By Eric Stock
NORMAL – Brock Spack’s Illinois State football Redbirds will try to bounce back from a second-half letdown last week as they face another nationally-ranked opponent.
The No. 17 Redbirds will visit 5th-rated South Dakota State on Saturday.
“You have to be able to manage disappointment and that’s the hardest part about being a coach,” Spack said. “A lot of that is about the player having mental toughness and that’s tough to do sometimes. but kids tend to be a little more resilient than adults.”
Despite the loss to Western Illinois last weekend, the Redbirds still control their own destiny to claim a Missouri Valley Football Conference championship. The Redbirds (6-3) are in a four-way tie for second place at 4-2, while league leader North Dakota State (8-1, 5-1) will come to Hancock Stadium next weekend.
SDSU handed the then-No. 2 Bison their first MFVC loss on Saturday.
Spack said his Redbirds have to be better in all three phases of the game that they were in the loss to the Leathernecks.
“That’s what concerns me more than anyone else, we’re here in week nine and we weren’t very good technique-wise,” Spack said. “That bothered me.”
WJBC will have the play-by-play at 1 p.m. Saturday.
Streaming
WJBC.com once again be able to stream Redbirds sports as Learfield, which owns all broadcast rights for Illinois State athletics, has lifted its online streaming restrictions.
You will still be able to hear Redbird sports through 1230 AM, NASH ICON 93.7 FM, GoRedbirds.com and the Tune-In app.
The Redbird men’s basketball game Saturday at Florida Gulf Coast will air on 93.7 FM at 11 a.m. The ISU women’s basketball opener at Oakland will be streamed on GoRedbirds.com.
Eric Stock can be reached at [email protected].
