Redbirds Primed For Semifinal Matchup Against Villanova

SETTING THE SCENE
Date: December 20, 2025
Time: 6:30 p.m. CT
Site: Villanova, Pa.
Stadium: Villanova Stadium
Capacity: 12,500
Series: Illinois State leads 1-0
Last: ILS won 19-17  (Sept. 25, 1976)
Watch/Stream: ESPN2
Listen: WJBC 1230 AM / 102.1 FM / 98.9 FM WJEZ / The Varsity Network

THE GAME
Illinois State has traveled South, North and West in the 2025 FCS Playoffs and will now head East, as the Redbirds (11-4) fly to Philadelphia to take on No. 12 seed Villanova (12-2) in the semifinals at Villanova Stadium. The Redbirds are making their third appearance in the semifinals in school history, and the second under head coach Brock Spack.

THE SERIES
Illinois State and Villanova will meet for the second time in program history, with the first meeting taking place in 1976 at Villanova. The Redbirds won that contest 19-17, thanks to four field goals including the game winner in the fourth quarter by Joel Pohlod.

THE COACHES
Illinois State: Brock Spack (Purdue, 1983) is in his 17th season as the head coach at Illinois State (122-78). Spack guided the Redbirds to back-to-back shares of the MVFC title in 2014-15 and an appearance in the 2014 FCS National Championship game against North Dakota State. He has led the ISU to seven playoff appearances and two semifinal appearances and became the program's all-time wins leader in 2021.

Villanova: Mark Ferrante (St. Lawrence, 1982) is in his ninth season as the head coach at Villanova (69-35) and his 39th year overall with the Wildcats after spending 30 years an assistant coach from 1987-2016. He has been a part of 274 victories and all 16 of the program's FCS playoff appearances during his Villanova tenure. As head coach, Ferrante has led the Wildcats to 43 regular season CAA wins, two league titles and five playoff appearances.

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)
• 3-time FCS semifinalists (1999, 2014, 2025)
• 1-time FCS Championship game qualifier (2014)
• The team is 10-6 in the FCS playoffs under Spack's guidance

THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT

• Villanova University is located in Villanova, Pennsylvania, and has an enrollment of 6,700. The Wildcats are members of the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) and play their home games at Villanova Stadium (12,500).
• The Wildcats (12-2) are the No. 12 seed and earned an at-large bid to the playoff field, after finishing in second place in CAA Football in the regular season. Villanova is making its 17th appearance in the Division I Football Championship since becoming an FCS program in 1985. This is their third straight playoff berth and fifth in the last seven seasons for the Wildcats.
• Last week, Villanova took down No. 4 Tarleton State on the road 26-21 to advance to the semifinals and set up the game with the Redbirds. With the victory, Villanova has won 11 straight games. It marks the fifth season in school history and first since 2014 that the team has won 11 or more games in a season. 
• Quarterback Pat McQuaide has been stellar for the Wildcats this season, following a transfer from Nicholls. McQuaide is 224-of-371 through the air this season and has completed 60.3 percent of his passes. He has thrown for 2,924 yards and 24 touchdowns on the season, while only being picked off three times.
• Senior linebacker Shane Hartzell was named one of 30 national finalists for this year's Buck Buchanan Award. The leader of the Villanova defense, Hartzell earned his second straight selection to the CAA First Team on defense and leads the Wildcats with 94 total tackles, 55 solo tackles, 17.5 tackles for loss, 8.5 sacks and eight quarterback hurries this season.

DAN THE MAN
Fans at Illinois State and in the MVFC have known the name Daniel Sobkowicz, but now the entire country is finding out why he is one of the best wide receivers in FCS football. The senior has caught five touchdown passes in wins over No. 1 North Dakota State (3) and at No. 8 UC Davis (2) and he finished with a game-high 150 yards receiving against the Aggies. Sobkowicz now has 38 career receiving touchdowns which puts him in the top spot on the career list, and he is tied with Tyrone Walker for the school record with 250 career receptions. In addition, Sobkowicz sits in second place on the career receiving yards list (3,410) and continues to chase Walker for first place (3,565). With his performance last week, Sobkowicz is just eight yards away from his second-straight 1,000 yard receiving season.

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 14-3 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 8-0 on the road against FCS foes after their 42-31 quarterfinal win at UC Davis. In fact, only Oregon (10-0), Montana State (9-1) and North Dakota State (9-1) have a better record than the Redbirds (9-1) 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 14-9 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 11-6 in the playoffs under Spack and are 9-4 in road contests, with semifinal appearances in 2014 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. He followed that up with a career-high 148 yards on 29 carries in the quarterfinal win at UC Davis.

TAYLOR TO THE HOUSE
After UC Davis scored on a field goal on its first possession of the quarterfinal game, the Redbirds had an immediate answer in the form of hometown product Chris Taylor. The former Normal Community High School standout took the opening kickoff at the ISU 9 yard line and weaved his way up the sideline for a 91-yard touchdown return to give the Redbirds the lead right back. It was the first touchdown return of his career, and the first for the Redbirds since Jalen Carr's in 2022 against Valparaiso. It was also the first touchdown return in playoff history for the Redbirds.

TOMMY BY THE NUMBERS
Its safe to say that senior quarterback Tommy Rittenhouse is saving some of his best football for the end of his career at ISU. This season, Rittenhouse has thrown for 3,006 yards and has completed 65.5 percent of his passes, while throwing for 34 touchdowns and running for seven. His 34 passing TDs set a new single-season record, and he became just the fourth quarterback in school history to throw for over 3,000 yards in a season, joining Matt Brown, Tre Roberson and Kevin Glenn. He has also jumped up the career passing lists at ISU, with his 6,555 career passing yards ranking him fourth all-time and his 54 career passing TDs also putting him in fourth.

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. 

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. 

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 18 interceptions as a team in 2025, just five short of the team record of 22 set in 1984. ISU also ranks No. 6 in the FCS in total turnovers gained with 25.

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.

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.

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. Wright now has 2,603 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 sixth on the all-time rushing yards list, just ahead of Pierre Rembert (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. 

BAUER COMES UP BIG 
Linebacker Patrick Bauer had quite the day against South Dakota State, and it started early on SDSU's first offensive series of the day. On second down, Bauer recorded a tackle for loss to put the Jacks behind the sticks at their own 14 yard line. Then on third down, Bauer jumped the route on a pass to the flat, intercepted it and returned it five yards for the pick six. Then, on the Jacks' final possession of the game, Bauer recorded a 10-yard TFL to ice the game and allow the Redbirds to take a knee for the victory. On the year, Bauer ranks second on the team with 3.0 sacks and 7.5 TFLs to go along with 44 total tackles and two INTs.

THOSE NIEKAMP BOYS ARE TROUBLE
One quick look at the defensive stat sheet from Illinois State's big 35-21 road win at South Dakota and a familiar name is featured heavily: Niekamp. Not only was dad Travis Niekamp calling the plays, but his two sons Tye and Dexter were all over the field making plays against the Jackrabbits. Tye led the way with a career-best 16 tackles and added a forced fumble to earn his third MVFC Defensive Player of the Week honor. Dexter also recorded a career high in tackles with five, but also recorded a career-best two sacks and hauled in his first career interception deep in coverage. They were a big part of the defensive effort that held the Jacks to just 66 yards on the ground and the group that added five sacks and 10 TFLs in the victory.

28 IS GREAT
In wins over Indiana State and South Dakota, Illinois State scored 28 points in a quarter in each contest. The Redbirds scored 28 points in the second quarter on way to a big win at Indiana State and followed that up with a 28-point first quarter outburst in a 35-21 win over South Dakota State. ISU is one of just three teams in the country (FBS & FCS) to achieve that feat this season, joining Florida State and Washington.

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.