Date: Sept. 5, 2015
Location: Iowa City, Iowa
Kickoff: 11 a.m. CT
Stadium: Kinnick Stadium
Stadium Capacity: 70,585
Series: First Meeting
Watch: Big Ten Network
THE GAME
Coming off its most successful season in program history in 2014, the Illinois State football team kicks off the 2015 season in one of the toughest environments in college football at Kinnick Stadium against the Iowa Hawkeyes.
THE SERIES
The Redbirds and the Hawkeyes have never met on the gridiron. ISU has played several Big Ten Conference opponents in the past, but is 0-7 in those contests. The last time the Redbirds faced a Big Ten foe was in 2010, when the Redbirds headed up I-55 for an in-state contest at Northwestern.
THE COACHES
Illinois State: Brock Spack (Purdue, 1983) is in his seventh season as the head coach at Illinois State (46-26). 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.
Iowa: Kirk Ferentz (Connecticut, 1978) is in his 17th season as head football coach at Iowa (115-85) and his 19th overall as a collegiate head coach (127-106). Ferentz is the longest tenured of Big Ten Conference football coaches and is tied for second in coaching longevity among BCS schools.
THE @REDBIRDFB PROGRAM
- Five FCS playoff appearances (1998, 1999, 2006, 2012, 2014)
- Four-time FCS quarterfinalists (1999, 2006, 2012, 2014)
- Two-time FCS semifinalists (1999, 2014)
- The team is 30-6 at home under Spack's guidance
- ISU finished the 2014 regular season undefeated at home (8-0) and set the school record with 13 wins.
- The team set a program-record cumulative GPA of 2.94 in the Spring 2015 semester.
THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT
- The University of Iowa is located in Iowa City, Iowa, and has an enrollment of 31,065 students. The Hawkeyes are members of the Big Ten Conference and play their home games at Kinnick Stadium (70,585).
- The Hawkeyes finished the 2014 season with a 7-6 record, including a 4-4 record in Big Ten Conference play. Iowa finished its season in the TaxSlayer.com Bowl in Tampa against Tennessee, dropping a 45-28 decision to the Vols.
- The Hawkeyes have earned bowl eligibility in 13 of the last 14 seasons.
- Iowa has won 13-of-16 season openers under Kirk Ferentz, averaging 35.6 ppg in the 13 wins. The Hawkeyes are also 12-0 all-time against FCS opponents.
- The Hawkeyes open the 2015 season without their 2014 leader in passing yards, rushing yards or receptions. It marks the first time since 2004 that Iowa opens the season without a returning statistical leader in at least one of those categories.
- Junior quarterback C.J. Beathard, the nephew of Illinois State offensive coordinator Kurt Beathard, is making his second career start in the 2015 season opener. Beathard made his first career start at Purdue on Sept. 27, 2014, and led the Hawkeyes to a 24-10 win.
BIG TEN LID LIFTER
The Redbirds will have an extremely difficult task when they open the 2015 season against Big Ten Conference foe Iowa at Kinnick Stadium. The Redbirds did not play an FBS opponent in 2014 and have not played a Big Ten Conference member since 2010, when the Redbirds dropped a 37-3 decision to Northwestern on Sept. 11. Illinois State has played four current members of the Big Ten Conference and has gone 0-7 in those contests, with a pair of losses each to Illinois, Minnesota and Purdue and the lone loss to the Wildcats in 2010.
FOR STARTERS
The Redbirds have split their six season openers under head coach Brock Spack, with wins in two out of the last three season openers. None of those have been against FBS programs, with the last opener against a FBS foe taking place in 2008 at Marshall. The Redbirds have opened the season against a Big Ten foe once previously, a 2002 lid lifter at Purdue and against Spack, who served as the Boilermakers' defensive coordinator.
UNCHARTED TERRITORY
It came as no surprise that the Redbirds were ranked as the No. 2 team in the country heading into the season, coming off a national runner-up finish in 2014. It marked the highest ranking for Illinois State in school history, with the previous high ranking of No. 3 coming during the 2006 season. The previous high preseason ranking was No. 5 in 2000, after the Redbirds advanced to the FCS semifinals in 1999.
ABSOLUTELY PERFECT
Since the Hancock Stadium renovation was completed prior to the 2013 season, Illinois State has gone a perfect 13-0 on its home turf. ISU went 5-0 at home during the 2013 season, but unfortunately went 0-6 on the road to finish with the only losing record in head coach Brock Spack's tenure at ISU. The Redbirds were perfect at home again in 2014, with seven wins during the regular season and a home second-round FCS playoff win over Northern Iowa that upped the total to eight and the running total to 13 in a row headed into the 2015 home opener on Sept. 12 against Morgan State.
RUSHING TOWARD HISTORY
Heading into his senior season, All-American running back Marshaun Coprich is approaching several significant individual milestones. Coprich is just 473 yards short of the ISU all-time rushing yards record held by Toby Davis (3,702) and just one touchdown short of Davis' school record of 37. He is also just three total touchdowns short of Davis's record of 39 and 733 yards short of Davis's all-purpose yards record (4,371).
DYNAMIC DUO 2.0
During the 2012 playoff season, the duo of quarterback Matt Brown and Tyrone Walker smashed records and gave opposing defenses fits in the passing game. A new dynamic duo has emerged for the Redbirds in quarterback Tre Roberson and running back Marshaun Coprich, who shattered single season marks and re-wrote the record books in 2014. Roberson and Coprich were each named to the STATS FCS Offensive Player of the Year Watch List and both will look to improve upon staggering numbers from last season. Roberson amassed 4,250 yards of total offense and accounted for 41 touchdowns in his first season at ISU, and Coprich led the FCS in rushing yards with 2,274 and touchdowns with 27.
RETURN TO KINNICK
When Redbird quarterback Tre Roberson steps foot in Kinnick Stadium on Saturday, it won't be foreign territory for the ISU signal-caller. Roberson previous started for Indiana when the Hoosiers visited Kinnick Stadium in 2011. Roberson rushed 15 times for 82 yards, and was 16-of-24 passing for 196 yards and a touchdown, but his effort was not enough, as the Hawkeyes downed the Hoosiers, 45-24. Linebacker Reggie Spearman is also very familiar with the Hawkeyes' home turf, having played 21 games for Iowa over two seasons before transferring to Illinois State.
BIG TEN FEEL
Programs at the FCS level often rely on transfers from FBS programs, and the Redbirds have had several players transfer from Big Ten programs. Quarterback Tre Roberson and defensive lineman David Kenney each transferred from Indiana, defensive end David "Boom" Perkins came from Ohio State and the most recent addition, linebacker Reggie Spearman, makes his return to Iowa Saturday.
SPACK NO STRANGER TO BIG TEN
Illinois State head coach Brock Spack spent most of his coaching career at the FBS level and much of that time was spent in the Big Ten at Purdue as defensive coordinator from 1997-2008. In six seasons as head coach at ISU, Spack has posted a 1-3 record against FBS foes with a pair of losses in 2009 and 2010 to Illinois and Northwestern, respectively. He helped the Redbirds pick up their first win over an FBS foe in over 20 years with a win at Eastern Michigan in 2012 and the Redbirds dropped their most recent contest against an FBS foe to Ball State in 2013.
O CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN
Being voted a captain by your peers is perhaps one of the best shows of respect a collegiate football player can receive. After fall camp was concluded, the Redbirds selected senior quarterback Tre Roberson, senior safety and special teams standout Soniel Estime and senior middle linebacker Pat Meehan as their captains for the 2015 season. They will be joined each game by another senior voted on each week by the coaching staff.
CSN CHICAGO TO AIR FOUR REDBIRD FOOTBALL GAMES
Illinois State Athletics will continue to maintain its television footprint in the Chicago media market with a new four-game agreement with Comcast SportsNet Chicago, whose regional television base reaches 4.9 million homes, for the 2015 Redbird football season. Redbird fans who receive Comcast SportsNet will be able to watch the home opener against Morgan State (Sept. 12) on CSN Chicago Plus, crucial Missouri Valley Football Conference matchups against Western Illinois (Oct. 24) and Indiana State (Oct. 31), and the regular-season finale against South Dakota (Nov. 21).
