108th Mid-America Classic Up Next For The Redbirds

SETTING THE SCENE
Date: Sept. 14, 2019
Time: 2 p.m. CT
Site: Charleston, Illinois
Stadium: O'Brien Field
Capacity: 10,000
Series: Illinois State leads 56-42-9
Last: ISU won 48-10 (Sept. 8, 2018)
Watch: ESPN+
Listen: WJBC AM 1230 / 93.7 FM / TuneIn

THE GAME
One of the oldest rivalries in all of FCS football continues, when Illinois State travels to Eastern Illinois for the 108th meeting of the Mid-America Classic. The Redbirds, coming off an impressive 42-14 win over Morehead State last weekend, will look to keep their positive momentum in tact against the Panthers, who dropped to 0-2 on the year with a loss last week at Indiana.

THE SERIES
The Redbirds and the Panthers will play for 108th time overall, with ISU holding a 56-42-9 advantage in the series history. ISU has won four out of the last five meetings overall, including the last two over EIU. The Redbirds have won by an average margin of 34.5 in those previous two wins and have posted victories in their last two meetings at O'Brien Field in Charleston.

THE COACHES
Illinois State: Brock Spack (Purdue, 1983) is in his 11th season as the head coach at Illinois State (75-46). 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).

Eastern Illinois: Adam Cushing (University of Chicago, 2002) is in his first season as the head coach at Eastern Illinois (0-2). Hired as 25th head coach in program history in December, Cushing previously served 15 years on Northwestern coaching staff led by head coach Pat Fitzgerald and was in the role of offensive line coach since 2009.

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 48-12 at home under Spack's guidance
• ISU is 31-6 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

• Eastern Illinois University is located in Charleston, Illinois, and has an enrollment of 7,415 students. The Panthers are members of the Ohio Valley Conference and play their home games at O'Brien Field.
• EIU first-year head coach Adam Cushing was hired as 25th head coach in program history on Dec. 9, 2018. He had previously coached 15 years on the Northwestern staff, including 13 seasons under Coach Pat Fitzgerald.
• The Panthers fell to 0-2 on the season, after Indiana scored on its first three possessions of the first quarter and went on to secure a 52-0 victory last Saturday afternoon.
• The game against the Redbirds is the only at home for the Panthers in the opening month, as they will open with three of their first four games on the road. Thanks to early-season contests against Chattanooga, Indiana and the nationally-ranked Redbirds, EIU has the sixth toughest schedule in FCS as rated by HERO Sports. 
• EIU returns only two starters on offense from last year in second team All-OVC selection James Sheehan and All-OVC Newcomer Team selection Johnathan Brantley. Sheehan ranked first in the OVC for receptions and yards for a tight end. Brantley set the OVC & EIU record for consecutive passes thrown without an interception at 230.
• Senior Terrell Greer was named to the preseason All-Ohio Valley Conference team on the defensive line as the Panthers lone representative on the squad. Greer had 48 tackles last season with three tackles for loss and one fumble recovery. Greer has played in all 33 games during his Panther career making 20 starts up front. He had five tackles for loss as a sophomore.

LAST TIME VS. THE PANTHERS (9/8/2018)
The Illinois State offense proved it was too much for Eastern Illinois in the 107th Mid-America Classic, as the Redbirds retained the travelling trophy and defeated the Panthers by a score of 48-10 at Hancock Stadium. The 38-point margin of victory was the Redbirds' largest in the series since 1992, when ISU defeated EIU by a score of 48-7 at Hancock Stadium. The Redbird offense outgained the Panthers 582 to 356 on the night, including 254 yards on the ground. ISU quarterback Brady Davis finished the game 17-of-23 for 317 yards with four touchdowns through the air and also carried the ball four times for 14 yards and a touchdown to account for five total in the victory.

GETTING DEFENSIVE
The Redbirds have become accustomed to finding the end zone on the defensive side of the football in recent years, and they kept that streak alive in the win over Morehead State thanks to an impressive pick six by Tuvone Clark. The 29-yard interception return for a touchdown was the first of the season for the Redbirds and the first for Clark in his four seasons at Illinois State. ISU has now scored a defensive touchdown in each of the last 11 seasons under the leadership of head coach Brock Spack.

HE'S BACK
After being held to just 16 yards by a stout Northern Illinois defensive front in the season opener, senior All-American running back James Robinson was back to his old self in the Redbirds' win over Morehead State. Robinson carried the ball 23 times for 178 yards (7.7 yards per carry) and tied a career-high with three rushing touchdowns in the blowout victory over the Eagles. The Rockford, Illinois, native had scoring runs of 16, 34 and 2 yards, respectively, as the Redbirds racked up 353 yards on the ground in the home opener.

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 11 seasons. ISU is a perfect 11-0 in home openers in the past decade, thanks to a 42-14 in the 2019 home lid-lifter against Morehead State. 

REDBIRDS FLYING HIGH IN NATIONAL 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. 12 in the FCS Coaches Poll and at No. 13 the STATS FCS Top 25. Four MVFC teams are ranked in the polls this week, including North Dakota State (No. 1), South Dakota State (No. 3), Northern Iowa (10/11) and the Redbirds. Indiana State, Youngstown State and Southern Illinois are also receiving votes in the polls.

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 49-12 at home during Spack's tenure and have gone 32-6 at Hancock Stadium since the renovation of the facility in 2013.

GRIMES SHINES
Sophomore Taylor Grimes played a lot of football in 2018, but did not feature heavily in to the receiving action with only two catches for 19. However, he earned a starting spot on the receiving corps for 2019 and he made the most of it for the Redbirds in the season opener at Northern Illinois. The Godley, Texas, native led the team in receiving and set new career highs with six receptions for 109 with his first career touchdown reception. Grimes snagged a 42-yard touchdown pass from Brady Davis in the third quarter to knot the game at 10-10 at the time for ISU.  

BALANCED EFFORT VS. THE HUSKIES
The Redbird defense featured strong performances from several players in the team's opener at Northern Illinois. Dylan Draka's interception was the first of his career and he also set a career-high with seven tackles against the Huskies. Luther Kirk led the Redbirds defensively with nine tackles for ISU, one short of his career high of 10 set last season against UNI, while John Ridgeway (8), Christian Uphoff (6)  and Zeke Vandenburgh (5) also set career bests in tackles.