Redbirds Renew Rivalry With The Leathernecks

SETTING THE SCENE
Date: March 20, 2021
Time: 11 a.m. CT
Site: Normal, Illinois
Stadium: Hancock Stadium 
Capacity: 13,391 (20 percent COVID capacity)
Series: WIU leads 51-48-3
Last: ISU won 28-14 (Oct. 19, 2019)
Watch: Marquee Sports Network
Stream: ESPN+ 
Listen: WJBC AM 1230 / 93.7 FM / TuneIn

THE GAME
After competing in back-to-back road games against top-5 nationally ranked teams, the Illinois State Redbirds (0-3) are excited to return to the nest Saturday to host Western Illinois Leathernecks (0-3) for an 11 a.m. contest at Hancock Stadium.

THE SERIES
The Redbirds and the Leathernecks will meet for the 103rd time on the gridiron, with WIU leading the all-time series 51-48-3 which dates back to 1904. The Redbirds have won nine out of the last 10 meetings overall, including a 28-14 last October in Macomb. Overall, ISU is 10-2 against WIU with head coach Brock Spack at the helm. 

THE COACHES
Illinois State: Brock Spack (Purdue, 1983) is in his 12th season as the head coach at Illinois State (84-53). 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.

Western Illinois: Jared Elliott (Miami Ohio, 2008) is in his 3rd season as head coach at Western Illinois (6-20). Elliott was named the Leathernecks head coach in 2018, after serving as the program's assistant head coach and co-offensive coordinator. Western finished the 2018 campaign with a pair of wins over 'Top 25' programs in 15/16 Montana and 17/23 Northern Iowa.

THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT

• Western Illinois University is located in Macomb, Illinois, and has an enrollment of 7,490 students. The Leathernecks are members of the Missouri Valley Football Conference.
• Western Illinois finished the 2019 season at 1-11, with its lone win coming on a 38-34 decision over South Dakota.
• Week three of the spring season saw the Western Illinois football team suffer a 38-21 setback to North Dakota to drop to 0-3 on the season. Freshman Iosefa Pua'auli was the standout for the Leathernecks, as he posted a two-touchdown performance in the loss to the Fighting Hawks.
• WIU holds three of the top four spots in the MVFC in receptions per game. Dennis Houston leads the Valley and ranks third in the nation, with 8.7 catches, and is followed by teammates Tony Tate and Dallas Daniels. Those rankings should come as no surprise, as quarterback Connor Sampson is averaging 32 completions per game (second in the NCAA) and 298.3 passing yards (sixth in the NCAA).
• Herschel Blankenship has been a pleasant surprise for the WIU defense, as the third-year sophomore has already surpassed the number of solo tackles posted in his first two seasons combined. He currently leads Western's defense with 22 which ties for sixth in the Valley. 

LAST TIME VS. THE LEATHERNECKS (10/19/2019)
For the second week in a row, No. 10 Illinois State took an early lead and ran away with a victory as the Redbirds locked down a 28-14 victory over the Western Illinois Leathernecks. All-American running back James Robinson scored three touchdowns and the Redbird defense forced three turnovers in the victory. With the win, ISU swept the season series against FCS teams from the State of Illinois with victories at Eastern Illinois, at Southern Illinois and Western Illinois.

NO FLY ZONE
Breaking up passes comes easy for cornerback Charles Woods. The Dallas, Texas, native ranked second in the Missouri Valley Football Conference with 17 passes defended in 2019 and is off to the same start in the spring 2021 campaign. Woods is currently tied for second in the MVFC in passes defended (7) and interceptions (2) thanks to his pair of picks at North Dakota State. Woods became the first Redbird since 2015 to record multiple interceptions in game, when Alec Kocour recorded two in a loss to South Dakota State.

WHITE BREAKS LOOSE
The one thing coaches had commented about redshirt freshman tailback Nigel White was his speed, and that was on full display against North Dakota State. The Florida product rushed for a career-high 87 yards against the vaunted Bison defense and put together chunk runs of 20, 17 and 32 yards. White averaged 5.8 yards per carry on 15 attempts and showed why the coaching staff is so high on the freshmen duo of White and Pha'leak Brown. 

TAULA FOR THE TOUCHDOWN
Redbird tight ends are an integral part of the team's offensive success, however receptions and touchdowns can be hard to come by for the group. That's why when Tanner Taula found the endzone against North Dakota State, players seemed a bit more excited that usual. Taula finished the contest with a career-best four receptions for 50 yards and scored just his second touchdown in a Redbird uniform. He has 10 catches on the season, after coming into the year with just 12 in the previous two seasons combined, and he recorded the first receiving touchdown for a Redbird tight end since 2018.

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 at UNI over thanks to an impressive pick six by Kenton Wilhoit. The 29-yard interception return for a touchdown was the first of the season for the Redbirds and the first for Wilhoit in his career at Illinois State. ISU has now scored a defensive touchdown in each of the last 12 seasons under the leadership of Brock Spack.

PLENTY OF PASS CATCHERS
The Illinois State wide receiver room was ravaged by injuries in 2019, forcing many young players into roles they were not expecting. Fast forward to the spring of 2021 and the wideout position is possibly the deepest on the squad. Taylor Grimes, who played in just four games in 2019 due to injury, returned in a big way to catch a 59-yard touchdown pass against South Dakota. Kacper Rutkiewicz, a true freshman last season who had to step in earlier than expected, began his sophomore season where he left off and caught two passes for 45 yards. One of the most veteran players in the group, Austin Nagel, led the receivers with a career-high 132 yards on five receptions in the contest with two receptions over 50 yards against the Coyotes.

RUMBLE BIG MAN RUMBLE
It's not often you see a 6-6, 330 pound defensive tackle rumble down the field after pulling down an interception, but that's exactly what happened late in Illinois State's season opener against South Dakota. Late in the fourth quarter, Redbird nose tackle John Ridgeway batted a pass at the line of scrimmage into the air and it fell into his arms for his first career interception. He then proceeded to rumble for a few yards before being brought down by a group of tacklers. Ridgeway tied for the team lead in tackles with seven and added a TFL and two quarterback hurries.

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.

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 84-53 (.613) record under the leadership of Spack, who is just two wins away from tying Howard Hancock for the program's all-time wins record (86).