No. 11 Redbirds Ready To Fly At No. 4 South Dakota State

SETTING THE SCENE
Date: Nov. 9, 2019
Time: 2 p.m. CT
Site: Brookings, South Dakota 
Stadium: Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium
Capacity: 19,340
Series: SDSU leads 5-4
Last: SDSU won 38-28 (Oct. 27, 2018)
Watch: ESPN+
Listen: WJBC AM 1230 / 93.7 FM / TuneIn

THE GAME
For the first time this season, Illinois State will travel outside the state lines when it travels to Brookings, South Dakota, to face South Dakota State. The No. 11 ranked Redbirds (6-3, 3-2 MVFC) will look to bounce back after a tough defeat at the hands of No. 9 UNI last week, while the No. 4 ranked Jackrabbits (7-2, 4-1 MVFC) look to win their second in a row after a bounce-back win at Missouri State last weekend.

THE SERIES
The Redbirds and the Jackrabbits will meet for the 10th time, with South Dakota State holding a narrow a 5-4 advantage over Illinois State in the all-time series dating back to 2008. The Jacks have won the last two games and three of the last four overall against the Redbirds. Those wins have been very close, with a combined margin of just 18 points. The last time the two teams met in Brookings, the Jacks needed overtime to come away with a 27-24 win in 2017. 

THE COACHES
Illinois State: Brock Spack (Purdue, 1983) is in his 11th season as the head coach at Illinois State (80-48). 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).

South Dakota State: John Stiegelmeier (SDSU,1979) is in his 23rd season as the head coach of his alma mater (165-102). Stiegelmeier has led his teams to winning records in 18 of his 22 full seasons, including 13 of 15 at the Division I Football Championship Subdivision level, and to eight FCS playoff appearances.

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 51-14 at home under Spack's guidance
• ISU is 34-8 at Hancock Stadium since 2013
• The team set a program-record cumulative GPA of 3.01 in the Spring 2019 semester

LAST TIME VS. THE JACKRABBITS (10/27/2018)
A 21-point second-quarter scoring outburst by No. 7 South Dakota State propelled the Jackrabbits to a 38-28 victory over the No. 9-ranked Illinois State Redbirds at Hancock Stadium. Senior quarterback Jake Kolbe replaced injured starter Brady Davis at the half and finished the game 15-of-23 for 183 yards with three touchdowns. Freshman wide receiver Andrew Edgar led the team in receiving, as he finished with career-highs in receptions (9), yards (202) and touchdowns (2) for the Redbirds in the defeat.

NO FLY ZONE
Redbird cornerback Devin Taylor had a strong sophomore campaign for the Redbirds in 2018, and has certainly built upon that success in 2019. Taylor currently ranks fourth on the team with 42 tackles, including 32 solo stops, and leads the Redbirds with 10 pass breakups. He also recorded his second interception of the season, when he picked off UNI's Will McElvain in the second quarter of Saturday's game. With 12 passes defended, Taylor ranks among the league's best defensive backs and is proving once again why he was worthy of All-MVFC honors a year ago.

FINALLY LEAVING THE LAND OF LINCOLN
A scheduling anomaly for the Redbirds in 2019 resulted in the team not having to leave the state of Illinois until this upcoming weekend, when ISU flies to South Dakota to play the Jackrabbits. Five home games and four road contests against in-state foes have kept the Redbirds close to the nest, but that all changes this week when the nationally-ranked Jacks host the Redbirds. So far, the road has been kind to the 'Birds with a 3-1 record including three-straight wins over Eastern Illinois, Southern Illinois and Western Illinois. ISU has averaged over 23 points per contest in those games and have limited their hosts to an average of just 8 points per game.

SIMON SAYS
When he joined the Redbirds this summer after transferring from Iowa, Brandon Simon knew he would have an opportunity to make an immediate impact in a strong ISU defense. Mostly playing in a reserve role, Simon has racked up three sacks and 5.5 TFLs on the season from his outside linebacker position. The majority of that production has come in the past four games, with sacks in back-to-back wins at Southern Illinois and Western Illinois and TFLs in three out of the last four games, including one in his first career start against UNI. 

FLYING HIGH IN THE POLLS
Illinois State currently sits at No. 11 in the STATS FCS Top 25 and No. 12 in the FCS Coaches Poll. Four MVFC teams are ranked again in the polls this week, including North Dakota State (No. 1), South Dakota State (No. 4), Northern Iowa (5) and Illinois State (11) . The Redbirds have been ranked in every poll so far this season, with a high ranking of No. 6 in the FCS Coaches Poll.

STRONG IN THE RED ZONE
Thanks to an increase in sacks and TFLs through nine games this season, the Illinois State defense finds itself in the Top 20 in FCS football in total defense (17th). Another key reason for that success has been the team's ability to keep opponents from scoring in the red zone. Opponents are scoring just 56.7 percent of the time when inside the Redbirds' 20 yard line, which is the No. 1 mark for a defense in all of FCS football. 

STARTING FAST
For the past several seasons, the Illinois State football team has been known as a second half team, pulling away from opponents late in contests to pick up wins. However, that trend seems to be reversed so far in 2019 as the Redbirds have outscored opponents 55-40 in the first quarter and 120-71 in the first half. The Redbirds are now 6-1 when they are tied or leading at the half and have outscored opponents 199-160 overall.

80 FOR SPACK
Brock Spack's resume as the head coach at Illinois State includes four FCS playoff appearances, a MVFC Coach of the Year honor and a FCS Championship Game appearance. Thanks to his team's win over Indiana State, Spack was able to add another accolade with his 80th career win as the head coach at Illinois State. With a career record of 80-48 (.625), Spack is the second-winningest coach in program history and is just 6 wins away from tying Edwin Struck for the career wins record at ISU. 

MR. ROBINSON'S NEIGHBORHOOD
James Robinson has already cemented his legacy as one of the best running backs in school history, and his performances of late have only added to his resume. With his 180 yards rushing against Indiana State, Robinson increased his career total to 3,469 yards, just 233 yards short of
catching Toby Davis at No. 2 with 3,702 yards, well within his reach with four games left to play in the season. The Rockford, Illinois, native also ranks No. 2 in the ISU career record books in yards per carry (5.74) and second in rushing touchdowns with 40. 

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 51-14 at home during Spack's tenure and have gone 34-8 at Hancock Stadium since the renovation of the facility in 2013. 

HIMMELMAN DOES IT AGAIN
For the second time this season, Illinois State offensive lineman Drew Himmelman was named the Missouri Valley Football Conference Offensive Lineman of the Week. Steady rain and wind played havoc on the Illinois State and Indiana State game last Saturday, forcing most of the offensive action to the ground. That seemed to play in the favor of the Redbirds, as the ISU rushing attack led by Drew Himmelman and the offensive line amassed 287 yards on the ground in a 24-7 victory over the Sycamores. Himmelman graded out at 92 percent and was instrumental in the success of James Robinson, who rushed for 180 yards and two scores on the ground in the adverse conditions.