No. 15 Redbirds Look To Bounce Back Against No. 3 UNI

SETTING THE SCENE
Date: March 6, 2021
Time: 4 p.m. CT
Site: Cedar Falls, Iowa
Stadium: UNI Dome
Capacity: 16,324
Series: UNI leads 22-13
Last: L, 27-10 at Illinois State (Nov. 2, 2019)
TV: NBC Sports Chicago
Stream: ESPN+ 
Listen: WJBC AM 1230 / TuneIn

THE GAME
Illinois State will look to bounce back from a disappointing season opener last week at home against South Dakota, when the No. 15 ranked Redbirds (0-1) travel to Cedar Falls, Iowa, to take on No. 3 ranked Northern Iowa (1-1) Saturday afternoon at the UNI Dome.

THE SERIES
The Redbirds and the Panthers will meet for the 36th time, with Northern Iowa holding a 22-13 advantage over Illinois State in the all-time series. ISU has won four of the last seven games against the Panthers, but have not won at the UNI Dome since a 33-21 victory in 2012. The Panthers won the last meeting between the two teams 27-10 last season at Hancock Stadium and have won the last two meetings overall.

THE COACHES
Illinois State: Brock Spack (Purdue, 1983) is in his 12th season as the head coach at Illinois State (84-51). 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.

Northern Iowa: Mark Farley (UNI, 1987) is in his 20th season as head coach at his alma mater (160-84). Farley is the winningest coach in UNI and Missouri Valley Football Conference history with 160 wins and is the active leader in the FCS with 17 FCS Playoff wins. The Panthers are coming off the first 10-win season since 2011 and first quarterfinal appearance since 2015. 

HIS WEEK'S OPPONENT

• The University of Northern Iowa is located in Cedar Falls, Iowa, and has an enrollment of  10, 497 students. The Panthers are members of the Missouri Valley Football Conference.
• UNI is coming off of its fifth playoff appearance in six seasons. The Panthers won 10 games in 2019 for the first time since 2011 and returned to the FCS quarterfinals for the first time since 2015.
• A total of six Panthers earned preseason All-MVFC honors: Will McElvain, Isaiah Weston, Jared Brinkman, Omar Brown, Bryce Flater and Matthew Cook. Weston and Brinkman also  earned HERO Sports FCS Preseason All-American honors. 
• Dom Williams scored two touchdowns, and the UNI defense held Youngstown State to just 135 yards of offense as the Panthers improved to 1-1 on the season with a 21-0 win over the Penguins last Saturday at Stambaugh Stadium. The win gave UNI head coach Mark Farley his 100th Missouri Valley Football Conference win.
• Walk-on offensive lineman Chase Arends was named the MVFC Offensive Lineman of the Week after stepping into the starting lineup for the Panthers in the win over Youngstown State. Three Panther starters for week one were unavailable for week two because of COVID protocols and contact tracing, which gave Arends the start at center. He and the rest of the offensive line helped the Panthers pickup 191 yards rushing and he did not give up a sack.

LAST TIME VS. THE PANTHERS (11/2/2019)
Four costly turnovers doomed No. 7 Illinois State, as the Redbirds gave No. 9 UNI prime scoring opportunities off giveaways in the fourth quarter that allowed the Panthers to secure a 27-10 victory at Hancock Stadium. A 4-yard touchdown pass from Brady Davis to Braxton Haley and a 34-yard field by Sam Fenlason were the only scores for the Redbirds on the day. Luther Kirk led all tacklers with 10 stops, while Romeo McKnight added a career-high nine stops with a TFL and a pass breakup.

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. 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.

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 in the season debut.

FEAST OR FAMINE
It was one of those days for sophomore quarterback Bryce Jefferson in his home starting debut against South Dakota. Jefferson set career highs for completions (15), passing yards (280), rushing yards (65) and touchdown passes (1) against the Coyotes, and had three completions of over 50 yards in the contest. However, he also accounted for four interceptions and two fumbles in the contest, which featured big moments in the first half and tough outcomes in the second half.

REDBIRDS FLYING HIGH IN 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. After the second week of competition this spring, the Redbirds sit at No. 15 nationally and are one of a record seven MVFC ranked in this week's poll.

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 84-51 (.622) 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).

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 PICKED FIFTH IN 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. 

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.

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.