Redbirds Wrap Up Regular Season Against The Bison On Senior Day

THE DETAILS
Date: Nov. 18, 2017
Time: Noon (CT)
Site: Normal, Illinois
Stadium: Hancock Stadium (13,391)
Series: NDSU leads 7-2
Streak: NDSU won 5
Last: NDSU won 31-10 in Fargo on Oct. 1, 2016
Listen: Redbird Radio Network (AM 1230, FM 93.7)
Streaming Audio: GoRedbirds.com & TuneIn App
Watch: NBC Sports Chicago/ESPN3

THE GAME
It all comes down to this for the Redbirds, who need a victory to improve their win total to seven and potentially earn a spot in the FCS playoffs for the fourth-consecutive season. However, the task ahead of them is daunting with seven-time MVFC champion and fourth-ranked North Dakota State heading to Hancock Stadium on Senior Day.

THE SERIES
Illinois State and North Dakota State will meet for the 10th time in the series Saturday, with the Bison holding a 7-2 advantage over the Redbirds. ISU won its only two games against the Bison in 2009-10 in head coach Brock Spack's first two seasons at the helm, but NDSU has picked up wins in the last five meetings including the thrilling 2014 FCS National Championship Game.    

PLAYERS TO WATCH
Illinois State: James Robinson, RB, So.
Robinson scored a pair of touchdowns, including the game-tying score that sent the game to overtime at South Dakota State. Robinson rushed for 83 yards on 15 carries to up his season total to 837 yards, which ranks him third in the MVFC this season. His 11 touchdowns are tied for second overall, and his 83.7 yards per game are fourth-most among league ball carriers.

North Dakota State: Easton Stick, QB, Jr. 
Stick was named MVFC Offensive Player of the Week, after going 11-of-12 passing for a career-high 307 yards and one touchdown with no turnovers last Saturday against South Dakota. Stick  also rushed seven times for 39 yards with a touchdown, as the Bison rolled up 647 yards of total offense on the Coyotes. 

THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT
>>>   North Dakota State University is located in Fargo, North Dakota, and has an enrollment of 14,358 students. The Bison are members of the Missouri Valley Football Conference and play their home games at Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome (19,000).
>>>   The Bison are led head coach Chris Klieman (Northern Iowa, 1990), who is in his fourth season as the head coach at North Dakota State (49-6). Since taking over as head coach, Klieman has guided the Bison to four-consecutive MVFC titles and to the program's fourth and fifth straight national championships in 2014-15.
>>>   NDSU heads into the game with a 9-1 record and a No. 4 national ranking in the latest STATS FCS Top 25 Poll. The Bison have been dominant all season, winning by an average margin of 33 points in their nine victories. The lone blemish on NDSU's resume comes in the form of a 33-21 loss at No. 8 South Dakota State two weeks ago in the Dakota Marker game.
>>>   North Dakota State clinched at least a share of its seventh straight Missouri Valley Football Conference championship with last week's win over South Dakota. NDSU can win its third outright title (2012, 2013) with a win over the Redbirds or losses by NDSU, South Dakota State and Northern Iowa. 
>>>   The Bison running attack returned with a vengeance last week with 340 yards on the ground against South Dakota. Ty Brooks rushed nine times for a career-high 152 yards and three touchdowns, and the Bison scored a total of six touchdowns on the ground.
>>>   Quarterback Easton Stick, defensive back Jalen Allison and offensive lineman Tanner Volson were named Missouri Valley Football Conference players of the week by the league. The trio each had strong performances for the Bison in their 49-14 rout of South Dakota last week.

THE LAST TIME THEY MET (OCT. 1, 2016)
After taking a 10-7 lead early in the second quarter, Illinois State looked ready to give No. 1 ranked North Dakota State a hard time on its home field, however the Bison reeled off 24 unanswered points to defeat the No. 18-ranked Redbirds by a score of 31-10 in front of a crowd of 18,907 at Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome. Jake Kolbe went 23-for-35, throwing for 285 yards including an 18-yard touchdown reception to junior wide receiver Anthony Fowler. Fowler shattered his previous career best in receiving yards topping out at 119 yards on a then career-best six receptions.

ONE FINAL TIME IN THE NEST
For 22 seniors, today's game against the Bison could be the last they play in front of their home crowd at Hancock Stadium. This group of dedicated seniors helped change the direction of the ISU football program, with back-to-back MVFC titles in 2014-15, an appearance in the 2014 NCAA FCS National Championship game, three-consecutive playoff appearances and a total of 35 wins. With one final win over No. 4 North Dakota State, this group could also throw its name into the conversation for a fourth-consecutive appearance in the FCS Playoffs, something that has never been accomplished in program history.

GETTING DEFENSIVE
The match up between the Redbirds and Bison will get extremely defensive, as the two teams sport two of the better defensive units in all of FCS football. Both are particularly strong against the run, as they rank 1-2 in the MVFC in rushing defense and No. 8 (NDSU - 88.4) and No. 10 (ILS - 92.5) nationally. The Bison also rank first in Valley Football and No. 2 in the FCS in total defense (239.8), while the Redbirds ranks second in the MVFC and No. 16 nationally (311.4).

FIRST TIME PICKERS
The Redbird defense forced a pair of interceptions off of dangerous SDSU quarterback Taryn Christion, and both fell in the to the hands of players who had never recorded a pick to date. On South Dakota State's first possession of the game, defensive end Matt Swaine tipped a pass at the line of scrimmage and the ball popped up in the air before Devin Taylor dove under it for his first career INT. Then, at the end of the third quarter, senior defensive end Adam Conley batted an attempt at the line and fell under it for his first career pick. 

TAKING IT TO THE HOUSE
Redshirt freshman Christian Uphoff became just the sixth player in Illinois State history to return a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown. After South Dakota State took a 17-7 lead, Uphoff took the kickoff from five yards deep in the end zone and brought the ball out. He broke a tackle and then used a pivotal block from Ty DeForest and raced down the sideline nearly untouched for the first kickoff return for a score for the Redbirds since 2014. Uphoff is the first ISU player to return a kickoff 100 yards for a score since Josh Burch achieved the feat against Indiana State in 2013.

BROADNAX GETS THE NOD
All week long, redshirt freshman Malachi Broadnax took snaps with the first team unit preparing for a possible start against No. 5 South Dakota State. On Friday, he was told he would make his first career start behind center and he nearly led the Redbirds to an upset road win over the Jackrabbits on his first try. Broadnax was steady for the Redbird offense, as he completed 10-of-18 pass attempts for 102 yards, while rushing for 63 yards. He had a long run of 22 yards in the contest, and his 19-yard run late in the fourth quarter set up James Robinson's game tying touchdown that sent the game into overtime. 

SCORING QUICK
Recent Redbird teams have had a tough time getting started in games and have had to be late-game winner. However, this year's team seems to be adept at jumping out to early leads, while holding opponents to very few points in the first quarter. ISU has outscored its opponents 65-20 in the first quarter this season and the Redbirds are 5-1 when leading after the first quarter. The 'Birds have also been strong coming out of the locker room, outscoring opponents 83-58 in the third quarter through 10 contests this season.

DRASHANE DOES IT AGAIN
For the second week in a row, senior defensive back DraShane Glass came up with a big interception when his team needed it the most. Against Youngstown State, Glass came away with a diving interception in the end zone that led to an 80-yard touchdown drive for the Redbirds. Against Western Illinois, Glass stepped in front of a WIU receiver and picked off quarterback Sean McGuire at the ISU 33 yard line. The ISU offense proceeded to drive 67 yards on 11 plays to take a 14-0 lead into the locker room at the half. The interception was the second of the season for Glass and the eighth of his career, the most by any active Redbird.

PETKOVICH FINDS PAYDIRT
In his first two seasons at Illinois State, junior tight end Tylor Petkovich recorded just nine total receptions in 25 games for the Redbirds. The 2017 season has already been a career-best for Petkovich, who now has 21 receptions for 219 yards through nine contests for ISU. However, he added another first in ISU's game against WIU as he caught the first touchdown of his career, a four-yard score from Jake Kolbe. 

RUNNING PAST THE PENGUINS
For the second-straight week, the Illinois State rushing attack was dominant and rushed for nearly 300 yards.  The duo of Markel Smith (124) and James Robinson (117) paced the attack and they became the first duo to both run for over 100 yards since Dec. 5, 2015, when Marshaun Coprich (217) and Tre Roberson (111) achieved the feat in the FCS playoffs against Western Illinois. 
 
MCCOWN MAKES GOOD
It's always good to be in the right place at the right time, and senior defensive lineman Matt McCown was the beneficiary of one such happenstance of luck in the Redbirds' win at Youngstown State. Just six minutes into the game, Tyree Horton sacked YSU quarterback Nathan Mays and forced a fumble that popped in the air landed in the arms of McCown, who rumbled 26 yards for the defensive score to widen the ISU lead to 14-0 at the time. The score was the first of McCown's career and the third defensive score for the Redbirds this season.