Redbirds Ready For Home Opener Against Valparaiso

SETTING THE SCENE
Date: September 10, 2022
Time: 6:30 p.m. CT
Site: Normal, Illinois
Stadium: Hancock Stadium
Capacity: 13,391
Series: Series Tied 2-2
Last: ILS won 50-13 (Sept. 3, 2006)
Watch: Marquee Sports Network
Stream: ESPN+
Listen: WJBC 1230 AM / 102.1 FM / 93.7 FM / The Varsity Network

THE GAME
Coming off a tough season opener on the road at No. 18 Wisconsin last weekend, Illinois State returns to the friendly confines of Hancock Stadium to begin a three-game homestand with a contest against Pioneer Football League foe Valparaiso.

THE SERIES
Illinois State and Valparaiso will meet for the fifth time on the gridiron on Saturday. The two teams have split the series, which dates back to the 1933 season. Valpo won the first two games in 1933 and 1934, but the Redbirds have won the last two with the first win coming in 1948 and the last coming in the 2016 season opener at Hancock Stadium.

THE COACHES
Illinois State: Brock Spack (Purdue, 1983) is in his 14th season as the head coach at Illinois State (89-61). Spack guided the Redbirds to back-to-back shares of the MVFC title in 2014-15 and an appearance in the 2014 FCS Championship game. He has led the ISU to five playoff appearances overall and became the program's all-time wins leader in 2021.

Valparaiso: Landon Fox (Defiance College, 2000) is in his fourth season as the head coach at Valparaiso (10-20). In his third season leading the program in Fall 2021, Valpo finished with a Pioneer Football League record of .500 or better for a second consecutive year. During his second season at Valpo, Fox was a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award after guiding Valpo to its best winning percentage since 2003.

THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT

• Valparaiso University is located in Valparaiso, Indiana, and has an enrollment of 3,100 students. The Beacons are members of the Pioneer Football League and play their home games at Brown Field (5,000).
• The Beacons opened the 2022 season last weekend at home against Indiana Wesleyan and came away with a thrilling win, as Brian Bartholomew drilled a career-long 50-yard field goal in the final two minutes to propel Valpo to the 20-17 victory. 
• For his efforts in the win, Bartholomew was been named the Pioneer Football League Special Teams Player of the Week.
• Aaron Dawson rushed for 147 yards on 22 carries in his Valpo debut. The Beacons outgained Indiana Wesleyan in rushing yards 145-25, but the Wildcats held the advantage in the passing game 273-194.
• Keyon Turner posted a career-high 11 tackles, while Sam Hafner was also in double figures with 10. The Beacons boasted six sacks and 10 tackles for loss in a strong defensive effort in the opener.

LAST TIME VS. BEACONS (9/3/2016)
The Illinois State football team played strong on both sides of the ball to cruise past Valparaiso, 50-13, in its home opener Saturday evening in front of 10,026 fans at Hancock Stadium. The Redbirds controlled the game on the ground, as the six running backs and quarterback Jake Kolbe combined to out-rush Valpo 271-22 and scored four times. Sophomore George Moreira led the way with 93 yards on seven carries and scored the final touchdown of the game for the Redbirds. True freshman tailback James Robinson was also impressive; as he averaged 5.3 yards per carry and took a shovel pass 33 yards for his first career touchdown. Redshirt freshman DeMarco Corbin scored twice, and Kolbe added a six-yard run to solidify the rushing attack.
On defense, Dalton Keene led the team in tackles with seven, while B.J. Bello led the Redbird defense with two sacks and a forced fumble. Senior linebacker Alejandro Rivera got the scoring started, when he returned an interception 27 yards for a score and DraShane Glass added another pick later in the contest. 

SUCCESS IN HOME OPENERS
The Redbirds have been very good at home under the leadership of head coach Brock Spack, especially in the home opener each season. ISU is 12-1 in the first game of the season at Hancock Stadium, which includes a home opening win over this year's opening opponent Valparaiso by a score of 50-13 in 2016.

A TALE OF TWO FBS GAMES
About the only two things the last two games against FBS opponents have in common for the Redbirds is they did not come out of the game with a win. Illinois State's 2022 opener at Wisconsin was a stark contrast offensively to the FBS contest at Western Michigan in 2021. Against the Broncos, the Redbird offense struggled to get just four first downs, had just 28 yards rushing and 57 yards of total offense. Fast forward to this year against the No. 18 Badgers, and the Redbirds posted 14 first downs compared to 18 for Wisconsin, passed for 186 yards and recorded 243 yards of total offense. 

TRANSFERS MAKE IMMEDIATE DIVIDENDS
Six transfer newcomers saw action in the season opener at Wisconsin, with several stepping up to play big minutes and contribute in big ways for the Redbirds. Quarterback Zack Annexstad was solid in his debut after transferring from Minnesota, passing for 186 yards and posting a QBR of 115.1. Fellow Minnesota transfer and his brother, Brock, caught a pair of passes for 36 yards for the Redbirds as well. Kentucky transfer Jake Pope also saw action on the offensive line late in the contest. On the defensive side, the transfer trio of defensive backs Deandre Lamont, Sy Dabney and Larry Tracy III also contributed, with Lamont recording five tackles and breakup, and Dabney and Tracy each recording two tackles each.

FIVE REDBIRDS EARN PRESEASON HONORS
A quintet of Redbirds being selected to the MVFC Preseason Team, with senior linebacker Zeke Vandenburgh named a first-team selection, while running back Cole Mueller, offensive lineman Drew Bones, defensive lineman Braydon Deming and longsnapper Joey Malinowski earned second-team honors in the annual vote. Vandenburgh was selected as a 2021 All-MVFC Honorable Mention selection, after he ranked second on the team with 73 tackles, led the team with four sacks and tied for the team lead with 8.5 tackles-for-loss. Mueller was also named a 2021 All-MVFC Honorable Mention selection, following his breakout first season for the Redbirds. 
Bones started all 11 games at center for the Redbirds, the only Redbird lineman to start every game at the same position last season. Deming earned MVFC All-Newcomer Team honors in 2021 in his first season with the Redbirds. Malinowski rounds out the preseason honorees as one of the longer tenured longsnappers in the league.  He was not credited with a bad snap during the 2021 season and tallied seven tackles on special teams coverage during the year.

MISSED IT BY THAT MUCH
Illinois State freshman nearly set a school rushing record for a freshman during 2021 season and was on pace to become the 16th player in school history to eclipse the 1,000 yard mark. However, he came up just short, ranking third in the MVFC in rushing yards (977), fourth in rushing yards per game (88.8) and finished the season ranked in the Top 20 in the FCS in rush yards (No. 15) and yards per game (No. 20). That earned him a spot on the 2021 MVFC All-Newcomer Team and he finished second in the league in the Freshman of the Year voting.

TWIN TROUBLE
In their first season with the Redbirds in 2021, identical twins Bryson and Braydon Deming made an immediate impact and look to close out their collegiate careers in 2022 on a high note. After transferring from Montana, the brothers made huge contributions on each side of the football for ISU. Bryson was second on the team with 14 catches for 184 yards and also was second on the squad with two receiving touchdowns. Braydon wreaked havoc from his defensive line spot, tying for the team lead with 8.5 TFLs to go along with 2.5 sacks and 42 tackles on the year. That performance earned both Demings a spot on the 2021 MVFC All-Newcomer Team.

O CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN
Voted on by the team at the conclusion of fall camp, the Redbirds selected senior linebacker Zeke Vandenburgh, junior quarterback Zack Annexstad and senior longsnapper Joey Malinowski as their captains for the 2022 season. They will be joined each game by selected seniors voted on each week by the coaching staff as game captains.

A BIG ADDITION
The Redbird offense struggled mightily in the passing game in 2021 and the coaching staff is hoping their transfer from the Big Ten will be the quarterback to turn things around. Junior Zack Annexstad joined the Redbirds in the spring and instantly took over the huddle, playing well all spring and through the summer on way to being named the starting quarterback. Annexstad, a transfer from Minnesota, was named starting quarterback by coach P.J. Fleck as a freshman in 2018 and is thought to be just the second walk-on true freshman quarterback to start a season opener, joining Baker Mayfield who started his first game at Texas Tech in 2013 after walking. He would go on to complete 97 passes for 1,277 yards (third most all-time for a Minnesota freshman) and nine touchdowns (tied for third most all-time for a Minnesota freshman with Tanner Morgan) that season, before missing parts of the next three seasons due to injury.

FBS SECONDARY DEPTH ADDED 
A trio of experienced FBS secondary defenders join the Redbirds this fall to help bolster a young group for the Redbirds. Central Arkansas transfer Deandre Lamont, Indiana transfer Larry Tracy III and Bowling Green transfer Sy Dabney have all worked their way into playing positions during fall camp and hope to make big impacts this fall for the Redbird defense.