SETTING THE SCENE
Date: Sept. 7, 2019
Time: 6:30 p.m. CT
Site: Normal, Illinois
Stadium: Hancock Stadium
Capacity: 13,391
Series: ILS leads 2-1
Last: ILS won 52-21 (Sept. 10, 2011)
Watch: NBC Sports Chicago Plus / ESPN+
Listen: WJBC AM 1230 / 93.7 FM / TuneIn
THE GAME
The Illinois State football team will look to bounce back from a tough season-opening loss at Northern Illinois, when the No. 16 ranked Redbirds (0-1) host the Morehead State Eagles (1-0) in the 2019 home opener at Hancock Stadium.
THE SERIES
The Redbirds and the Eagles will play for fourth time overall, with ISU leading the series 2-1. The series began in 1971 with a 28-12 win for Morehead State, but the Redbirds evened things up the following year in 1972 with a 20-0 shutout victory. The two teams didn't square off again until 2011, when the Redbirds dominated in a 52-21 defeat of the Eagles.
THE COACHES
Illinois State: Brock Spack (Purdue, 1983) is in his 11th season as the head coach at Illinois State (74-46). 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.
Morehead State: Rob Tenyer (Olivet College, 1995) is in his seventh season as the head coach at Morehead State (26-43). Tenyer led the Eagles to their best overall (7-4) and Pioneer Football League (6-2) marks since 2007 in 2015.
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
- Morehead State University is located in Morehead, Kentucky, and has an enrollment of 10,351 students. The Eagles are members of the Pioneer Football League.
- Head Coach Rob Tenyer is in his seventh season leading the Eagle program. The Eagles improved to 2-5 in season openers under Tenyer with their win last week over Union (Ky.), but four of those have been on the road at nationally-ranked FCS programs.
- Morehead State rolled up 587 total yards on offense, including balancing 293 passing yards with 280 yards on the ground, to come away with a 44-7 victory over Union (Ky.) in the first meeting between the two Bluegrass State schools since 1946.
- Junior defensive end Vaughn Taylor, Jr., and sophomore quarterback Mark Pappas were honored for their week one play by the Pioneer Football League, as Taylor was named as the league's Defensive Player of the Week, while Pappas garnered the first Offensive Player of the Week award for 2019.
- Taylor, Jr. wreaked havoc on the Union (Ky.) offense to the tune of 3.5 tackles for loss, a sack, a pass breakup and a quarterback hurry in the Eagles' 44-7 victory.
- Pappas made his first career start and guided MSU to two scoring drives of more than 90 yards in the contest. He threw for 236 yards and three touchdowns on a 15-of-21 effort and also scored from a yard out to record the Eagles' inaugural touchdown of 2019 late in the first quarter.
LAST TIME VS. THE EAGLES (9/10/2011)
Quarterback Matt Brown tied his career-high with five touchdown passes, and the Redbird defense limited Morehead State to negative 48 rushing yards, as the Redbirds beat Morehead State by a score of 52-21 in ISU's home-opener at Hancock Stadium. Brown finished the game 12-for-17 for 286 yards, while Tyrone Walker caught three passes, all for touchdowns, totaling 120 yards. Marvon Sanders hauled in a team-high four passes for 127 yards and one touchdown.
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 10 seasons. ISU is a perfect 10-0 in home openers in the past decade, and the Redbirds hope to extend that streak to 11 against Morehead State this season. In 2018, the 'Birds made an early statement on the year with a 46-0 shutout win over Saint Xavier to open the season.
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.
PROTECTING THE NEST
Opposing teams coming to Hancock Stadium have not felt very welcome in the past 10 seasons, as Redbird teams led by Spack have not been very accommodating in the win column to visitors. ISU is a combined 48-12 at home during Spack's tenure and have gone 31-6 at Hancock Stadium since the renovation of the facility in 2013.
GETTING DEFENSIVE
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.
REDBIRDS FLY 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. 16 in both the FCS Coaches Poll and the STATS FCS Top 25.
A WINNING TRADITION
The Redbirds' 6-5 overall record in 2018 was the ninth .500 or better effort in the last 10 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 74-45 (.622) record under the leadership of Spack, the highest winning percentage of any football head coach with more than one season at the helm.
