By Bryan Bloodworth
NORMAL – Illinois State’s football team has an opportunity to go where no other team has gone in the program’s 120-year history with a victory over South Dakota at Hancock Stadium.
The No. 6 nationally ranked Redbirds, who have won a nation’s best FCS 18 straight home games, can secure the program’s first back-to-back Missouri Valley Conference championship.
“This team has an opportunity to do something that’s never been done here and that can follow them the rest of their lives,” ISU coach Brock Spack said Tuesday during his weekly news conference. “No matter what they do the rest of their life, this will always be on their resume. That’s kind of a pretty special thing. That in itself is pretty important.”
Spack also said it’s something that should be embraced by not only the players, but the fans as well.
“To win this conference is a really big feather in your cap,” he added. “To do it two years in a row, we need to embrace it. It’s really important and it’s meaningful because there is a lot that goes into this and we haven’t done it a lot around here, so when we have an opportunity to do this you want to take advantage of it.”
The Redbirds are 8-2 overall and tied for the conference lead with North Dakota State at 6-1. The Bison play at home against Missouri State, which has a 1-9 record. ISU and North Dakota State shared the league title a year ago.
South Dakota, which was predicted for a last-place finish in the preseason poll, has been the surprise of the Valley with a 5-5 overall record and a 3-4 conference mark.
“They’re easily the best, the most improved team in our league easily,” said Spack. “They’re drastically improved defensively. They’re really salty up front. The front seven is good. They’re vastly improved in the secondary. They play very good fundamentally, sound football particularly in with their coverage system. They’re a completely different tea m defensively.
“We’ll have our hands. They have a lot to play for. They’re playing for a winning season. They’ve already had a very successful year. They knocked off the reigning national champions. The runner-up is in their eye sight now. They (North Dakota State) did have the longest winning streak at home. Now we have the longest winning streak at home. What better way to go out than beat those two streaks and beat the two best teams that played for the national championship a year ago.”
ISU also will honor its outgoing senior class that includes the likes of seniors Tre Roberson, Marshawn Coprich, Pat Meehan, Teddy Corwin, Alex Donnelly, David Perkins, Josh Burch and Soniel Estime.
“Those players have been a big part of what we’ve done the last couple of years,” said Spack. “It will be an emotional day because we are also playing for a championship, which is what we put ourselves in position for.
“We want to win championships here and everyone has worked hard to put ourselves in this position, so we want to finish strong. The playoff seedings also go along with this game, so there’s a lot to play for.
Bryan Bloodworth can be reached at [email protected].
