By Bryan Bloodworth
NORMAL – The trail to Frisco for Illinois State’s football team continues Friday when the Redbirds entertain Richmond in a 6:30 p.m. FCS quarterfinal game at Hancock Stadium.
The No. 2-seeded Redbirds put their 10-2 record up against the No. 7-seeded Spiders from the Colonial Athletic Conference with a 9-3 record. Richmond opened the season with a 50-21 loss at Maryland and lost back-to-back games to New Hampshire and Villanova late in the regular season.
The Spiders rebounded by winning back-to-back games against William & Mary in the last week of the regular season and again last week in the second round of the playoffs.
“They’re a very good team, but there isn’t a bad team in the playoffs at this point in the season,” said ISU coach Brock Spack. “They don’t make many mistakes and they don’t turn the ball over much.. They’re a very impressive team everywhere.”
Much like the Redbirds, the Spiders are a very explosive team on offense, averaging 35 points per game. Leading the charge is junior running back Jacobi Green, who has rushed for 1,426 yards and averages 118 per game. He has scored 18 touchdowns.
“He’s the best back we’ve seen since probably Youngstown State or maybe since Iowa,” added Spack. “He’s a very good player and I really like him. He’s very, very competitive and tough. Their receivers are big guys, who do a great job of going up and getting the football. And they probably have the most athletic front we’ve seen since Iowa. They are very athletic and a really good football team.”
Sophomore Kyle Lauletta handles the bulk of the duty at quarterback and averages 255 yards passing. He has thrown for 17 touchdowns. David Broadus also sees action at quarterback. The top receivers are Brian Brown with 1,221 yards and six touchdowns on 66 catches along with Reggie Diggs, who has 61 receptionss for 821 yards and five scores.
“They are pretty balanced and pretty good at both,” said Spack. “They are traditional. They will be under center a lot more than maybe a lot of people are now days. Their second quarterback (Broadus) is more of a runner, so they’ll run him more than the first guy (Lauletta). The first guy is a very good player though.”
Defensively, the teams are very similar in their approach. The Spiders are allowing 24 points per game while the Redbirds yield 20 points on the average. Richmond has intercepted 20 passes.
Spack said his team likes the idea of playing on Friday night.
“A lot of guys are like ‘Friday Night Lights just like in high school’,” added Spack. “They’re excited about a throwback to high school days.”
ISU also will be looking to extend the nation’s longest home winning streak in FCS ranks to 20.
Spack said he hasn’t heard any talk about the streak among the players and the staff rarely addresses it with them. He did offer that there are a number of reasons for the streak, though.
“I think we’ve had pretty good players and we emphasized that we want to make this a very difficult place to play when we got here a long time ago,” Spack continued. “It has become that. Our players are really comfortable here.
“They have a lot of pride in the facility and it’s a nice place to play with a big-time feel to it. It’s a great environment, a beautiful facility and our fans are awesome. It’s exciting to play here and I don’t think they want to be the team where the streak ends.”
Bryan Bloodworth can be reached at [email protected]
