By Eric Stock

NORMAL – It apparently takes a lot to impress Brock Spack.

Even after his Illinois State Redbirds gashed No. 4 South Dakota with 331 rushing yards in a 37-21 win at Hancock Stadium, the ninth-year coach wasn’t prepared to hand out verbal bouquets to his offensive linemen.

“Believe it or not, they just played ok, I thought,” Spack said. “I expect a lot more from them and I think there’s a lot more in the tank.”

Still, Spack acknowledged ending a two-game skid by downing their highest-ranked opponent since their 2014 FCS Championship Game run provided a jolt of confidence.

“It was a confidence booster, obviously” Spack said. “We had been in some games where we didn’t play particularly well and seemed a little flat, I guess is the best way to put it.

“We really had a lot of juice. Our fans were tremendous, they always are here.”

Spack said this weekend’s matchup at No. 19 Youngstown State is an example of gritty play in the Missouri Valley Football Conference and it’s not usually pretty.

When you play good defensive teams the game gets a little dirty games sometimes,” Spack said. “Dirty games are what you are going to see from here on out. The one on Saturday will be really ugly, won’t be a think of beauty I don’t think.”

WJBC will have the game at 12 p.m. Saturday.

Eric Stock can be reached at [email protected].