No. 7 Ranked Redbirds Set To Host South Dakota In 2021 Spring Opener

SETTING THE SCENE
Date: February 27, 2021
Time: Noon CT
Site: Normal, Ill.
Stadium: Hancock Stadium
Capacity: 13,391 (20% of capacity for Spring 2021)
Series: ISU leads 6-1
Last: W, 37-21 at Illinois State (Oct. 21, 2017)
Watch: NBC Sports Chicago
Stream: ESPN+ 
Listen: WJBC AM 1230 / 93.7 FM / TuneIn

THE GAME
The Illinois State football program was ready to begin its 2021 spring campaign last week at Missouri State, but poor field conditions postponed the contest until April. So, Saturday's scheduled home opener will also be the season opener for the Redbirds, when they play their first game in 441 days as they host the South Dakota Coyotes at Hancock Stadium.

THE SERIES
The Redbirds and the Coyotes will meet for the eighth time Saturday, with Illinois State leading the series 6-1. ISU won the first five meetings of the series that dates back to 2011, before USD won its only game against ISU in 2016 (a 27-24 win at the Dakota Dome). The two teams will be meeting for the first time since 2017, when the Redbirds picked up a 37-21 win a home.

THE COACHES
Illinois State: Brock Spack (Purdue, 1983) is in his 12th season as the head coach at Illinois State (84-50). 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 is three wins away from becoming the program's all-time wins leader.

South Dakota: Bob Nielson (Wartburg, 1982) is in his fifth season at South Dakota (21-26) and his 28th as a collegiate head coach (207-106-1). In just his second season with the Coyotes (2017), Nielson led the program to a record eight wins at the Division I level and to the FCS playoffs for the first time. 

THE REDBIRD FOOTBALL PROGRAM

• 8 FCS playoff appearances (1998, 1999, 2006, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019)
• 6-time FCS quarterfinalists (1999, 2006, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2019)
• 2-time FCS semifinalists (1999, 2014)
• The team is 52-14 at home under Spack's guidance
• ISU is 35-8 at Hancock Stadium since 2013
• The team set a program-record cumulative GPA of 3.40 in the Spring 2020 semester

THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT

• The University of South Dakota is located in Vermillion, South Dakota, and has an enrollment of 9,459 students. The Coyotes are members of the Missouri Valley Football Conference.
• The South Dakota-Western Illinois football game scheduled for last Friday, Feb. 19, at the DakotaDome in Vermillion, South Dakota, was postponed due to Western Illinois' COVID-19 protocols. The game will be rescheduled for Saturday, April 17 at 1 p.m., and will be played in Vermillion.
• USD was picked to finish 6th in the MVFC preseason poll voted on by the league's head coaches.
• Eight South Dakota players were featured on the Missouri Valley Football Conference preseason team. Running back Kai Henry, tight end Brett Samson, offensive lineman Mason Scheidegger, linebacker Jack Cochrane and punter Brady Schutt were named to the 31-player team. Wide receiver Caleb Vander Esch, kicker Mason Lorber and junior long snapper Dalton Godfrey earned honorable mention honors.
• Schutt is a preseason all-American and was a 2019 first-team all-MVFC selection for the Coyotes. He finished as the nation's fourth-leading punter with a 45.1-yard average. That average helped the unit finish seventh nationally in net punting. 

LAST TIME VS. THE COYOTES (10/21/2017)
The Illinois State offensive rushing attack racked up 331 yards against fourth-ranked South Dakota and big pass plays lifted the No. 24 ranked Redbirds to a 37-21 victory over the Coyotes on Homecoming in front of 12,113 fans at Hancock Stadium. The Redbirds handed the Coyotes their first loss of the season and the win for ISU over the No. 4 team in the country was their highest win over a ranked opponent since defeating No. 1 New Hampshire in the semifinals of the 2014 FCS playoffs. Sophomore tailback James Robinson led the Redbird rushing attack with a career-high 193 yards on 19 carries with a pair of scores and junior wide receiver Spencer Schnell also had a career day with 191 yards on seven receptions with two touchdowns.

A WINNING TRADITION
The Redbirds' 10-5 overall record in 2019 was the 10th season at .500 or better in the last 11 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 84-50 (.627) record under the leadership of Spack, the highest winning percentage of any football head coach with more than one season at the helm.

O CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN
Voted on by the team at the conclusion of spring camp, the Redbirds selected junior linebacker Zeke Vandenburgh, senior offensive tackle Drew Himmelman and senior punter JT Bohlken as their captains for the 2021 spring season. They will be joined each game by selected seniors voted on each week by the coaching staff as game captains.

REDBIRDS FLYING HIGH IN NATIONAL POLLS
Coming off a 10-5 season an appearance in the FCS quarterfinals in 2019 and despite several key losses to graduation and transfer, FCS pundits still believe in the Redbirds and their chance at success in the spring 2021 campaign. Illinois State was selected No. 9 in the STATS FCS Preseason Top 25. The Redbirds were also selected No. 9 in the Athlon Sports and HERO Sports FCS preseason Top 25 polls. ISU went wire-to-wire in 2019, as the Redbirds remained the FCS Top 25 polls for the entirety of the season ending the year at No. 7 overall.

ISU PICKED FOURTH IN MVFC PRESEASON POLL
The Illinois State football team was selected to finish fourth in the Missouri Valley Football Conference by the league's head coaches, when the annual preseason poll was announced following changes made from the fall season. 

HIMMELMAN GARNERS PRESEASON ATTENTION
Senior offensive tackle Drew Himmelman is no stranger to receiving accolades, as he heads into his senior season with All-America honors from 2019 already on his resume. Not only did Himmelman garner All-MVFC preseason first-team honors, but he was also named a preseason All-American by HERO Sports FCS and Athlon Sports. The Campbell Trophy finalist also garnered a invite to the East-West Shrine Bowl and has received an invitation to participate in the (virtual) NFL Combine.

STARS IN THE SECONDARY
The losses of starters Devin Taylor and Christian Uphoff will be daunting for the Redbirds this spring, however two standouts who will be returning are ready to prove there will be no regression in the secondary. Cornerback Charles Woods and safety Clayton Isbell were named to the 2019 HERO Sports FCS Sophomore and Freshman All-America Team, respectively, and have a lot to prove this season. Woods finished 2019 second in the MVFC with 17 passes defended, with four interceptions and 4.5 tackles-for-loss. Isbell, playing primarily as the team's starting nickleback, ended the season with 23 total tackles, two sacks, three tackles-for-loss and two interceptions.

JEFFERSON TAKES THE LEAD
Bryce Jefferson stepped up in a big way in the 2019 playoffs for the Redbirds, leading them to a pair of wins at Southeast Missouri State and Central Arkansas and helping his team take No. 1 ranked North Dakota State Bison to the limit in the FCS quarterfinals. So it came as no suprise that Jefferson was named the team's starter at quarterback heading into the season when incumbent QB Brady Davis announced he was leaving to prepare for the NFL Draft. Jefferson's calm demeanor on the field and his ability with the ball in his hands could make for a very exciting season for the Redbirds.

FIVE REDBIRDS EARN PRESEASON MVFC HONORS
A total of five Redbirds made the 2021 MVFC Preseason Team, led by returning All-American left tackle Drew Himmelman. Named one of 12 finalists for the 2020 William V. Campbell Trophy®, Himmelman earned All-America and First-Team All- MVFC following the 2019 season and graded out at over 90 percent while helping current NFL Rookie of the Year finalist James Robinson record a conference-leading 1,899 rushing yards. Fullback Timothy McCloyn II, defensive tackle John Ridgeway, linebacker Zeke Vandenburgh and cornerback Charles Woods were also recognized as honorable mention selections.

GETTING DEFENSIVE 
There's no doubt that a strong rushing attack led by All-American James Robinson and a stingy defense was the recipe for success for the Redbirds in 2019 as they advanced to the quarterfinals of the playoffs. The Redbird defense, led by defensive coordinator Travis Niekamp, ranked in the Top 10 in eight national defensive categories, including ranking No. 1 overall in red zone defense (.614). ISU also led the FCS in team sacks with 52, which also ranked No. 2 in all of NCAA Division I and had the No. 4 scoring defense in the country allowing just 16 points per game.

ROAD WARRIORS
In order to be a championship-caliber team, you have to win on the road and that's exactly what the Redbirds did in 2019. ISU finished the season with a 6-3 mark away from home, the most wins away from Hancock Stadium since the 2012 season when the Redbirds also made it to the quarterfinals of the FCS playoffs. With an extremely challenge road slate the includes matchups with three teams ranked in the Top 5, the Redbirds will once again have to be strong on the road if they have any hopes of making the 16-team FCS playoff field in April.

MID-SEASON GAUNTLET AWAITS
When the 2021 spring campaign schedule was re-done after Indiana State announced it would not be competing, it surely did no favors to the Redbirds during the middle of the slate. After opening with games at Missouri State and hosting South Dakota, the Redbirds will play three of their next four games on the road all against opponents currently ranked in the Top 5 in the country. Road tilts at No. 3 Northern Iowa, No. 1 North Dakota State and No. 5 South Dakota State in the month of March will surely show what the Redbirds are made of. It doesn't get much easier when the calendar flips to April, as ISU hosts No. 24 ranked Southern Illinois at Hancock Stadium.