Redbird Football Begins Fall Camp Thursday, Aug. 6

NORMAL, Ill. – The sting of a last minute loss in the FCS National Championship to North Dakota State still lingers for the Illinois State football program, but the team will begin to wipe the slate clean when they begin fall training camp Thursday, Aug. 6, at Hancock Stadium.

Players report back to campus Wednesday, with the first practice of the fall scheduled for Thursday at 3:30 p.m. The team will have 15 practices before wrapping up fall camp on Saturday, Aug. 15, with the annual Red-White Scrimmage as part of Redbird Fan Fair.  Fans can follow all of the camp action via daily practice reports, photos and videos on GoRedbirds.com and by following Redbird Football on Twitter at @RedbirdFB.

The 2014 season was historic in every way for the Redbirds, as they posted a school-record 13 wins en route to a share of the Missouri Valley Football Conference title and their first appearance in the FCS National Championship.  Along the way, several single-season records were broken and players racked up conference and national awards while putting the program on the national map.

Led by seventh-year head coach Brock Spack, the Redbirds are working toward making back-to-back playoff appearances for the first time since 1998-99 and look to keep their home winning streak of 13 games alive.  The 2014 MVFC Coach of the Year, Spack holds a 46-26 record heading into the season and has led the Redbirds to winning seasons in six of his seven years at the helm of the program.

The 2015 squad returns 11 starters (five offense, six defense) and 40 total letterwinners from last year's team.  On offense, the group is led by preseason All-Americans Marshaun Coprich and Tre Roberson, each who return for their senior seasons.  The 2014 MVFC Offensive Player of the Year, Coprich rushed for 2,274 and 27 touchdowns last season and will look to improve on those numbers in his final season.  Roberson, the 2014 MVFC Newcomer of the Year, returns for his second season after throwing for 3,221 yards and 30 touchdowns and rushing for 1,029 yards and 11 scores on the ground.

Preseason All-Americans Pat Meehan and Teddy Corwin also return to anchor a Redbird defense that held opponents to just 122 yards on the ground last season.  Meehan, who was named to the STATS FCS Defensive Player of the Year Watch List earlier this summer, led the team with 115 tackles, which ranked him No. 10 in the MVFC with an average of 7.7 tackles per game. Corwin, a First-Team All-MVFC selection at defensive end, ranked second on the team with a career-high 98 tackles and led the team with 12.5 tackles-for-loss in 2014.  

 ISU opens the 2015 season against FBS foe Iowa on Sept. 5 at Kinnick Stadium.  Kickoff is scheduled for 11 a.m., and will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network.

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