Redbirds Ready For First Round Playoff Test At Southeast Missouri State

SETTING THE SCENE
Date: November 30, 2024
Time: 11 a.m. CT
Site: Cape Girardeau, Missouri
Stadium: Houck Field
Capacity: 8,000
Series: Illinois State leads 8-3
Last: ILS won 24-6 (Nov. 30, 2019)
Stream: ESPN+
Listen: WJBC 1230 AM / 102.1 FM / 93.7 FM / The Varsity Network

THE GAME
For the first time in five season, Illinois State is back in the postseason as the No. 12 seeded Redbirds (9-3, 6-2 MVFC) head to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, to face off against Big South-OVC co-champion Southeast Missouri State (9-3, 6-2 Big South-OVC) in the first round of the 2024 FCS Playoffs at Houck Stadium.

THE SERIES
Illinois State and Southeast Missouri State will meet for the 12th time in the series history which dates back to 1943. Illinois State leads the all-time series 8-3, but the Redbirds and Redhawks have only played twice since 2001 with the two team splitting those contests. The Redhawks picked up a win 38-33 win at Hancock Stadium in 2001 and the Redbirds took the most recent matchup in 2019 in the first round of the FCS Playoffs by a score of 24-6 in Cape Girardeau.

THE COACHES
Illinois State: Brock Spack (Purdue, 1983) is in his 16th season as the head coach at Illinois State (110-73). 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 six playoff appearances overall and became the program's all-time wins leader in 2021.

Southeast Missouri State: Tom Matukewicz (Fort Hays State, 1997) is in his 11th season as the head coach at SEMO (63-62). Matukewicz has guided his teams to three Big South-OVC titles (2019, 2022, 2024), four NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoff appearances (2018, 2019, 2022, 2024) and the school's only FCS Playoff win (2018).

REDBIRDS IN THE POSTSEASON

• 9 FCS playoff appearances (1998, 1999, 2006, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2024)
• 6-time FCS quarterfinalists (1999, 2006, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2019)
• 2-time FCS semifinalists (1999, 2014)
• 1-time FCS Championship game qualifier (2014)

THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT

• Southeast Missouri State University is located in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and has an enrollment of 8,454. The Redhawks are members of the Big South-OVC and play their home games at Houck Field (8,000).
• SEMO is in the FCS Playoffs for the fifth time in program history and for the fourth time since 2018. They are one of three Big South-OVC programs in the bracket, joined by Tennessee State and UT Martin giving the league three teams in the playoffs for the first time since 2013.
• The Redhawks finished the regular-season in a four-way share with Tennessee State, UT Martin and Tennessee Tech for the Big South-Ohio Valley Conference Association title. SEMO clinched the automatic berth by way of its 2-1 composite record which included wins over both UT Martin and Tennessee Tech.
• Southeast Missouri went undefeated at home during the regular-season for the third time under Head Coach Tom Matukewicz. The Redhawks picked up their ninth win when they defeated Western Illinois, 54-45, on Nov. 16.
• Quarterback Paxton DeLaurent has broken four SEMO single-season records in 2024 and needs one more passing touchdown to break his fifth single-season mark. DeLaurent has 29 touchdown passes through 12 games and also set new single-season marks in passing yards (3,520), completions (320), pass attempts (533) and total offense yardage (3,616).

LAST TIME AGAINST THE REDHAWKS (NOV. 30, 2019)
All-American tailback James Robinson proved why was one of the best in the country, as he ran for a school-record 297 yards and a touchdown as the No. 13 ranked Redbirds ran away with a 24-6 win over No. 12 Southeast Missouri at Houck Field Saturday in the first round of the FCS playoffs. The 297 yards also set a Redbird and Missouri Valley Football Conference record for most rushing yards in a playoff contest. Devin Taylor's interception in the third quarter was his team-leading fourth of the season and Charles Woods led the way for the Redbird defense with six tackles, two pass breakups and his third interception of the year.

RETURN TO THE POSTSEASON
For the first time since 2019, Illinois State was selected as to participate in the 24-team FCS Playoff field as the No. 12 overall seed. The Redbirds will be making their ninth appearance in the FCS playoffs (1998, 1999, 2006, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2024) and sixth under the leadership of head coach Brock Spack. ISU is 10-8 all-time in playoff games and will be making its first appearance in the FCS playoffs in five seasons. During that 2019 run to the FCS Quarterfinals, the Redbirds also began the playoffs with a road contest at SEMO which the Redbirds won 24-6 thanks to a record-breaking performance by James Robinson.

ROAD WARRIORS 
Illinois State has overcome a lot of adversity in 2024 on way to eight wins, with devastating injuries and struggles at time at home. However one place the Redbirds have felt very comfortable has been on the road, where ISU boasts a 5-1 record with five-straight wins over FCS opponents during the regular season. The lone road setback was in the season opener at Iowa, before the Redbirds ripped off wins at North Alabama, Southern Illinois, Murray State, Northern Iowa and Indiana State. The last time the Redbirds picked up five wins on the road during the regular season came in 2012, when they picked up wins at Eastern Michigan, Western Illinois, South Dakota, Northern Iowa and Indiana State before earning a win in the playoffs at Appalachian State and eventually falling in the quarterfinals at Eastern Washington.

THAT'S A TON OF YARDS
With his 156 yards receiving against Indiana State, wide receiver Daniel Sobkowicz moved past the 2,000 career yards receiving mark and now has 2,171 in his stellar career thus far. That puts him in seventh place overall on the ISU career receiving yards list, just 75 yards behind Eyad Salem (2,246) in sixth place. He is also just 139 yards away from 1,000 this season, which would make him the first Redbird to eclipse that mark since 2016 (Anthony Warrum, 1,031).

SPACK AMONG THE BEST 
For the third time in his career at Illinois State, head coach Brock Spack was named a finalist for the Stats Perform Eddie Robinson Award which is presented annually to the national coach of the year in Division I FCS college football. One of 15 national finalists for 2024, Spack was also up for the honor in 2012 and 2014 after playoff seasons. Spack led the Redbirds to a 9-3 overall record in 2024 and a 6-2 mark in Missouri Valley Football Conference play, which earned his squad the No. 12 national seed in the FCS Playoffs

THE X FACTOR
The Illinois State passing game has featured a heavy 1-2 punch in the form of Xavier Loyd and Daniel Sobkowicz in 2024. In his first season with the Redbirds since transferring from Kansas State, Loyd ranks second on the team and fifth in the MVFC with 853 yards (14.2 per reception) on 60 receptions and ranks top 7 in the league in yards, touchdowns and receptions. At Indiana State, he caught nearly everything thrown his way with 13 receptions against the Sycamores, one catch shy of the school single-game mark of 14. He and Sobkowicz are the only duo to both rank in the top 7 in the MVFC in receptions, yards and receiving touchdowns as they form the best receiving duo in the league.

THE WRIGHT STUFF
Running back Wenkers Wright recorded three-straight 100-yard rushing performances during the non-conference portion of the schedule but had been held under the century mark through four MVFC games. However, he got back to dominant ways in the month of November, as he eclipsed the 100-yard rushing mark in three of his last four games. Wright tallied 104 yards on just 10 carries against Youngstown State and followed that up with a 109 yard effort in a win at UNI. He capped off the regular season with 118 yards in the win over North Dakota, which put him over the 1,000 yard mark on the season for the first time in his career. On the year, he leads the team with 1,035 yards and 10 touchdowns which gives him the first 1,000 plus yard season since 2019 when James Robinson went for 1,899. He is also just 73 yards shy of the 2,000 yard mark for his career, which would make him just the 13th player in school history to achieve that mark.

TOMMY TIME 
With just five starting assignments under his belt heading into 2024, quarterback Tommy Rittenhouse was not sure if he would be the full-time starter in his third season with the Redbirds. However, he took that role early and played well but has caught absolute fire during ISU's five-game winning streak. In the past four contests, Rittenhouse has completed 71 percent of his passes (114-for-160) while averaging 251.4 yards passing per game with seven touchdown passes and a pair of 300-plus yard passing performances. He has also averaged 35 yards per game on the ground and has scored four rushing touchdowns during that stretch.

A LONG TIME COMING
When All-American linebacker Amir Abdullah was injured in Illinois State's season opener at Iowa, many feared the worst and thought the Redbirds' elite pass rusher was done for the season. Thankfully the leg injury was not season ending, but it did force Abdullah to miss seven games and eight total weeks including last week's bye before he was finally able to return to the field against Youngstown State. He has wasted little in making a big impact for the Redbird defense, as he has recorded 15 total tackles (9 solo), 3.5 sacks, 6.0 TFLs and a pass breakup in four starts and wins for ISU. No doubt he has been instrumental in ISU giving up an average of 14.25 points in the last four victories, while the defense has averaged three sacks and six tackles for loss.

FRESHMAN OPENING EYES
Freshman tailback Matt Lawson had his best day as a Redbird, as he helped lead ISU to a 31-9 victory at UNI. The Hoffman Estates, Illinois, native rushed for a career-high 84 yards and scored his third touchdown of the year in the win over the Panthers. Lawson now ranks third on the team with 411 yards rushing and three scores, while averaging nearly 4.7 yards per carry.

MAN IN THE MIDDLE 
Illinois State sophomore middle linebacker Tye Niekamp played one of his best games of the season in Illinois State's regular season finale win over North Dakota, and for his efforts was named the Missouri Valley Football Conference Defensive Player of the Week for the second time this season. Niekamp paced the Illinois State defense in its dominant 35-13 win over the Fighting Hawks on Senior Day. The Normal, Illinois, native led the team with 10 tackles while adding a sack and three pass breakups in the victory. On the season, Niekamp leads the Redbirds and ranks second in the MVFC in tackles with 99 (42 solo). He is also ranked fourth in the league in tackles for loss with 10.5, has added 2.5 sacks and is tied for the team and league-lead in interceptions with three on the year.