SETTING THE SCENE
Date: December 13, 2025
Time: 4 p.m. CT
Site: Davis, California
Stadium: UC Davis Health Stadium
Capacity: 10,743
Series: UC Davis leads 1-0
Last: UC Davis won 42-10 (Dec. 7, 2025)
Watch/Stream: ESPN+
Listen: 101.5 FM WBNQ / The Varsity Network
THE GAME
After a thrilling win over top seeded North Dakota State on the road in the second round of the FCS playoffs, Illinois State (10-4) returns to a familiar spot in the quarterfinals as the Redbirds head back to Davis, California, for the second-straight year to take on No. 8 seed UC Davis (9-3) with a spot in the national semifinals on the line.
THE SERIES
Illinois State and UC Davis will meet for the second time in program history and for the second-straight season in the FCS playoffs. Last year, the Redbirds made the trip to California to face No. 5 seeded Aggies in the second round of the playoffs and took an early lead, but UC Davis answered with 28 unanswered points to pull away for a 42-10 win over the Redbirds at UC Davis Health Stadium.
THE COACHES
Illinois State: Brock Spack (Purdue, 1983) is in his 17th season as the head coach at Illinois State (121-78). 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 seven playoff appearances overall and became the program's all-time wins leader in 2021.
UC Davis: Tim Plough (UC Davis, 2008) is in his second season as the head coach at UC Davis (20-6). In his first season at the helm in 2024, UC Davis won a school-record 11 games, going 11-3 to finish No. 5 in the nation and reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA FCS Playoffs, getting a second round home game win over No. 12 Illinois State.
THE REDBIRD FOOTBALL PROGRAM
- 10 FCS playoff appearances (1998, 1999, 2006, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2024, 2025)
- 7-time FCS quarterfinalists (1999, 2006, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2019, 2025)
- 2-time FCS semifinalists (1999, 2014)
- 1-time FCS Championship game qualifier (2014)
- The team is 10-6 in the FCS playoffs under Spack's guidance
- ISU is 13-1 against FCS opponents on the road the past two seasons
THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT
- UC Davis is located in Davis, California, and has an enrollment of 40,900. The Aggies are members of the Big Sky Conference and play their home games at UC Davis Health Stadium (10,743).
- A total of 10 Aggies were named to the Big Sky All-Conference team, with five earning first team nods, three getting second team honors and two more bringing home honorable mention honors.
- The Aggies earned a first-round bye as the No. 8 seed in the playoffs and hosted No. 9 seed Rhode Island last Saturday. UC Davis was down at the half, but rallied to pick up a 47-26 victory over the Rams. The win marks the second-straight season with at least one playoff game win for the Aggies, and moves them into the quarterfinals for the second-straight year.
- Quarterback Caden Pinnick was named the Big Sky Freshman of the Year, becoming the second Aggie to earn the honor in program history. Pinnick has thrown for 2,804 yards and 29 touchdowns on the season, while completing over 69 percent of his passes. He's also a threat on the ground, with 411 yards and three scores.
- Jacob Psyk was named a Buck Buchanan Award finalist, as he became the second-straight Aggie to be named to the list, with David Meyer landing on the 2024 finalist list. The Harvard transfer finished the season with 46 total tackles, making 12 solo while adding 15.0 tackles for loss and a team-high 9.0 sacks.
A GAME FOR THE AGES
Illinois State and North Dakota State's second round playoff game will be one that is remembered for a long time, with the Redbirds completing one of the biggest upsets in FCS playoff history. A sizeable underdog, the Redbirds overcame five interceptions, a 78-yard touchdown pass on NDSU's first play from scrimmage and a 52-yard punt return for a touchdown to come from behind and score 15 points in the fourth quarter to pick up the road win over the Bison. The Redbirds scored a touchdown with one minute to play to trim the deficit to one at 28-27, and then Tommy Rittenhouse found Scotty Presson Jr. in the endzone for a 2-point conversion to take the lead. The win was the second for the Redbirds over the No. 1 team in the country in the playoffs under the leadership of head coach Brock Spack, with the other coming in the 2014 semifinals against New Hampshire.
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 13-3 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 7-0 on the road against FCS foes after a 29-28 second-round playoff win over No. 1 seeded North Dakota State. 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.
BIRDS IN THE POSTSEASON
The Redbirds are making their tenth appearance in the FCS playoffs and seventh under the leadership of head coach Brock Spack. ISU is 13-9 all-time in playoff games and are making a second-straight appearance in the playoffs. Last season, the Redbirds picked up a first-round playoff win at Southeast Missouri State, before falling in the second round on the road to No. 5 seed UC Davis. Overall, the Redbirds are 10-6 in the playoffs under Spack and are 8-4 in road contests, with quarterfinal appearances in 2012, 2014, 2015, 2019 and 2025.
VIC TAKES OVER
With two 100-plus yard rushing efforts already under his belt and a near one in the win at South Dakota State, Victor Dawson has proven he's ready for the spotlight. He shined bright in that light against the Bison, rushing for a season-best 137 yards including a 69-yard touchdown dash to help lead the Redbirds to a stunning upset over the defending national champions.
TRUE GRIT
Tommy Rittenhouse's performance against North Dakota State was something straight out of a Hollywood movie. The senior struggled at times during the game, throwing a career high five interceptions against the vaunted Bison defense. However, he never backed down and battle back to throw two touchdown passes in the final three minutes of the contest and found Scotty Presson Jr. for a 2-point conversion to win the game for the Redbirds. With his three touchdowns, Rittenhouse established a new single-season passing touchdowns record with 31, topping Tre Roberson's 30 TD season in 2014.
DAN THE MAN
A big three-touchdown day against North Dakota State cemented senior wide receiver Daniel Sobkowicz at the top of the Illinois State record books. With his three touchdown receptions, Sobkowicz now has 36 career receiving touchdowns which puts him in the top spot on the career list, ahead of Redbird great Tyrone Walker (32). In addition, Sobkowicz sits in second place on the career receiving yards list (3,260) and continues to chase Walker for first place (3,565). He also ranks second in career receptions (244) behind Walker (250).
THE MAN IN THE MIDDLE
Following another stellar season at middle linebacker, Tye Niekamp was named as one of 30 finalists for the 2025 Buck Buchanan Award, which is presented to the national defensive player of the year in Division I FCS college football by Stats Perform. Niekamp is ISU's eighth finalist for the award, including 2022 Buck Buchanan Award winner Zeke Vandenburgh. In addition to his national honors, Niekamp was also named the 2025 MVFC Defensive Player of the Year, after he ranked third in the MVFC in tackles with 126 (63 solo) and second in the league in tackles-for-loss with 12.0 during the regular season. Niekamp becomes the first Redbird named the MVFC Defensive Player of the Year since 2022, when Zeke Vandenburgh won the honor on way to being named the Buck Buchanan Award recipient. It marks the ninth time in Valley Football history a Redbird has been named Defensive Player of the Year: LB Brian Gant (1986), LB Boomer Grigsby (2002-04), DE Brent Hawkins (2005), LB Cameron Siskowic (2006) and LB Zeke Vandenburgh
HONORS GALORE FOR THE REDBIRDS
Illinois State standouts Tye Niekamp and Luke Mailander headlined a list of 12 Redbirds selected as 2025 All-Missouri Valley Football Conference selections in the annual vote conducted by the league's head coaches, media members and sports information directors. Niekamp was named the league's Defensive Player of the Year, while Mailander was named the MVFC Freshman of the Year in the annual vote. Wide receiver Daniel Sobkowicz, offensive lineman Jake Pope and defensive back Shadwel Nkuba II earned First-Team All-MVFC honors alongside Niekamp, while running back Wenkers Wright, fullback Scotty Presson Jr., offensive lineman Landon Woodard, safety La'Shavion Brown and longsnapper Dylan Calabrese each earned Second-Team All-MVFC honors. Quarterback Tommy Rittenhouse, tight end Javon Charles and defensive tackle Jake Anderson were also honored as All-MVFC Honorable Mention selections to round out the list.
RACKING UP INTERCEPTIONS
The Redbird defense has certainly been advantageous in each of its FCS playoff first round games the past two seasons. Last year in the first round win at Southeast Missouri State, the Redbirds recorded a playoff record five interceptions in the contest. They then followed that up this season with four interceptions in their first round playoff win at Southeastern Louisiana to earn a victory and move the total to nine in the past two first round contests. In total, the Redbirds now have 17 interceptions as a team in 2025, just five short of the team record of 22 set in 1984.
NOVEMBERS TO REMEMBER
The month of November has been very good to the Redbirds over the past two seasons. Last year, the Redbirds were 5-0 in the month of November, including a 35-27 road playoff win at Southeast Missouri State, and this year the Redbirds were 4-1 in November after the first round playoff win over Southeastern Louisiana.
