Redbirds Fly West To Face Colorado State

SETTING THE SCENE
Date: Sept. 22, 2018
Time: 2:08 p.m. CT (1:08 p.m. MT)
Site: Fort Collins, Colorado
Stadium: Canvas Stadium
Capacity: 41,000
Series: First Meeting
Listen: WJBC AM 1230 / 93.7 FM / TuneIn
Watch: AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain

THE GAME
Following a bye, Illinois State steps up in competition this week as the Redbirds travel to Fort Collins, Colorado, to take on Mountain West Conference foe Colorado State in a big non-conference matchup. ISU will be competing against an FBS foe for the third time in the past four seasons, and the seventh time since head coach Brock Spack took over the program in 2009. The Redbirds head into the game ranked No. 15 in the AFCA FCS Coaches' Top 25 and No. 16 in the STATS FCS Top 25.

THE SERIES
The Redbirds and the Rams will meet for the first time on the gridiron. ISU has only faced one other member of the Mountain West Conference in program history, a Sept. 27, 1997, loss at UNLV.

THE COACHES
Illinois State: Brock Spack (Purdue, 1983) is in his 10th season as the head coach at Illinois State (70-40). Spack has led the Redbirds to four FCS playoff appearances, including three-straight  from 2014-16 and guided the Redbirds to back-to-back shares of the MVFC title in 2014-15. His 2014 team also advanced to the NCAA FCS National Championship game, the first in the program's history.

Colorado State: Mike Bobo (Georgia, 1998) is in his  fourth season as the Colorado State head coach (22-21). Bobo became the first CSU coach to win seven regular-season games in first season as head coach ('15) and first to lead CSU to a bowl game in each of his first three seasons. 

THE @REDBIRDFB PROGRAM

• 7 FCS playoff appearances (1998, 1999, 2006, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016)
• 5-time FCS quarterfinalists (1999, 2006, 2012, 2014, 2015)
• 2-time FCS semifinalists (1999, 2014)
• The team is 45-11 at home under Spack's guidance
• ISU is 28-5 at Hancock Stadium since 2013
• The team tied a program-record cumulative GPA of 2.94 in the Spring 2017 semester

THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT

• Colorado State University is located in Fort Collins, Colorado, and has an enrollment of 33,413 students. The Rams are members of the Mountain West Conference.
• CSU currently ranks 11th in the FBS in passing offense, averaging 336.8 yards per game through the air, against a schedule that has included one Pac-12 and two SEC programs in the Rams' four games.
• The Rams are off to a 1-3 start to the season, and have played an extremely challenging schedule that has featured Hawaii, Colorado and a pair of SEC programs in Arkansas and Florida. 
• Colorado State scored 25 unanswered points, including the game-winning touchdown with eight seconds to play, to knock off Arkansas, 34-27, two weeks ago for its lone win of the season. The Rams recorded their first win against an SEC team in Fort Collins and just their  second win all-time against an SEC team, paired with the program's 17-14 win at LSU on Sept. 26, 1992.
• CSU is coming off a loss to Florida last Saturday at 'The Swamp,' which lived up to its name with a temperature of 96 degrees at kickoff. The Rams outgained the Gators (240-119) through the air, but the Gators had a significant edge on the ground (222-70).
• Graduate transfer quarterback K.J. Carta-Samuels ranks seventh in the FBS in completions per game (26.25) and 10th in passing yards per game (329.8) to lead the way for the CSU offense. Through four games, Carta-Samuels has completed 64.4% of his passes (105-163) for 1,319 yards and 9 touchdowns with 3 interceptions.
• The Colorado State defense has had a hard time stopping its opponents to start the season, allowing 40.8 points per contest and 244.5 yards per game on the ground.

LAST TIME VS. THE FBS (9/10/2016)
A 33-yard field goal off the foot of placekicker Sean Slattery as time expired gave Illinois State a 9-7 win over Big Ten Conference foe Northwestern at Ryan Field in front of a raucous crowd of 30,478. The win was the first in nine tries for the Redbirds against teams from the Big Ten. 

STEPPING UP
Illinois State has played FBS opponents six times previously since 2009 under the leadership of head coach Brock Spack and will play a big-time opponent for the seventh time in his tenure when the Redbirds face off against the Rams. ISU is 2-4 overall in those contests against teams from the MAC and the Big Ten, with both of those wins coming in the last four games against FBS opponents. The Redbirds picked up a convincing 31-14 win at Eastern Michigan in 2012, before heading to the FCS playoffs. Most recently, the 'Birds defeated Northwestern by a score of 9-7 in their most recent game against a Power 5 foe.

TWO FOR TWO FOR DAVIS
For the second time in as many weeks, quarterback Brady Davis was named the Missouri Valley Football Conference Newcomer of the Week for his dominating performance in the team's victory over Eastern Illinois. The Memphis transfer completed 17-of-23 (74 percent) of his passes for a career-high 317 yards with four touchdowns through the air and another on the ground. He found Spencer Schnell for a 97-yard touchdown pass (2nd longest in school history) in the second quarter to headline a dominating offensive performance for the Redbirds that saw them rack up 582 yards of total offense.

SPREADING THE FOOTBALL AROUND
At the end of spring camp, the Redbirds had three healthy wide receivers and a lot of question marks at the position heading into the fall. Impressive performances during fall camp alleviated some of those worries, and performances through the first two contests have led head coach Brock Spack to call the position a strength. Led by senior Spencer Schnell (13 rec., 213 yds. 2 TD), the group features transfer Braxton Haley (7 rec., 106 yds.) and redshirt freshman Andrew Edgar (6 rec., 104 yds., 1 TD) who have both played well in their first games as Redbirds.

97 YARDS TO PAYDIRT
The Illinois State defense had just forced a big turnover on downs midway through the second quarter against Eastern Illinois, however it resulted in the ISU offense being backed up against its own goalline at the 3-yard line. That's when Redbird offensive coordinator Kurt Beathard dialed up a surprise for the Panthers, as quarterback Brady Davis faked the handoff and dropped back three yards into the endzone and launched a playaction pass to a streaking Spencer Schnell, who caught the ball near midfield and ran away from the EIU defender for a 97-yard touchdown reception. The touchdown connection tied for the second-longest in school history behind a 98-yard touchdown pass from Kevin Glenn to Rickey Garrett at Indiana State in 1998.

DEFOREST DOES IT AGAIN
For the second week in a row, linebacker Ty DeForest found the ball in his hands after an interception. After nearly returning an interception for a touchdown in the season-opener versus Saint Xavier, DeForest took away another when he stepped in front of EIU quarterback Harry Woodbery's pass for his second interception in as many weeks. That takeaway resulted in three points for the Redbirds, as Sam Fenlason connected from 37 yards out six plays later to put ISU up 31-0.

CLASSIC DOMINANCE
The annual playing of the Mid-America Classic between Illinois State and Eastern Illinois is one of the oldest and most competitive in the FCS, however the past two outcomes have been skewed heavily in the favor of the Redbirds. ISU has gone 6-4 overall against EIU since head coach Brock Spack took over in 2009, but the 'Birds have dominated the Panthers the past two years by a combined margin of 92-24 in a pair of victories to bring their lead in the all-time series to 56-42-9. The 38-point margin of victory in ISU 48-10 win was the Redbirds' largest in the series since 1992, when they defeated the Panthers, 48-7, at Hancock Stadium.