No. 12 Illinois State Prepped For Second-Round Playoff Matchup At No. 5 UC Davis

SETTING THE SCENE
Date: December 7, 2024
Time: 3 p.m. CT
Site: Davis, California
Stadium: UC Davis Health Stadium
Capacity: 10,743
Series: First Meeting
Last: N/A
Stream: ESPN+
Listen: WJBC 1230 AM / 102.1 FM / 93.7 FM / The Varsity Network

THE GAME
Coming off a first round road victory at Southeast Missouri State, No. 12 Illinois State (10-3, 6-2 MVFC) will fly to the West Coast for a match up with No. 5 UC Davis (10-2, 7-1 Big Sky) in the second round of the 2024 FCS Playoffs with a berth in the quarterfinals on the line.

THE SERIES
Illinois State and UC Davis will meet for the first time in program history. It's the first time the Redbirds will face a team from California, and it will mark the third program ISU will play from the current Big Sky Conference roster. The Redbirds are 2-1 all-time against Eastern Washington, with the most recent win coming at EWU in the quarterfinals of the 2014 FCS Playoffs, and ISU is 1-1 against Northern Arizona with the most recent contest coming in 2019, a home win for the Redbirds over the Lumberjacks.

THE COACHES
Illinois State: Brock Spack (Purdue, 1983) is in his 16th season as the head coach at Illinois State (111-73). 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. He was recently selected as a finalist for the 2024 Eddie Robinson Award.

UC Davis: Tim Plough (UC Davis '08) is in his first season as head coach at his alma mater (10-2). A 2024 Eddie Robinson Award Finalist, Plough was named the AFCA Region Five Coach of the Year after leading the Aggies to the No. 5 overall seed in the FCS Playoffs. Prior to coming to UC Davis, he spent time as an assistant coach at Cal, Boise State and Northern Arizona.

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

• UC Davis is located in Davis, California, and has an enrollment of 40,848. The Aggies are members of the Big Sky Conference and play their home games at UC Davis Health Stadium (10,743).
• The Aggies (10-2) finished second in the Big Sky Conference with a 7-1 record, with their lone FCS loss coming on Nov. 17 to league champion Montana State, 30-28. Montana State (12-0) is the No. 1 overall seed in the FCS playoff bracket. Their other loss was to California in the season opener.
• A total of 13 Aggies earned Big Sky All-Conference honors, with six being named first team, five going to the second team and two earning honorable mention.
• The UC Davis offense is led by two of the best offensive players in the nation in running back Lan Larison and quarterback Miles Hastings, who were named as Walter Payton Award finalists following historic seasons that saw them set program records and finish near the top of numerous offensive categories.
• In the regular-season finale against Sacramento State, Larison eclipsed 2,000 all-purpose yards on the season, ending the regular season with 2,132 all-purpose yards. He is the only player in the nation this season to eclipse 2,000 all-purpose yards.
• Hastings has thrown for 3,745 yards, which ranks third in the nation, and his 32 passing touchdowns also place him third in the nation.
• Linebacker David Meyer finished with over 100 total tackles and tied a single season program record in solo tackles, which led to him being named a Buck Buchanan Award finalist.

ONE FOR THE RECORD BOOKS
Illinois State's first-round playoff win at Southeast Missouri State was one to remember for the Redbird defense, which forced a school-record eight turnovers in the win against the Redhawks. The five interceptions and three fumble recoveries top what is believed the be the previous high of seven set in 1985 against Central Florida, when the Redbirds picked off a school record six passes and recovered a fumble.

THE STREAK CONTINUES
Redbird teams have been very successful in scoring on defense under the leadership of head coach Brock Spack. Thanks to a 30-yard pick six by Keondre Jackson and a 55-yard INT return for touchdown by Jake Anderson against Southeast Missouri State in the first round of the FCS playoffs, the Redbirds extended their streak to 16 straight seasons with at least one defensive score. 

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 are 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 11-8 all-time in playoff games and Spack is 8-5 in the postseason as the head coach of the Redbirds.

ROAD WARRIORS 
Illinois State overcame a lot of adversity in 2024 on way to nine regular-season wins, with devastating injuries and three losses at home. However one place the Redbirds have felt very comfortable has been on the road, where ISU boasts a 6-1 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 to end the regular season and added one in the playoffs last week at Southeast Missouri State. The last time the Redbirds picked up six wins on the road was during the 2012 season, 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. The six-game road winning streak is currently tied for the longest in the FCS with Montana State.

ELEVEN REDBIRDS EARN ALL-VALLEY HONORS
A total of 11 Redbirds earned MVFC All-Conference honors, with two being named first team, three going to the second team and six earning honorable mention nods. The group was headlined by Tye Niekamp and Keondre Jackson, who were both named All-MVFC First Team selections for ISU.

TRIO OF REDBIRDS NAMED TO MVFC ALL-NEWCOMER TEAM
Newcomers Xavier Loyd, JJ Guedet and Hayden Futch were among a list of 31 student-athletes named to the 2024 Missouri Valley Football Conference All-Newcomer Team, as voted on by league head coaches, sports information directors and a media panel.

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 2,307 in his stellar career thus far. That puts him in sixth place overall on the ISU career receiving yards list, behind ISU Athletics Percy Family Hall of Famer Clarence Collins (2,498) in fifth place. He is also just three yards away from 1,000 this season, which would make him the first Redbird to eclipse that mark since 2016 (Anthony Warrum - 1,031).

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 with 912 yards (13.8 per reception) on 66 receptions and ranks top 7 in the MVFC 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 and one of the best in the FCS.

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 the 2024 and a 6-2 mark in Missouri Valley Football Conference play during the regular season, which earned his squad the No. 12 national seed in the FCS Playoffs.

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 1,052 yards and 11 touchdowns which gives him the first 1,000 plus yard season since 2019 when James Robinson went for 1,899. He is also just 56 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.

RUMBLE, BIG MAN RUMBLE
The Illinois State defense forced eight turnovers in its win at Southeast Missouri State, but maybe the most memorable of those came from defensive tackle Jake Anderson. Late in the second quarter, Anderson was the recipient of some good fortune when a deflected pass by Jalan Gaines fell into his arms and he rumbled 55 yards for the touchdown. It was his first career interception and the first of two pick sixes on the day for the Redbirds.

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 six-game winning streak. In the past six contests, Rittenhouse has completed 70.4 percent of his passes (138-for-196) while averaging 255.6 yards passing per game with nine touchdown passes and a pair of 300-plus yard passing performances. He has also averaged 31.5 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 19 total tackles (10 solo), 4.0 sacks, 6.5 TFLs and a pass breakup in five starts and wins since his return. No doubt he has been instrumental in ISU giving up an average of 16.8 points in the last five victories, while the defense has averaged three sacks and five tackles for loss per contest.