven touchdowns during ISU's three-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). Coprich leads the MVFC in rushing yards (509), yards per game (127.2) and rushing touchdowns (7) and scoring with 42 points.
THE WINS KEEP COMING
Since 2013, every team that has come to play Illinois State at Hancock Stadium has left with a loss. That trend continued with a 21-13 win over No. 6 UNI (Oct. 3), as the Redbirds extended their home winning streak to 15 games in a row. That increases the school-record winning streak and it marks the third-longest streak in MVFC history. Under the leadership of Brock Spack since 2009, the Redbirds are 32-6 at home and the only team in the league that has a better winning percentage at home in that time span is four-time defending national champion North Dakota State.
SPACK NEARING A MILESTONE
With his team's win over UNI (Oct. 3), Illinois State head coach Brock Spack moved up to No. 3 on the ISU all-time coaching wins list with 49. Spack passed his immediate predecessor Denver Johnson (48-54) and is looking to become just the third football coach in ISU history with 50 wins with his next victory. Spack trails longtime coaches Howard Hancock (57) and Edwin Struck (86) on the all-time wins list, and his career winning percentage of .645 (49-27) is the highest among coaches with more than one year at the helm of the program.
REDSHIRTS PULLED
Illinois State head coach headed into the season wanting to redshirt almost all of his newest members of the Redbird football team, but a rash of injuries have forced Spack to play some of his young freshmen. Wide receiver Bryce Jefferson has played in all four Redbird games, but classmates Luther Kirk and Hasan Muhammad-Rogers each saw action for the first time against UNI (Oct. 3). Kirk finished the game with a tackle and Muhammad-Rogers recorded his first career catch and tackle in the contest for the Redbirds.
CHECK ONE OFF THE LIST
The Redbirds have had a lot of problems winning on the road in Charleston, Illinois, in recent history and were hoping to change that in the 104th Mid-America Classic (Sept. 19). The Redbirds had not won on the home turf of their in-state rivals since 2007 and O'Brien Field is one of two stadiums that ISU head coach Brock Spack had not won in that ISU visits frequently in his time as head coach. ISU needed a turnover and a game-winning field goal in overtime from Sean Slattery to change that, but the Redbirds picked up the 34-31 win over the Panthers. The only other spot Spack has not won at is Stambaugh Stadium in Youngstown, Ohio, but that too could get checked off the list when the Redbirds take on the Penguins.
