THE GAME
Fresh off three-consecutive appearances in the FCS playoffs, the Illinois State Redbirds head into the 2017 season ranked No. 18 in the preseason national top 25 poll. The Redbirds will look to extend their playoff appearance streak to four years in a row and that journey starts Saturday in the season-opener against Pioneer Football League opponent Butler at Hancock Stadium.
DETAILS
Date: Sept. 1, 2017
Time: 6:30 p.m. CT
Site: Normal, Ill.
Stadium: Hancock Stadium
Capactiy: 13,391
Series: ISU, 1-0
Streak: Won 1
Last: W, 14-0 at Butler on Oct. 29, 1949
Watch: Valley Football on ESPN3
Listen: WJBC AM 1230 / 93.7 FM
THE SERIES
The Redbirds and the Bulldogs will play for the second time in school history tonight. The only other meeting between the two programs happened on Oct. 29, 1949, when the Redbirds defeated the Bulldogs 14-0 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Illinois State would go on to finish 6-2-1 that season under head coach Edwin Struck.
THE COACHES
Illinois State: Brock Spack (Purdue, 1983) is in his ninth season as the head coach at Illinois State (62-35). Spack has led the Redbirds to three-straight FCS playoff appearances and guided the Redbirds to back-to-back shares of the Missouri Valley Football Conference title in 2014-15.
Butler: Jeff Voris (DePauw, 1989) is in his 12th season as head football coach at Butler (64-60) and his 17th overall as a collegiate head coach (79-95). Voris is third on Butler's all-time list for coaching victories, trailing only Tony Hinkle (165) and Bill Sylvester (84).
PIONEER LEAGUE LID LIFTER
The Redbirds are a combined 10-6 against current members of the Pioneer League, with the only losing record coming at the hands of Valparaiso. ISU has winning records against Butler (1-0), Dayton (1-0), Drake (5-3) and Morehead State (2-1), but has only defeated Valpo in one out of its three games in the all-time series.
HOME SWEET HOME
The Redbirds have played well at home under the leadership of head coach Brock Spack, including in their home openers the last eight seasons. ISU is a perfect 8-0 in home openers in the past eight seasons, and the Redbirds hope to extend that streak to nine against Butler this season. In 2016, the 'Birds put an early exclamation point on the season with a 50-13 defeat of Valparaiso in the opener.
GO FOR FOUR
When Illinois State heard its name called on the NCAA FCS selection show in 2016, the Redbirds punched their third-straight ticket to the FCS playoffs for the first time in program history. ISU made its seventh playoff appearance overall, and had previously advanced to the playoffs in back-to-back seasons in 1998-99. The four playoff appearances in the last five years for the Redbirds is also unprecedented for the ISU football program, but one streak the team hopes to continue in the future.
PROTECTING THE NEST
Opposing teams coming to Hancock Stadium have not felt very welcome in the past eight seasons, as Redbird teams led by head coach Brock Spack have not been very accommodating in the win column to visitors. ISU is a combined 40-9 at home during Spack's tenure and have won 23 out of its 26 games at Hancock Stadium since the renovation of the facility in 2013.
A WINNING TRADITION
The Redbirds' 6-5 overall record and a 4-4 mark in MVFC play in 2016 is the eighth .500 or better effort in the last nine seasons under the leadership of head coach Brock Spack, who began his tenure at ISU with 6-5 records in both 2009-10. That consistency of winning has not been seen at Illinois State since the 1940's, when the Redbirds posted seven winning seasons in eight years from 1943-50 under the guidance of coaches Howard Hancock and Edwin Struck. Overall, the Redbirds have amassed a 62-34 (.646) record under the leadership of Spack overall and are 23-3 at Hancock Stadium since 2013.
O CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN
Voted on by the team at the conclusion of fall camp, the Redbirds selected senior defensive tackle Dalton Keene, junior quarterback Jake Kolbe and junior middle linebacker Brannon Barry as their captains for the 2017 season. They will be joined each game by another senior voted on each week by the coaching staff.
REDBIRDS FLYING HIGH IN NATIONAL POLLS
Despite some key losses due to graduation and a tough Missouri Valley Football Conference schedule on the docket, media, coaches and FCS pundits still believe in the Redbirds and their chance at success in 2017. Illinois State was selected No. 18 in the FCS Preseason Coaches Poll and No. 20 in the STATS FCS Preseason Top 25.
ISU SELECTED FIFTH IN MVFC PRESEASON POLL
Coming off a third-straight FCS playoff appearance, Illinois State was picked to finish fifth in the Missouri Valley Football Conference preseason poll, voted on by the league's head coaches, media members and sports information directors. The last time the Redbirds were picked fifth or lower was in 2014, when ISU was picked sixth before going on to finish the season 13-2 and advance to the FCS National Championship. Senior defensive back Davontae Harris was one of five Redbirds selected to the preseason MVFC team. The Wichita, Kansas, native ranked No. 1 in the MVC in passes defended with 15 (13 PBU, 2 INT), while averaging 1.36 passes defended per game to also top the list last season. Fellow senior defenders Dalton Keene and Alec Kocour were also named to the preseason MVFC team, along with 2016 MVFC All-Newcomer squad member Spencer Schnell. Senior placekicker Sean Slattery also made the annual list as an honorable mention selection.
A TON OF YARDS
In just his first full season as the starting quarterback at Illinois State, Jake Kolbe has had to battle injury, adversity and setbacks in order to become a leader for his team in 2016. In the team's win over No. 11 Western Illinois, Kolbe threw for 265 yards, moving his season total to 2,249 yards at the time to become just the seventh quarterback in school history to throw for over 2,000 yards in a season. Only 14 times has a Redbird quarterback thrown for 2,000 yards in campaign, and his 2,703 yards ranked him No. 6 on the single-season passing list, just behind Luke Drone's 2,930 yards thrown in 2005.
WATCH OUT FOR DAVONTAE
Defensive back Davontae Harris has not only been selected to the STATS FCS Preseason All-America Team, but also to the 2017 STATS FCS Buck Buchanon Award watch list. The Wichita, Kansas, native garnered STATS FCS preseason All-America second-team honors and was one of 17 MVFC players named to the annual list. Harris was a 2016 All-MVFC First-Team selection and started 11 of 12 games for the Redbirds at cornerback. He ranked No. 1 in the MVFC in passes defended with 15 (13 PBU, 2 INT), while averaging 1.36 passes defended per game to also top the list. He also tallied 5.5 tackles-for-loss and finished his junior season with 59 total tackles. He is one of several first-time nominees that join an impressive list of mix of returning finalists to form the watch list for the 2017 STATS FCS Buck Buchanan Award. Harris is the first Redbird defender to be named to the list since 2013, when All-American Colton Underwood was a finalist for the second year in a row. Former ISU linebacker Pat Meehan was the last Redbird to earn national player of the year watch list recognition, when he named to the 2015 STATS FCS Defensive Player of the Year Watch List.
