SETTING THE SCENE
Date: October 12, 2024
Time: 12 p.m. CT
Site: Normal, Ill.
Stadium: Hancock Stadium
Capacity: 12,440
Series: Illinois State leads 23-18-1
Last: ILS won 36-35 (Nov. 4, 2023)
Watch/Stream: ESPN+
Listen: WJBC 1230 AM / 102.1 FM / 93.7 FM / The Varsity Network
THE GAME
For the second straight week, No. 16 Illinois State will face off against another ranked FCS foe as the Redbirds welcome in No. 25 Missouri State for a home game at Hancock Stadium on Saturday. The Redbirds head into the contest after picking up a big 45-10 road win at Southern Illinois last weekend, while the Bears come into the game refreshed after a bye week. Fans are encourged to wear WHITE, as the Redbirds will be wearing their white jerseys as part of a WHITE OUT at Hancock Stadium.
THE SERIES
Illinois State and Missouri State will meet for the 43rd time in the series between the two schools, which dates back to 1971, with ISU leading 23-18-1. The two teams have split the last four contests in the series, however the Redbirds have won six of the last eight contests overall. ISU is 9-4 against MSU with Head Coach Brock Spack at the helm of the program, and have won four out the last five home games against the Bears.
THE COACHES
Illinois State: Brock Spack (Purdue, 1983) is in his 16th season as the head coach at Illinois State (105-72). 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.
Missouri State: Ryan Beard (Western Kentucky, 2012) is in his second season as the head coach at Missouri State (7-9). His elevation to head coach came on the heels of three seasons as defensive coordinator at Missouri State under former head coach Bobby Petrino. In his first season as head coach, Beard guided the Bears to a 4-7 overall record and a 3-5 ledger in the MVFC.Â
THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT
- Missouri State University is located in Springfield, Mo., and has an enrollment of 25,038. The Bears are members of the Missouri Valley Football Conference and play their home games at Plaster Stadium (17,337).
- The Bears have cracked the American Football Coaches Association FCS Top 25 this week, debuting in Monday's poll at No. 25. MSU was last ranked in the October 3, 2022 poll.
- MSU is off to a 3-2 start to the season and are coming off a bye week. The Bears are winners of three-straight games after dropping their first two contests of the year at Montana and against FBS foe Ball State. They are coming off a bye week.
- The three-game winning streak has come via a home win against Lindenwood (28-14), a road victory at UT Martin (31-24) and a thrilling home win in the MVFC opener against Youngstown State (38-31).
- A five-yard touchdown pass from Jacob Clark to Lance Mason with eight seconds left in the game lifted the Bears to the victory over Youngstown State to move the Bears to 1-0 in MVFC play. Clark completed 21-of-29 passes for 325 yards with three touchdowns and also carried seven times for a team-high 63 rushing yards, which earned him MVFC Offensive Player of the Week honors.
LAST TIME AGAINST THE BEARS (NOV. 4, Â 2023)
As had been the case for Illinois State for the majority of the 2023 season, the game against Missouri State came down to the final seconds of the contest, with the outcome falling in favor of the Redbirds who converted a two-point conversion late in the contest to pick up a 36-35 road win against the Bears at Plaster Stadium to give head coach Brock Spack his 100th victory at Illinois State. Running back Mason King recorded his third 100-plus yard rushing effort of the season, finishing the game with 125 yards on 25 carries with a pair of touchdowns and Jalan Gaines led the way for the Redbird defense with 2.5 sacks, 3.5 tackles for loss and eight tackles along with a pass breakup in the contest.
NIEKAMP NAMED FCS NATIONAL DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Illinois State sophomore linebacker Tye Niekamp had a stellar day for the No. 18 Redbirds in their 45-10 road win at No. 19 Southern Illinois, and for his efforts he was named the Stats Perform FCS National Defensive Player of the Week and the MVFC Defensive Player of the Week. The Normal, Illinois, native was all over the field for ISU and recorded a season-best 11 total tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, one sack, one interception, and one pass break up against SIU. Following a pivotal interception from Niekamp, his second of the season, the 'Birds got the ball back in Saluki territory and pulled out the trick double pass play where Daniel Sobkowicz took a backwards pass and stopped in his tracks to throw a 28-yard touchdown pass to Xavier Loyd to make the score 31-10 with 12:42 left in the game. On the night, Niekamp and the Redbird defense recorded eight tackles for loss, four sacks, and forced two turnovers against the nationally ranked Salukis on their home field.
FCS STATE TITLE SECURED
One of Illinois State's preseason goals was to win the state title against the other three FCS schools from the Land of Lincoln on the schedule. After securing wins at home in back-to-back weeks against Western Illinois and Eastern Illinois in non-conference action, the Redbirds headed to Carbondale to take on No. 19 ranked Southern Illinois, who ISU had not defeated since 2019. Thanks to a dominant 45-10 win, ISU was able to go 3-0 against its in-state FCS foes for the first time since 2019, which also happened to be the last year the Redbirds made the FCS playoffs. There seems to be a bit of a correlation with the Redbirds going 3-0 against SIU, WIU and EIU and making the playoffs, as they also picked up the sweep in 2014 and 2015 on way to back-to-back MVFC titles and playoff appearances.
SPACK CLIMBING THE RANKS
Now in his 16th 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 in 2023. Already Illinois State's program wins record holder, Spack picked up the 100th win of his career in the Redbirds' thrilling 36-35 victory over the Bears to become just the fourth coach in MVFC history to reach 100 wins at a member school. Since that time, he's moved his career mark to 105-72 (.594), with his most recent victory coming against No. 19 Southern Illinois by a score of 45-10. That gave Spack his 65th win in MVFC play, which now ties him for third all-time with former UNI and Missouri State head coach Terry Allen. With a victory against Missouri State, he would move into sole possession of third place behind UNI's Mark Farley and South Dakota State's John Stiegelmeier.
BIG PLAY OFFENSE
The Illinois State offense had another big day in its 45-10 win over No. 19 Southern Illinois, spreading the ball around while scoring touchdowns in impressive fashion. None of the Redbirds' six touchdowns came cheaply, with each being scored on plays of 20 yards or more. ISU scored on passes of 38, 28 and 20 yards from quarterbacks Tommy Rittenhouse and Jake Rubley and wideout Daniel Sobkowicz, and tallied touchdowns on runs of 36, 29 and 26 yards by Rittenhouse, freshman Matt Lawson and transfer Seth Glatz. In all, six different Redbirds scored touchdowns in the victory and Rittenhouse (1 pass, 1 rush) and Sobkowicz (1 receiving, 1 pass) each accounted for two.
1-2 PUNCH
Last season, Daniel Sobkowicz was one of the best receivers in the Missouri Valley Football Conference last season but has been limited so far this season due to injury. However, the man who wears No. 2 on his jersey has returned from injury and bounced back in a big way, thanks to another dangerous option in the passing game who wears jersey No. 1 in Xavier Loyd. Sobkowicz's reputation precedes him, but defenses now need to pay attention to Loyd on the opposite side of the field which makes the Redbird offense much more dangerous. The dynamic duo are the top two leading receivers for the Redbirds, with Loyd leading the way with 25 grabs for 375 yards and three scores, while Sobkowicz is right behind with 24 grabs for 308 yards and four touchdowns. They are the only pair of receivers from the same school to be ranked in the top 10 in the MVFC in yards and touchdowns.
FRESH FACES
A glaring number of first happened in Illinois State's road win at Southern Illinois on the offensive side of the ball, with several fresh faces scoring their first touchdowns in Redbird uniforms. Freshman running back Matt Lawson was the first to get his name in the books as he ripped of the longest touchdown run of his career at ISU with a 29-yard score in the third quarter. Later in the fourth quarter, transfer quarterback Jake Rubley toss the first touchdown of his Redbird career to Braden Contreras, who is not a new face but hauled in his first career TD as a Redbird. The final highlight of the night came when transfer running back Seth Glatz scored his first touchdown at ISU on a 26-yard run to cap the scoring in the 45-10 win for the Redbirds.
