Redbirds Welcome In No. 3 Bison For Homecoming 100

SETTING THE SCENE
Date: October 16, 2021
Time: 2 p.m. CT
Site: Normal, Illinois
Stadium: Hancock Stadium
Capacity: 13,391
Series: NDSU leads 12-2
Last: NDSU won 21-13 (March 13, 2021)
Watch: Marquee Sports Network
Stream: ESPN+
Listen: WJBC 1230 AM / 102.1 FM / 93.7 FM / The Varsity Network

THE GAME
Following a bye week, Illinois State (2-3, 0-2 MVFC) will welcome back alumni and fans to campus for the 100th Homecoming celebration this weekend, when the Redbirds host No. 3 ranked North Dakota State (5-0, 2-0 MVFC) at Hancock Stadium.

THE SERIES
The Redbirds and the Bison will meet for the 15th time on the gridiron, with North Dakota State holding a 12-2 advantage in the series that dates back to 2007. The two teams last met in the spring, when NDSU held on for a 21-13 win over ISU at the Fargodome on March 13. The Bison have won the last 10 games in the series, with the last win for the Redbirds coming at home in 2010 by a score of 34-24. The last two contests have been extremely hard-fought, with the Bison winning the two games by a combined 14 points.

THE COACHES
Illinois State: Brock Spack (Purdue, 1983) is in his 13th season as the head coach at Illinois State (87-56). Spack guided the Redbirds to back-to-back shares of the MVFC title in 2014-15 and an appearance in the 2014 FCS Championship. He has led the ISU to eight playoff appearances overall and recently became the program's all-time wins leader.

North Dakota State: Matt Entz (Wartburg, 1995) is in his third season as the head coach at North Dakota State (28-3) after spending the previous five seasons as the team's defensive coordinator. Entz was voted as MVFC Coach of the Year in 2019, after helping the Bison become the first modern-era college football team in any division to finish a season 16-0.

THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT

• North Dakota State University is located in Fargo, North Dakota, and has an enrollment of 12,461 students. The Bison are members of the Missouri Valley Football Conference and play their home games at Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome (19,000).
• NDSU moved up two spots in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 media poll and AFCA FCS Top 25 coaches poll after a crazy weekend in the FCS that saw No. 2 South Dakota State take a 42-41 overtime loss at home to Southern Illinois and No. 3 James Madison lose 28-27 at home to Villanova. Defending national champion Sam Houston (5-0) remains No. 1 and Eastern Washington (6-0) climbed two spots to No. 2. The Missouri Valley Football Conference has seven teams ranked this week.
• In addition to its No. 1-ranked red zone defense, North Dakota State leads the FCS in scoring defense (8.6 ppg) and ranks fifth in total defense (252.0 ypg), sixth in sacks (3.4/game) seventh in rushing defense (73.4 ypg). The Bison are also No. 2 in third down conversion defense (22%).
• The Bison always feature a strong running attack and this year is no different, as the they rank No. 1 in the FCS averaging 289.8 rushing yards per game and 6.53 yards per carry. Only Florida (6.67 ypc) and Coastal Carolina (6.64 ypc) are averaging more yards per carry in Division I football. NDSU has four running backs averaging over six yards per carry in TaMerik Williams (8.7), Jalen Bussey (8.1), Dominic Gonnella (7.0) and Hunter Luepke (6.8), plus quarterback Quincy Patterson's 5.0 average and team-high 53 carries.
• North Dakota State leads the FCS in red-zone defense (.429) allowing two rushing touchdowns and one field goal in seven opportunities inside the 20-yard line. Only Princeton, with one less game played, has allowed fewer red zone opportunities (6).
• NDSU improved to 5-0 on the season and 2-0 in the MVFC last week, when Quincy Patterson had two rushing and two passing touchdowns, and the NDSU defense recorded five sacks in a 34-20 homecoming win over Northern Iowa. Christian Watson caught five passes for 163 yards—all in the first half—including an 85-yard touchdown as Patterson finished 11 of 21 passing for 182 yards and two TDs.

LAST TIME VS. THE BISON (3/13/21)
Illinois State and North Dakota State always seem to play hard-fought defensive battles inside the Fargodome and this one was no different, as the two defenses battled all day but the Bison came up with one more touchdown to defeat the Redbirds by a score of 21-13. Tight end Tanner Taula led all receivers for the Redbirds with four catches for 50 yards and scored his second career touchdown in the loss to the Bison.

HOMECOMING 100
This weekend's game against North Dakota State will have an extra importance to it, as Illinois State will celebrate its 100th Homecoming on campus all week. In addition to the annual Hall of Fame induction ceremony, several other events will take place with alumni and fans in attendance for the first time in nearly two years. The Redbirds have had a lot of success recently in their Homecoming contests, winning 9-of-11 under the leadership of head coach Brock Spack and their last three in a row. Overall, ISU is 52-41-6 in Homecoming contests, with the longest winning streak being seven in a row from 1937-1943.

JABARI BREAKS OUT
Heading into the game against Missouri State, talented redshirt freshman Jabari Khepera had just six receptions dating back to last spring in eight games played. Against No. 16 Missouri State, Khepera nearly tied that mark with five receptions and set career-highs with 107 yards receiving against the Bears in a breakout performance. The Texas native caught his first career touchdown, a 75-yard bomb from fellow freshman quarterback Jackson Waring, and averaged 21.4 yards per reception in the contest. He now ranks second on the team in receiving and is averaging 13.9 yards per grab on the year.

WARING AIRS IT OUT
In just his second career start, Jackson Waring came out strong in the first half of the Redbirds' game against Missouri State. Facing stout fronts shutting down the running game, Waring took the top off the defense with long completions of 30, 24, 59, 23, 75 and 17 yards. He also threw the first three touchdowns of his young career, including the 75-yard strike to Jabari Khepera midway through the second quarter. He would finish the game with a career-high 318 yards passing and is now completing 61.3 percent of his passes on the year.

THIRD TIME'S A CHARM
The Redbird defense had great chances at some interceptions against No. 16 Missouri State but couldn't seem to haul one in until Jarrell Jackson finally hauled one in late in the contest. On back-to-back plays in the third quarter, the Redbirds had potential interceptions bounce off their hands, but they ultimately forced a punt. However, Jackson was able to record his second of the season after the ball bounced off the Bears receiver and he dove to get the pick. It was his team-leading second of the season as the Redbirds now have seven total interceptions.

BREAKING LOOSE
Freshman running back Cole Mueller has found a way to make things happen with the ball in his hands in the open field so far this season. The Wentzville, Missouri, native broke loose for an 80-yard touchdown run in the opener against Butler on way to 111 yards rushing and followed that up with a career-high 144 yards rushing to help the Redbirds pick up a rivalry win over Eastern Illinois. Then at Southern Illinois, he averaged 6.2 yards per carry with a 40-yard burst. 

PICKS A PLENTY
For the second time this season, Illinois State picked off a pair of passes in their contest at Southern Illinois with both coming from Redbird linebackers. The first was by Shanon Reid just before halftime and the second was by Kenton Wilhoit, the second in his career.