Family Weekend Showdown With No. 16 Missouri State Next Up For The Redbirds

SETTING THE SCENE
Date: October 2, 2021
Time: 1 p.m. CT
Site: Normal, Illinois
Stadium: Hancock Stadium
Capacity: 13,391
Series: ILS leads 22-17-1
Last: ILS won 17-12 (Nov. 16, 2019)
Watch: Marquee Sports Network
Stream: ESPN+
Listen: WJBC 1230 AM / 102.1 FM / 93.7 FM / The Varsity Network

THE GAME
After playing three-straight games away from home, Illinois State (2-2, 0-1 MVFC) returns to the nest this Saturday for a Family Weekend match up against No. 16 ranked Missouri State (2-1, 1-0 MVFC) at Hancock Stadium.

THE SERIES
The Redbirds and the Bears will meet for the 41st time on the gridiron, with Illinois State holding a 22-17-1 advantage in the series which dates back to 1971. The two teams last met during the 2019 season, with the Redbirds winning a 17-12 thriller on a key fourth-down stop at the goal line in Normal. ISU has won five out of the last six contests against MSU overall, including the last four at Hancock Stadium. ISU head coach Brock Spack stands at 8-3 overall against the Bears.

THE COACHES
Illinois State: Brock Spack (Purdue, 1983) is in his 13th season as the head coach at Illinois State (87-55). 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.

Missouri State: Bobby Petrino (Carroll College, 1983) is in his second season as the head coach at Missouri State (7-6) and his 16th season as a collegiate head coach (126-62), after spending time at Louisville, Arkansas and Western Kentucky. In his first season at Missouri State, Petrino led the Bears to a 5-5 record, including a 5-2 mark in the spring, and a FCS playoff berth.

THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT

• Missouri State University is located in Springfield, Missouri, and has an enrollment of 23,502 students. The Bears are members of the Missouri Valley Football Conference and play their home games at Plaster Stadium (17,500).
• The Bears are coming off a 5-5 record during the 2021 season, losing all three of their contests in the fall and then going 5-2 during the spring campaign. The Bears return 45 lettermen from that squad, including 19 total starters.
• Last spring, first-year head coach Bobby Petrino helped lead the Bears to a 5-1 mark in Missouri Valley Football Conference play to earn a share of the MVFC regular-season title. His efforts not only landed him the prestigious Bruce Craddock MVFC Coach of the Year Award, but also led the Bears to their first NCAA FCS playoff appearance in 30 years.
• MSU is off to a 2-1 start to the season, thanks to a 43-34 win over No. 16 Central Arkansas in the home opener and a win over South Dakota last week in the MVFC opener. The Bears head into this week's game at Illinois State ranked No. 16 in the country in both major FCS Top 25 polls.
• Xavier Lane earned MVFC Offensive Player of the Week and Newcomer of the Week honors after the Bears week 2 win over UCA. In the win, he racked up 148 yards on 9 pass receptions, the most receiving yards by a Bears wideout since 2018.
• Quarterback Jason Shelley passed for two touchdowns and ran for two to lead the Bears to a thrilling 31-23 come-from-behind win over South Dakota last Saturday in the conference opener for both squads. The then No. 18-ranked Bears racked up 439 yards of total offense, with Shelley passing for 281 and adding a game-high 62 ground yards.  For his efforts, Shelley was named the MVFC Newcomer of the Week for the second time this season.

LAST TIME VS. THE BEARS (11/16/19)
No. 7 Illinois State needed a big stop from senior safety Luther Kirk on fourth-and-goal with under a minute to play to secure a 17-12 victory over Missouri State on Senior Day at Hancock Stadium. After a fumble by James Robinson, the Bears had the football deep in Redbird territory and went for the score on fourth-and-goal from the ISU 3-yard line with 39 seconds remaining, but Kirk sacked quarterback Peyton Huslig for a nine-yard loss and gave the football back to the Redbirds as they took a knee secure the win.

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 last week at Southern Illinois, he averaged 6.2 yards per carry with a 40-yard burst. He's currently averaging 8.3 yards per carry, which ranks him No. 5 in the country and No. 2 in the MVFC.

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. The two interceptions upped the Redbird total to six so far in 2021, which ranks the squad No. 10 in the country and second in the MVFC behind North Dakota State with seven total.

SHANON SHOWING OUT
Last spring, linebacker Shanon Reid was still finding his way during a shortened season for the Redbirds. Heading into this fall, he figured to be a big part of the Redbird defense's success and his performance in the last two contests is certainly proving that. In the win over Eastern Illinois, Reid posted 10 tackles to tie for the team lead and then followed that performance up with a career-best 15-tackle effort at Southern Illinois with an interception. He currently leads the Redbirds with 36 total stops on the season, averaging 9.0 stops per contest.

SPACK SETS THE RECORD
Illinois State head coach Brock Spack led the Redbirds to their 87th win in his 13 seasons courtesy of a 31-24 gritty victory over Eastern Illinois. With the that win, Spack became the Redbird Football all-time program wins leader, topping the previous mark of 86 held by Edwin Struck. The win for Spack was particularly important because it came in Charleston, where he started his collegiate coaching career under EIU legendary head coach Bob Spoo.