SETTING THE SCENE
Date: November 11, 2023
Time: 11 a.m. CT
Site: Normal, Illinois
Stadium: Hancock Stadium
Capacity: 13,391
Series: ILS leads 5-1
Last: ILS won 42-23 at MUR (Sept. 13, 2008)
Watch: Marquee Sports Network
Stream: ESPN+
Listen: WJBC 1230 AM / 102.1 FM / 93.7 FM / The Varsity Network
THE GAME
The final home game of the season for Illinois State brings Murray State to Hancock Stadium, as the Redbirds (5-4, 3-3 MVFC) take on the Racers (2-7, 1-5 MVFC) for a Senior Day matchup in the second-to-last game of the 2023 campaign.
THE SERIES
Illinois State and Murray State will meet for the sixth time on Saturday, with the Redbirds leading the all-time series 5-1 against the Racers in the series which dates back to 2001. The Redbirds have won the last five meetings, including four-straight wins from 2005-08. The two squads have not played since 2008, when ISU picked up a 42-23 win on the road in Kentucky.
THE COACHES
Illinois State: Brock Spack (Purdue, 1983) is in his 15th season as the head coach at Illinois State (100-69). 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.
Murray State: Dean Hood (Ohio Wesleyan, 1986) is in his fourth season as the head coach of the Racers (15-23) Â in 2023. He coached the Racers to first back-to-back winning seasons in 2020-21 for just third time since 1999-00 and oversaw one of the best turnarounds in the nation in 2020, when he led Murray State to its first winning season since 2011. Prior to his stint at Murray State he spent eight seasons (2008-15) as head coach at Eastern Kentucky going 55-38.
THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT
- Murray State University is located in Murray, Kentucky, and has an enrollment of 9,818. The Racers are members of the Missouri Valley Football Conference and play their home games at Roy Stewart Stadium (16,800).
- The Racers head into the game with an 2-7 overall record and a 1-5 mark in Missouri Valley Football Conference action, with their lone conference win coming at home against Indiana State.
- Murray State scored three second-half touchdowns, but dropped a 45-31 loss in their first meeting with North Dakota last Saturdayat Roy Stewart Stadium.
- Quarterback DJ Williams tossed for a season-best 228 yards on 19-of-36 passing with three touchdowns and no interceptions for the Racers, as Cole Rusk hauled in a pair of touchdown grabs in the defeat.
- Nick Walker led the Racers with nine tackles and Cody Goatley had seven, while Ryan Batsch had his best game as a Racer with six tackles, one sack and forced fumble against the Fighting Hawks.
LAST TIME AGAINST THE RACERS (SEPT. 13, 2008)
A quintet of running touchdowns highlighted a dominating running performance by the Redbirds, as Illinois State football scored all of its points on the ground in a 42-23 victory over host Murray State at Stewart Stadium in Murray, Ky. Running back Geno Blow and tailback Parrish Fisher each looked stellar on the ground for ISU, as Blow ran for a game-high 98 yards and two touchdowns while Fisher added 73 yards on the ground and a career-high two rushing touchdowns. Senior safety Tom Nelson recorded a career-high 102 punt return yards, which included an 82-yard scamper for a touchdown.
SPACK HITS THE CENTURY MARK
Now in his 15th season at the helm of the Illinois State football program, Brock Spack has set nearly every coaching record in program history and hit another milestone against Missouri State. Already Illinois State's program wins record holder, Spack picked up the 100th win of his career with in the Redbirds' thrilling 36-35 victory over the Bears. With an overall record of 100-69 (.591), Spack is just the fourth head coach in Missouri Valley Conference history with 100 wins at a member school. With two more league victories, Spack would also move into a tie for third in MVFC history for most wins by a MVFC head coach.
BLAKEMORE EARNS WEEKLY MVFC HONORS
After helping lead Illinois State to a thrilling 36-35 win on the road at Missouri State, Illinois State junior running back Mason Blakemore was been named the Missouri Valley Football Conference Newcomer of the Week by the league office. The weekly honor is the second for Blakemore this season, who previously was named the MVFC Offensive Player of the Week after a standout Week 2 performance at Western Illinois. The Northern Illinois transfer recorded his third 100-plus yard rushing performance of the season, amassing 125 yards on 25 carries with two rushing touchdowns in the contest. His first score of the day came on a 7-yard run late in the first quarter that made the score 14-7 in favor of the Redbirds at the time and later added another 7-yard score late in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 28-28.
CONVERTING WHEN IT COUNTS
In an extremely close game between Missouri State and Illinois State, it was the little situations that were going to make the difference in who won and who lost. The key situation for the Redbirds was their success on fourth down, as they went 6-for-6 on fourth down to keep drives alive and allow them to come away with a narrow 36-35 victory. Three of those big fourth-down conversions came when the Redbirds needed to tie the game at 28-28, and the final one of the day came on the game-winning drive as Camo Nelson picked up a big conversion with a great stretch on the sideline to keep the drive alive and set up the final touchdown.
SPREADING THE BALL AROUND
A balanced passing attack has been a calling card for the Redbird offense this season, and that was no different in ISU's narrow win at Missouri State. Six different receivers caught passes that contest, and even quarterback Zack Annexstad got into the action with his second reception on the season on a trick play. The Redbirds finished the game with three receivers recording over 80 yards (Daniel Sobkowicz 98, Eddie Kasper 84, Cam Grandy 80) in the same game for the first time since September 15, 2012, when the Redbirds achieved that feat against Eastern Illinois (Tyrone Walker 142, Lechein Neblett 132, Donovan Harden 94).
COMING THROUGH AT THE WRIGHT TIME
With Mason Blakemore having a great day on the ground, carries were hard to come by for the other Redbird backs against Missouri State. However, when Cole Mueller and Wenkers Wright got their shots they took advantage and made huge contributions to the Redbird victory. Mueller only picked up 23 yards on six carries, but several of those moved the chains to keep drives alive. Then, Wright showed up big on the final drive of the game as he broke loose for a 40-yard gain that set up the 1-yard touchdown and then he proceeded to convert the two-point conversion to give the Redbirds the victory.
GAINES SHINES WHEN IT COUNTS
Linebacker Jalan Gaines took over the game late for the Redbird defense and came up with three huge plays on Missouri State's final offensive drive of the game to clinch the win for ISU. The Chicago native led the way for the Redbird defense with a career-high 2.5 sacks, a career-best 3.5 TFLs and 8 total tackles against the Bears, saving his best for when it counted the most. With the Redbirds leading 36-35 with just 38 seconds left, the Bears had a chance to move the ball down the field but Gaines broke up a pass on first down and then sacked Missouri State quarterback Jordan Pachot for a 15-yard loss. After a pass breakup on third down by the Redbird defense, Gaines sacked Pachot again to turn the ball over on downs back to the Redbirds who would kneel out the victory.
MR. CONSISTENT
It took a while for Daniel Sobkowicz to solidify himself as a No. 1 wide receiver for the Redbirds, but he has been as consistent as they come for the Redbirds. He had another stellar day against Missouri State, recording seven catches for 98 yards with a 26-yard touchdown against the Bears. He has now caught at least one pass in 19 of 20 career games played and now has a six-game streak of at least five receptions and at least one touchdown for the Redbirds. That has upped his season totals to a team-leading 61 grabs for 838 yards with nine touchdowns, which rank him at the top of every category in the MVFC and No. 3 in the country in receiving touchdowns (9) and No. 6 in receiving yards (838) and No. 7 in receiving yards per game (93.1).
MCCOY MUSCLES UP
The McCoy name has been synonymous with the Redbird defense over the last decade and it was Lavoise-Deonte McCoy who found his name atop the defensive stat sheet for the Redbirds in their game against UNI. The younger brother of former Redbird defensive captain Dontae McCoy, Lavoise played one of the best games of his career with a personal-best 14 stops against the Panthers. Four of those were solo stops, and he also added a half sack and a pass breakup.
CAST, WHAT CAST
Having to wear a cast on your hand is not something that any pass catcher looks forward to, but Cam Grandy's cast on his left hand certainly didn't seem to bother him much against UNI. Grandy, who suffered a left thumb injury the week prior at Youngstown State, practiced all week with the cast on to get ready for competition against the Panthers and the practice paid off. The redshirt senior tight end recorded an ISU-best 11 receptions for 112 yards with a touchdown against the UNI, with 64 of those yards coming after contact. He made big grabs all day while playing with the obstruction on his left hand, but none bigger than his 17-yard touchdown grab with just 27 seconds left in the game from quarterback Zack Annexstad that trimmed the UNI lead.
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