Redbirds Welcome Defending National Champion Bison To Hancock Stadium

SETTING THE SCENE
Date: Oct. 5, 2019
Time: Noon CT
Site: Normal, Illinois
Stadium: Hancock Stadium
Capacity: 13,391
Series: NDSU leads 9-2
Last: NDSU won 28-14 (Oct. 20, 2018)
Watch: NBC Sports Chicago/ESPN+
Listen: WJBC AM 1230 / 93.7 FM / TuneIn

THE GAME
With the non-conference portion of the schedule in the books, No. 6 ranked Illinois State now turns its focus to the start of Missouri Valley Football Conference action this weekend, when the Redbirds (3-1) host defending FCS national champion and No. 1 ranked North Dakota State (4-0) at Hancock Stadium on Family Weekend at ISU.

THE SERIES
The Redbirds and the Bison will face off for the 12th time, with NDSU holding a 9-2 lead in the all-time series between the two squads. ISU picked up back-to-back wins over North Dakota State in head coach Brock Spack's first two years in 2009-10, but NDSU has since won seven straight contests including a 29-27 come-from-behind victory over ISU in the 2014 FCS National Championship game.

THE COACHES
Illinois State: Brock Spack (Purdue, 1983) is in his 11th season as the head coach at Illinois State (77-46). Spack led the Redbirds to three-straight FCS playoff appearances from 2014-16 and guided the Redbirds to back-to-back shares of the MVFC title in 2014-15. He is the second winningest coach in ISU football history, trailing only Edwin Struck (86).

North Dakota State: Matt Entz (Wartburg College, 1995) is in his first season as the head coach at North Dakota State (4-0). Entz spent the past five seasons as the NDSU's defensive coordinator and has been part of five Missouri Valley Football Conference championships and four NCAA national championships with the Bison.

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 50-12 at home under Spack's guidance
• ISU is 33-6 at Hancock Stadium since 2013
• The team set a program-record cumulative GPA of 3.01 in the Spring 2019 semester

THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT

• North Dakota State is located in Fargo, North Dakota, and has an enrollment of 13,173 students. The Bison are members of the Missouri Valley Football Conference and play their home games at Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome.
• NDSU is ranked No. 1 in the STATS and AFCA polls for the 21st consecutive week dating back to the 2017 postseason poll. NDSU has been the top-ranked team in both polls 68 of 120 weeks this decade and No. 1 in at least one of polls for 72 weeks.
• Safety Michael Tutsie and defensive tackle Cole Karcz each made interceptions in the fourth quarter to help North Dakota State improve to 4-0 on the season and hold off No. 4 UC Davis by a score of 27-16 to close non-conference play two weeks ago. Tutsie's interception at the goal line preserved a 20-16 lead with 6:44 to play, and Karcz snared a deflection by defensive end Derrek Tuszka to put the Bison in the red zone with 3:43 to play. 
• The Bison have won 30 consecutive games after open weeks in the regular season and playoffs dating back to a 2005 home loss to UC Davis. That streak includes 18 home games, five road games and seven national championship games in Frisco, Texas.
• Freshman quarterback Trey Lance is off to a great start to the season for the Bison in his first year under center. He has twice earned MVFC weekly honors and is completing 72.2 of his passes on the season. Not only has he thrown for 698 yards and nine touchdowns, but he's also rand for 282 yards and six scores on the ground.
• The North Dakota State defense has been stout as always. NDSU and Georgetown are tied for the fewest touchdowns allowed in the FCS with five apiece through four games this season and the Bison are ranked seventh in the FCS allowing just 13.8 points per game.

LAST TIME VS. THE BISON (10/20/2018)
Junior running back James Robinson eclipsed the century mark for the third straight game and for the fifth time in six contests, however it was not enough as the Redbirds were defeated by the No. 1 ranked Bison by a score of 28-14 at the Fargodome. Robinson carried the ball 20 times for 128 yards with a touchdown, the most the Bison defense had given up that year to a back. Senior wide receiver Spencer Schnell also caught five passes for 112 yards to notch his second 100-plus yard performance of the season and recorded his sixth touchdown reception of the year. 

AIRING IT OUT
The Redbird offense came into the game against Northern Arizona averaging just 118 yards through the air in three previous contests. Needing to have a big night, the passing game led by the arm of Brady Davis rose to the challenge and exploded for 419 yards and two scores to help lead the Redbirds to the victory over the Lumberjacks. Davis recorded a career-best 419 yards, with 228 of those recorded by wide receiver Andrew Edgar, as the Redbirds racked up 534 yards of total offense to improve to 3-1 on the season. The 419 yards passing were the most for the Redbirds since 2012, when Matt Brown threw for 473 against Eastern Illinois. 

SAM I AM
The rainy and windy conditions at Hancock Stadium certainly did not make things easy for Sam Fenlason, but he did not seem phased at all as he split the uprights four times for the Redbirds and finished the game with 16 of the team's 40 points in its victory over Northern Arizona. Fenlason had makes of 23, 28, 32 and 29 yards, respectively, in the contest to improve to 5-for-5 on the season in field goal attempts. He became the first kicker to make three or more field goals since 2017, when Sean Slattery hit three against South Dakota.

SPREADING THE WEALTH 
The Redbird defense recorded just 15 sacks all of last season but has already blown past that number through four games in 2019 thanks to a balanced defensive effort. A total of 13 players have recorded at least a half a sack for the Redbird defense, with Romeo McKnight leading the way with five on the season thus far. Tuvone Clark is next with three on the season, and Steven Podkulski is the other defender with two or more. The group is also a third of the way to last season's interception total of 15, with five different players recording a pick so far in 2019.

THE FRESHMAN IMPRESSES
Freshman Kacper Rutkiewicz made the quite the impression in ISU's 40-27 victory over NAU. The Mount Prospect, Illinois, native recorded a career-best 105 yards on four receptions against the Lumberjacks to record his first career 100-plus yard receiving effort. Rutkiewicz hauled in a career-long pass of 42 yards from Davis to help put him over the century mark and nearly missed out on his first career touchdown reception by stepping out of bounds on a would-be long touchdown catch.

PROTECTING THE NEST 
Opposing teams coming to Hancock Stadium have not felt very welcome in the past 11 seasons, as Redbird teams led by Spack have not been very accommodating in the win column to visitors. ISU is a combined 50-12 at home during Spack's tenure and have gone 32-6 at Hancock Stadium since the renovation of the facility in 2013.

REDBIRDS FLYING HIGH IN POLLS
Despite coming off a 6-5 season 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 2019. Illinois State currently sits at No. 6 in the FCS Coaches Poll and at No. 10 the STATS FCS Top 25. Five MVFC teams are ranked in the polls this week, including North Dakota State (No. 1), South Dakota State (No. 3), the Redbirds (10), Northern Iowa (13) and Youngstown State (17). Indiana State and Southern Illinois are also receiving votes in the polls.

STINGY ON THIRD DOWN
Thanks to an increase in sacks and TFLs through four games this season, the Illinois State defense finds itself in the Top 20 in FCS football in total defense. Another key reason for that success has been the team's ability to get off the field on third down. Opponents are converting on third down just 23.1 percent of the time, which is the second-best mark for a defense in all of FCS football. The Redbirds are also No. 4 in red zone defense, allowing scores just 53.8 percent of the time to offenses in that key part of the field. 

ROBINSON PAYTON AWARD WATCH
Senior running back James Robinson was a finalist for the Walter Payton Award in 2018 and was named to the preseason watch list again in 2019. After starting the season slow at Northern Illinois, Robinson has once again solidified himself as one of the best offensive players in FCS football with his performances in three-straight wins since for the Redbirds. The Rockford, Illinois, native is currently tied for the lead in the FCS with eight rushing touchdowns, is second in scoring (12.0 points per game) and 10th in rushing yards per game (108.0).

ROMEO, ROMEO
A full, healthy offseason of work has done wonders for Illinois State defensive end Romeo McKnight, who is among the conference and national leaders in sacks and tackles for loss. McKnight is currently tied for first in the MVFC with five sacks and tied for second with 6.5 TFLs through four games on the season and has led a Redbird defense that ranks No. 1 in the country in sacks per game. McKnight's numbers put him among the best in the FCS, as he is tied for 4th nationally in sacks per game and is 18th TFLs per contest.