Big Road Test Awaits No. 13 Illinois State at No. 15 South Dakota State

SETTING THE SCENE
Date: November 15, 2025
Time: 2 p.m. CT
Site: Brookings, S.D.
Stadium: Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium
Capacity: 19,300
Series: South Dakota State leads 7-5
Last: SDSU won 40-21 (Oct. 7, 2023)
Watch/Stream: ESPN+ 
Listen: WJBC 1230 AM / 102.1 FM / 98.9 FM WJEZ / The Varsity Network

THE GAME
With two weeks remaining in the regular season, the FCS playoff picture is still very uncertain as both No. 13/14 Illinois State (7-3, 4-2 MVFC) and No. 15/16 South Dakota State (7-3, 3-3 MVFC) look to pick up that ever-important eighth win when they square off on Saturday in Brookings, S.D. The Redbirds head in as winners of three straight and four out of their last five games overall, while the Jackrabbits look to snap a three-game conference losing streak.

THE SERIES
Illinois State and South Dakota State will meet for the 13th time, with the Jackrabbits holding a 7-5 advantage in the all-time series between the two programs. SDSU has won four out of the last five contest, with the lone loss coming in 2019 when the Redbirds won by a score of 28-17 on the road in Brookings. Overall, the Redbirds are 5-6 against the Jackrabbits under the leadership of head coach Brock Spack, who won three-straight games against SDSU from 2010-14.

THE COACHES
Illinois State: Brock Spack (Purdue, 1983) is in his 17th season as the head coach at Illinois State (118-77). 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.

South Dakota State: Dan Jackson (Omaha, 2008) is in his first season as the head coach at South Dakota State (7-3). Jackson played at SDSU from 2003-05 and later returned as a part of the Jackrabbits' coaching staff as a graduate assistant in 2012. He served as recruiting coordinator, special teams coordinator and assistant head coach under John Stiegelmeier.

THE REDBIRD FOOTBALL PROGRAM

• 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)
• The team is 70-26 at home under Spack's guidance
• ISU is 53-20 at Hancock Stadium since 2013 renovation

THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT

• South Dakota State University is located in Brookings, South Dakota, and has an enrollment of 12,139 students. The Jackrabbits are members of the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) and play their home games at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium (19,300).
• After starting the season with seven consecutive wins, the Jackrabbits have dropped their last three games against North Dakota State (38-7), Indiana State (24- 12) and South Dakota (24-17) to fall to 3-2 in the MVFC.
• South Dakota running back L.J. Phillips Jr. rushed for 168 yards and two touchdowns, including a 32-yarder for the only points of the second half, as the Coyotes knocked off South Dakota State in the annual Interstate Series game last Saturday afternoon at the DakotaDome.
• Since starting their run of consecutive playoff appearances in 2012, the Jackrabbits have compiled a 32-8 record in regular season games played during the month of November and have added four more playoff victories for an overall mark of 36-7 (.837 winning percentage). 

LAST TIME AGAINST SOUTH DAKOTA STATE (OCT. 7, 2023)
Defending FCS national champion No. 1 South Dakota State ripped off 20 early points and despite a strong offensive effort from No. 22 Illinois State, the Redbirds were not able to recover and fell by a score of 40-21 to the Jackrabbits at Hancock Stadium. Quarterback Zack Annexstad finished the game 26-of-33 for 162 yards with a touchdown and also caught the first touchdown of his career on the pass from Daniel Sobkowicz. Keondre Jackson set a career high with 13 tackles against the Jackrabbits, while also adding a pass breakup for the Redbirds.

OFFENSIVE FIREPOWER
The Redbird offense seems to be firing on all cylinders at the moment and the group is coming off its best offensive output in early a decade after defeating Indiana State, 52-20. The 52 points for the Redbirds were their most since scoring 67 in the 2015 home opener against Morgan State and their most in a conference game since scoring 55 against Indiana State in 2013. ISU racked up a season-high 555 yards of total offense, marking its third game of the year with 500 yards or more, and scored 40 or more points for the fourth time this year. ISU ranks third in the MVFC scoring 32.5 points per contest, which ranks No. 29 nationally, and they rank sixth in the FCS in first downs gained with 234.

ROAD WARRIORS 
Over the past two seasons, Illinois State has been very comfortable going on the road picking up key victories away from home. In the past two years, ISU is 10-3 on the road with two of those losses coming to FBS foes in Iowa (2024) and Oklahoma (2025). Last season, the Redbirds won six-straight FCS road games before suffering a second-round playoff loss to UC Davis and this year, the Redbirds are 4-0 on the road against FCS foes. In fact, only Oregon (10-0), Montana State (9-1) and North Dakota State (9-1) have a better record than the Redbirds (8-2) over their last 10 FBS/FCS road games overall.

TOMMY TIME
As the season winds out, Illinois State quarterback Tommy Rittenhouse seems to be playing some of the best football of his career. Against Indiana State, he recorded his second 300+ yard passing performance of the season with 314 against the Trees and he threw for four touchdown passes while running for another. It marked Rittenhouse's third game of the season with four or more passing touchdowns and his fifth with three or more on the year. He now leads the MVFC with 25 touchdown passes on the year (4th on the single-season list at ISU) and he currently ranks No. 4 in the FCS in that category. He has also been extremely accurate on the year, as his completion percentage of .669 ranks No. 21 in the FCS while he has posted two of the top three single-game completion percentage marks in school history, including the No. 2 effort of 85.3 last week at Indiana State (29-for-34). 

NOVEMBERS TO REMEMBER
The month of November has been very good to the Redbirds over the past two seasons, and the team's performance in the final month of the regular season has made it a playoff contender nationally. Last year, the Redbirds were 5-0 in the month of November, including a 35-27 road playoff win at Southeast Missouri State, and so far this year the Redbirds are 2-0 in November. 

DAWSON DOES IT AGAIN
A week after he rushed for a season-high 101 yards and scored a touchdown in the Redbirds' win over UNI, transfer running back Victor Dawson topped that performance with 116 yards rushing on a career-high 21 carries and scored a touchdown in a dominant 52-20 win for the Redbirds over Indiana State. Dawson averaged 5.5 yards per carry and scored his third touchdown of the year on a 6-yard run early in the second quarter that gave the Redbirds a 14-7 lead at the time. With his 116 yards on the ground, Dawson took over the team lead with 616 rushing yards on the season and for his efforts, he was named the MVFC Newcomer of the Week.

THE WRIGHT STUFF
Senior running back Wenkers Wright hit a big milestone in the win at South Dakota, as he passed 2,500 career rushing yards against the Coyotes. With his 31 yards against Northern Iowa, Wright now has 2,541 yards in his stellar career making him just the eighth player in school history to rush for 2,500 yards or more. He currently ranks seventh on the all-time rushing yards list, but needs just four yards to pass Pierre Rembert for sixth place (2,544) on the list. He is also just one rushing touchdown away from tying Tre Roberson (22) for eighth on the career rushing TDs list and three from tying Bruce Cullen and Ron Bell (24) for sixth place.

DAN THE MAN
With his 31 yards receiving against Indiana State, wide receiver Daniel Sobkowicz (3,031) moved past Laurent Robinson (3,007) for second place on the ISU career receiving yards list. He also ranks second in career receptions (221) behind Tyrone Walker (250) and is third on the career receiving touchdowns list with 30, just two behind Walker (32).

WOODARD LEADS THE WAY
Offensive guard Landon Woodard and the Redbird offensive line were a big part of the Redbirds' success in a 31-16 win over UNI and for his efforts, Woodard was named the MVFC Offensive Lineman of the Week. The senior from Waukesha, Wisconsin, graded out at 90 percent and helped lead the way for running back Victor Dawson, who rushed for 101 yards and a touchdown on the ground. As a team, the Redbird offense racked up 430 yards of total offense in a balanced effort, that featured 202 yards rushing (5.8 yards per carry) and 228 yards passing. ISU has now scored 30 points or more in seven of the team's 10 games this season and 40 or more points four times on the year.

TWO IN A ROW FOR LORD
For the second-straight week, redshirt freshman wide receiver Dylan Lord contributed in a big way in the absence of standout wide receiver Daniel Sobkowicz.  After he led all receivers with a career-high eight catches for 82 yards in the victory over South Dakota, Lord followed that up with a new career-best 10 catches for 50 yards in the victory over UNI. Lord now ranks second on the team with 39 receptions on the season, while averaging 9.1 yards per reception.

STEFFEN BREAKS THROUGH 
Defensive lineman Garret Steffen had a career day for the Redbirds in their 31-16 win over UNI. The Altoona, Wisconsin, native tied for the team lead with seven tackles and paced the defense with two quarterback sacks in the win. After missing all last year with an injury, Steffen has been a stalwart on the defensive line for the Redbirds this season but posted career bests with the seven stops and two sacks against the Panthers. He helped the Redbird defense record three sacks and six tackles-for-loss while holding UNI to just 98 yards rushing and 240 yards of total offense.