Illinois State tight end Javon Charles’ 24-yard reception set up a 2-yard touchdown run by Wenkers Wright in the Redbirds’ Nov. 30 win at Southeast Missouri. (Photo by Barry Bottino, PrairieStatePigskin.com)
By Dan Verdun
The rock band Journey sang that the road wasn’t a place to start a family. For Illinois State, however, it’s proven to be just the place to forge a winning football family.
ISU (10-3) has posted six straight road victories en route to a second-round FCS playoff berth. The No. 12 seed Redbirds continues its journey with a 3 p.m. Saturday kickoff at UC Davis (10-2), the No. 5 seed. (3 p.m., ESPN-Plus)
“Our team chemistry is really good,” senior tight end Javon Charles told Prairie State Pigskin. “Being together as one. We’re always hanging out, laughing and joking.”
Charles said the Redbirds have bonded by getting to know each other away from the field.
“We ask each other simple questions like, ‘What is your favorite food or your favorite movie?’ That gives us more to build on,” he said.
Charles gave ISU something to build on during last weekend’s 35-27 first-round win at Southeast Missouri. The 6-foot-5 reserve caught a short pass from quarterback Tommy Rittenhouse and rumbled 24 yards to the SEMO 2-yard line.
“Normally when I get the ball there’s always someone around me. So when I caught it, I realized there was nothing but green grass ahead,” Charles said. “It took me by surprise at first, but I just kept on running. I really would like to have scored.”
Three plays later, running back Wenkers Wright powered into the end zone.
“Coach (C.J.) Irvin likes to say, score or set up somebody to score. I was able to set up a score for my guy Wenkers,” Charles said.
Starting tight end Mitch Bartol, who caught a 2-point conversion from receiver Daniel Sobkowicz, credited ISU’s road success with creating plenty of good vibes.
“We like to have fun,” Bartol said. “It’s a long season, but when we go on the road we have the mindset that it’s a business trip. It’s go get that win and get back on the bus and go home.
“Our offensive coordinator (Tony Petersen) always says that we want to get back on the happy bus.”
Come Saturday, the Redbirds are aiming for a happy bus and plane ride home with yet another victory away from home.
The opponent
UC Davis finished second to No. 1 FCS playoff seed Montana State in the Big Sky Conference. The Aggies’ only two losses occurred Aug. 31 at FBS California (31-13) and Nov. 16 at home to Montana State (30-28).
Along the way, UC Davis defeated nationally ranked FCS teams Idaho and Montana in conference games.
The Aggies landed 13 players on the All-Big Sky teams, including six first-team selections. Senior running back Lan Larison has amassed 2,132 all-purpose yards, tops in FCS.
That breaks down to 1,321 rushing yards, 755 receiving yards and 56 kickoff return yards. He has also passed for 45 yards on five completions.
Quarterback Miles Hastings, a second team all-conference pick, joins Larison as Walter Payton Award finalists.
Hastings ended the regular season ranked second in the nation in passing yards, passing touchdowns, passing yards per game and completions per game.
“He’s a good athlete,” Spack said of Hastings. “They’re a little bit more of a West Coast style of play than a spread (offense), but they do have spread concepts.”
The Aggies feature five players with at least 31 receptions, led by Larison’s 58.
“He’s an excellent receiver, one of the best I’ve seen all year coming out of the backfield,” Spack said. “They try a lot of things with him. They’ll line him up with an empty (backfield) and line him out there at receiver. They’re looking for him. He’s a really good route runner. He’s got good speed.”
UC Davis placed three defenders on the all-league first team: Zach Kennedy along the line and Kavir Bains and Rex Connors in the secondary.
Connors and his brother, linebacker Porter, finished behind only linebacker David Meyer as the team’s top tacklers.
“They’re long on defense and big up front,” Spack said. “They’re pretty big in the secondary.”
Kicker Hunter Ridley has made 16-of-18 field goal attempts.
Kickoff: 3 p.m.; TV: ESPN-Plus Radio: WJBC.com
Key matchup
Illinois State defense vs. UC Davis passing game
A week after allowing Southeast Missouri quarterback Paxton DeLaurent to throw for a school-record 567 yards on an FCS record-tying 85 attempts, ISU will next encounter the nation’s third best statistical passing offense.
“We did give up a lot of passing yards (against SEMO), but we did get after the quarterback with five interceptions,” Spack said.
ISU recorded three sacks and was credited with 16 quarterback hurries in the win.
UC Davis averages 324.6 yards per game through the air. Hastings, a 6-foot-1, 205-pound senior, threw for 32 touchdowns while being intercepted eight times. His 69.5% completion rate is the fifth best in FCS.
Aggies head coach Tim Plough is well aware of the eight turnovers that ISU gained against SEMO.
“When you see a team that’s able to create that many, it shows you how talented they are and how difficult their defensive scheme is,” he said.
What’s at stake
A win sends Illinois State into the quarterfinal round of the postseason. A loss ends the Redbirds’ season.
Quick hits
Saturday marks the first time in school history that Illinois State is playing a California school in football. … The ISU-UC Davis winner plays the South Dakota-Tarleton State winner either Dec. 13 or Dec. 14. … Sobkowicz needs three yards to reach 1,000 in a single season. Teammate Xavier Loyd is 88 receiving yards away from the mark. The last Redbird to achieve that feat is Anthony Warrum in 2016. … Plough was a four-year letterwinner at quarterback for UC Davis (2004-07). He was recruited by the Illinois State staff, then under head coach Denver Johnson, out of Ramona High School in San Diego. “I took a trip out there to check it out. I had a great time. It was really cold. That was my deciding factor, same with Harvard. My mom wanted to move our whole family to Boston, but I got off the plane and it was like five degrees below zero,” Plough said. … Teams are only allowed to dress 64 players per NCAA FCS playoff rules. “They’re also very strict about the numbers of people allowed on the sidelines. All 100-plus guys got us to this moment, but there will be guys who have dressed all year that won’t dress for this game. It’s kind of like the one bone, two dogs (scenario). The practices will be really competitive,” Plough said.
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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