Linebacker Tye Niekamp (46) leads Illinois State in pass breakups (three) and ranks third (33) in tackles. (Photo by GoRedbirds.com)
By Dan Verdun
Brock Spack and his Illinois State coaching staff aren’t approaching Saturday’s Missouri Valley Football Conference game at rival Southern Illinois any differently following a one-sided defeat.
“It’s business as usual,” Spack said. “We’re going to work on being a better football team. There’s no magic wand. We’re not taking a different approach.”
This follows a 42-10 loss to second-ranked North Dakota State that spoiled Illinois State’s homecoming. The defeat snapped the Redbirds’ three-game winning streak.
“Last week, we got handled physically up front. That’s a bit unusual for us,” Spack said. “We need to get that back and regroup.”
Which brings ISU (3-2, 0-1 MVFC) to its rivalry game with SIU (2-3, 0-1 MVFC).
The Redbirds are ranked No. 18 and the Salukis are No. 19 in this week’s Stats Perform FCS Top 25 poll.
The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) poll has ISU at No. 19 and SIU at No. 23.
Each team is coming off a loss in its MVFC opener. While Illinois State dropped its game with NDSU, Southern Illinois lost, 42-13, at No. 5 South Dakota.
“You don’t reinvent the wheel after a loss, you just focus and get everybody back on the page,” Spack said.
Xavier Loyd, Illinois State’s leading receiver, remains focused despite last week’s lopsided loss.
“(We win by) staying disciplined and keeping the goal as the main thing and not getting distracted,” Loyd said. “So far, we’ve been doing really well and staying level-headed. If we do that week-by-week, then at the end the results will show.”
This week’s opponent
Like Illinois State, Southern Illinois has been hard hit by injuries. Perhaps foremost is quarterback D.J. Williams, who injured his right hand Sept. 18 and is out indefinitely.
Redshirt junior Hunter Simmons has made the past two starts in Williams’ place. The 6-foot-3, 215-pound Simmons has completed 57 of 100 passes for 692 yards and three touchdowns this season. He has yet to be intercepted.
“The quarterback has always been a good position for them,” Spack said. “They have good skill players who can run. They’re a playoff-caliber team for sure. We’ll have to play well to win the game. It’s down there on their homecoming. It’s a night game. We’ll have to get back in that (winning) mode again.”
Four Saluki receivers have combined for the seven touchdown catches this fall. East St. Louis native and Wisconsin transfer Keontez Lewis leads SIU with 23 receptions for 422 yards and two touchdowns.
Linebacker Ben Bogle tops the Salukis with 42 tackles. His 12.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks lead the MVFC.
Kickoff: 6 p.m.; TV: ESPN-Plus; Radio: WJBC.com
Key matchup
Illinois State run game vs. Southern Illinois defense
Both teams rank in the bottom half of the conference’s rushing offense. While these stats are skewed by last week’s performances against Top 5 teams, whichever school is able to run the ball effectively Saturday has a big leg up on the other.
“When you play Coach Spack you understand that (he’s) a defensive-minded coach who wants to play a physical brand of football,” Hill said. “(Spack wants to) run the football, control the game. If you want to control the game, you’ve got to be able to run the ball.”
Spack viewed the winning formula as an extension of that.
“No. 1 is always taking care of the football and then trying to avoid penalties,” Spack said. “Those are things that get you beat. The first axiom of winning is don’t beat yourself.
“Three things that get you beat are turnovers, mental errors and you’ve got to give great effort too. That’s part of it. Those are our mantras every week.”
What’s at stake
A win would even ISU’s league record and give the Redbirds a victory over a ranked team.
A loss would drop Illinois State to 0-2, which translates into a much more daunting path to the playoffs.
Quick hits
The two rivals meet for the 85th time in the series, which dates back to 1929. SIU has won the previous two matchups in 2021 and 2022, with the two teams not facing each other in 2023. … Southern Illinois leads the series, 43-38-3. … The Redbirds are 3-4 in Carbondale under Spack, who has a 6-7 record against SIU in his time with the Redbirds. … ISU running back Wenkers Wright saw his three-game streak of more than 100 rushing yards snapped as North Dakota State held the junior to 24 yards on the ground. Wright leads the Redbirds with 469 yards and three touchdowns. … Quarterback Tommy Rittenhouse is ISU’s second-leading rusher with 153 net yards and three TDS. Rittenhouse has completed 66.7% of his passes for 822 yards. He has thrown for six touchdowns while being intercepted twice. … Loyd is the top ISU receiver with 21 catches for 288 yards and two touchdowns. … Defensive backs Keondre Jackson (46) and Mark Cannon Jr. (37) are the leading tacklers for the Redbirds.
Dan Verdun is a co-founder of Prairie State Pigskin. He has written four books: NIU Huskies Football, EIU Panthers Football, ISU Redbirds Football and SIU Salukis Football.
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