No. 4/6 Illinois State Wraps Up Non-Conference Slate And Host North Alabama

SETTING THE SCENE
Date: September 20, 2025
Time: 12 p.m. CT
Site: Normal, Ill.
Stadium: Jay and Lori Bergman Field at Hancock Stadium
Capacity: 12,440
Series: Illinois State leads 1-0
Last: ILS won 24-17 (Sept. 7, 2024)
Watch/Stream: ESPN+ 
Listen: WJBC 1230 AM / 102.1 FM / 
98.9 FM WJEZ / The Varsity Network

THE GAME
The non-conference portion of the 2025 schedule comes to a close this weekend, when No. 4/6 Illinois State (2-1) welcomes in North Alabama (1-2) for a Family Weekend contest on Jay and Lori Bergman Field at Hancock Stadium. The game is part of a home-and-home series with the Lions, which started last season in Florence, Alabama.

THE SERIES
Illinois State and North Alabama will meet for the second time in program history, with the Redbirds leading the series 1-0 over the Panthers. The Redbirds have played against six teams from the recently formed United Athletic Football Conference and hold a 8-4 overall record against those programs.

THE COACHES
Illinois State: Brock Spack (Purdue, 1983) is in his 17th season as the head coach at Illinois State (113-75). 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.

North Alabama: Brent Dearmon (Bethel, 2008) is in his third season as the head coach at North Alabama (7-19) and his fourth as a collegiate head coach (17-20). In his first two seasons at UNA, Dearmon's teams won six games, including the program's first-ever win over a ranked Division I opponent with a 47-34 homecoming win over No. 10 Abilene Christian in 2024. 

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 68-24 at home under Spack's guidance
• ISU is 51-18 at Hancock Stadium since 2013 renovation

THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT

• The University of North Alabama is located in Florence, Alabama, and has an enrollment of 10,600. The  Lions are members of the United Athletic Conference (UAC) and play their home games at Braly Municipal Stadium (14,215).
• UNA is off to a 1-2 start to the year, as the Lions picked up their first win of the season last week against Northeastern State 49-21 at home.
• North Alabama has been hard to stop on the ground, as the Lions average 244.7 yards per game rushing and have scored six of their nine touchdowns on the season via the ground.
• The Lions rushed for 301 yards — the most since 2023 — and finished with 199 passing yards for an even 500 yard day. The offense scored 31 unanswered points in the first half, as the Lions defense kept the RiverHawks at bay for much of the game.
• True freshman Tae Martin led the way for the UNA defensive with his first career interception, first career sack, four tackles and three pass breakups. Jayvain Allen paced the offense with 91 yards and two touchdowns on the ground, while Jalen Fletcher and Jalyn Daniels both scored on the ground as well.

LAST TIME AGAINST NORTH ALABAMA (SEPT. 7, 2024)
Illinois State jumped out to an early lead and never looked back as the Redbirds held on late for a tough 24-17 win over the North Alabama Lions at Braly Stadium. Quarterback Tommy Rittenhouse rushed for a career-high 94 yards and accounted for 236 yards of total offense with three total touchdowns (two rushing, one passing) in the win. Wenkers Wright led the way rushing for the Redbirds with 153 yards on the ground, with a long run of 54 yards late in the fourth quarter. Keondre Jackson paced the defense, with nine tackles, a half sack and 1.5 TFLs.

NIEKAMP EARNS WEEKLY MVFC HONORS
Illinois State junior middle linebacker Tye Niekamp had a career day in the Redbirds' 42-30 win over in-state rival Eastern Illinois in the 113th Mid-America Classic. For his efforts, Niekamp was named the Missouri Valley Football Conference Defensive Player of the Week by the league office.  The Normal, Illinois, native recorded a career-high 14 tackles, including 10 solo stops, and was credited with two tackles-for-loss and a quarterback hurry in the victory over the Panthers. The Redbird defense was busy on the day, forcing two turnovers, recording two sacks and seven tackles-for-loss while holding EIU to just 35 yards rushing in the contest.

3 FOR 3 FOR NKUBA
Transfer defensive back Shadwel Nkuba II came to Illinois State to make an impact on the defensive side of the ball, and through three contests he is certainly doing that. Nkuba II has recorded an interception in each of the first three games of the season and has accumulated 10 tackles to start the year for the Redbirds. He is just one interception away from besting the team high of four by Tye Niekamp from all of last season.

MAILANDER DELIVERING FOR THE BIRDS
Following the transfer of Xavier Loyd to Missouri in the offseason, the Redbirds were needing a receiver to step up and fill the void left by the veteran wideout. Redshirt freshman Luke Mailander has made the most out of that opportunity, as he leads the Redbirds with 180 yards on nine receptions through the first three games of the year. He has also caught touchdowns in each of the past two games to give him two on his young career for the Redbirds. 

CLIMBING THE RANKS
With his 95 yards receiving against Eastern Illinois, wide receiver Daniel Sobkowicz now has 2,597 receiving yards in his stellar career thus far. That puts him in fifth place overall on the ISU career receiving yards list, and he is just 122 yards away from tying Rickey Garrett (2,719) for fourth place on the all-time list. He is also tied for second in career receptions (192) with ISU Athletics Percy Family Hall of Famer Laurént Robinson and is fourth in career touchdown receptions (25) behind Robinson (29). 

FINDING THE END ZONE FOR THE FIRST TIME
As can happen early in the season, newcomers to a football team can record a lot of "firsts" in a Redbird uniform. In the team's home opening win over Morehead State, several Redbirds scored their first touchdowns in the victory over the Eagles. Wide receiver Luke Mailander found the end zone for the first time in his career, when he connected on a 32-yard touchdown with Tommy Rittenhouse late in the third quarter. Later in the fourth quarter, transfer tight end Nick True caught his first pass as a Redbird and ran it in for a 3-yard touchdown. Not to be outdone, defensive back Cam Wilson scored the first touchdown of his career at ISU, as he returned a fumble 27 yards for a defensive score. In addition, quarterback Beckham Pellant tossed the first touchdown pass of his young career, finding Daniel Sobkowicz for a 25-yard TD in the second quarter.

SUCCESS IN HOME OPENERS
The Redbirds have been very good at home under the leadership of head coach Brock Spack, especially in the first home game of each season. Thanks to their 41-13 win over Morehead State to open the 2025 slate, ISU is 16-1 in the first home game of the season at Hancock Stadium under the leadership of head coach Brock Spack.

THE STREAK CONTINUES
Redbird teams have been very successful scoring on defense under the leadership of head coach Brock Spack. Thanks to a 27-yard fumble return for a touchdown in the home opening win over Morehead State by Cam Wilson, the Redbirds extended their streak to 17 straight seasons with at least one defensive score. 

LOTS OF EYES ON THE REDBIRDS
When the Redbirds traveled to Norman to take on Oklahoma, they knew it would be a less than friendly environment for the 2025 season opener. What the crowd turned out to be was the largest the Redbirds have ever played in front of as 83,218 fans watched the No. 6 Redbirds from the FCS take on the No. 18 ranked Sooners from the FBS. The crowd topped the previous best of 73,727 at Wisconsin in 2022 and when you factor in the crowd of 69,250 set last year at Iowa, the Redbirds have played in front of their three biggest crowds in the past four seasons.

FAMILIAR FACES ALL AROUND
Fans who got to see the Redbirds in person last fall will notice a lot of familiar faces and names on the field this season for the Redbirds, particularly on the offensive side of the football. ISU returns 43 letterwinners and 12 starters (8 offense, 4 defense) from last year's team that advanced to the second round of the FCS playoffs. Many of those players saw significant action last season and with a full offseason in the weight room and work put in during spring and fall camp, this roster is expected to make back-to-back postseason appearances since 2015-16.