Illinois State cornerback Shadwel Nkuba II earned Missouri Valley Football Conference Newcomer of the Week honors for his solid performance in Saturday’s 38-36 double-overtime win against North Alabama. (Photo by GoRedbirds.com)
By Dan Verdun
Though his team has won three straight games and is ranked in the FCS Top 10, Illinois State head coach Brock Spack has concerns with his defense.
“For the second week in a row, we didn’t play well in the fourth quarter,” Spack told Prairie State Pigskin, referencing ISU surrendering a combined 33 fourth-quarter points in non-conference wins against Eastern Illinois and North Alabama.
“That bothered me a little bit. That’s one thing that has come up. We’ve got to get that fixed quickly,” Spack said.
Redbird cornerback Shadwel Nkuba II is one player who stood out on defense. The Louisiana transfer earned Missouri Valley Football Conference Newcomer of the Week honors for his performance against North Alabama.
Yet, he too recognized that the defense has had letdowns.
“It was pretty obvious that we came out slow,” Nkuba II said of returning to the field after the first of two weather delays ISU had to endure Saturday.
For his part, the senior reminded his teammates the game was far from over even though the Redbirds held a 17-0 lead at the time.
“I tried to make sure that the team was still focused,” Nkuba II said. “We had to get back our intensity.”
The Redbirds, ranked No. 5 in the American Football Coaches Association Top 25 poll and No. 7 in the Stats Perform FCS rankings, have this week’s bye to address the issue.
Illinois State faces a major test to open its Missouri Valley Football Conference schedule, hosting defending national champion and No. 1-ranked North Dakota State Oct. 4 in Normal.
Sack lack
Spack, in his 17th season at ISU, has often talked about an effective pass rush being a key to a solid defense.
While the Redbirds (3-1) have sacked opposing quarterbacks nine times in four games, five of those came in a victory against Morehead State of the non-scholarship Pioneer League. In addition, ISU has just one sack – from Nkuba II – in the last six quarters plus its two overtimes Saturday against North Alabama.
“We were solid against Eastern Illinois,” Spack said of two first-half sacks and seven quarterback hurries in a 42-30 win. “(They played) a lot of seven-man protections and that makes it difficult.”
Defensive lineman Ben Harman recorded a sack and three QB hurries in that Sept. 13 road win. However, the redshirt freshman missed the North Alabama game with a lower body injury that could prove to be serious.
Spack said Harman “is out for awhile” and “going through diagnosis” this week.
“That affects our pass rush,” Spack said.
Sophomore defensive end Travis Jones leads the Redbirds with 1.5 sacks. Harman and five other ISU defenders have one sack each.
Illinois State lost 51% of its 34 sacks from year’s team, which advanced to the second round of the FCS playoffs.
Outside linebacker Jalen Gaines, who led the team with five sacks, is now on the Seattle Seahawks practice squad.
The sequence that “Tyed” up North Alabama
Early in the second quarter of Saturday’s game, middle linebacker Tye Niekamp made a series of plays that jumped off the highlight reel.
On first down, he and Jack linebacker Reese Edwards combined to drop North Alabama running back Jayvian Allen for a three-yard loss.
On second down, Niekamp broke up a pass in the middle of the field. Then, on third down, the Normal Community High School graduate rushed UNA quarterback Ari Patu. Niekamp forced Patu into a throw and batted away the ball for an incompletion, forcing the Lions to punt.
“He finds a way to make a play with his length and his anticipation,” Spack said. “He’s another guy that’s got a high motor and plays hard. He continues to make plays for us, which is what we need him to do.”
Centers of attention
Junior center Jack McGarry, a transfer from Missouri, missed the North Alabama game with an injury. Spack expects the Hinsdale Central graduate back in the lineup against North Dakota State.
True freshman Caiden Abbs made his first career start in place of McGarry.
“He’s mentally tough and physical,” Spack said of Abbs. “He’s still got things to learn such as identifying (defensive) fronts which can be confusing at times. That said, he’s a coach’s son and plays the game with smarts. That’s why he’s one of the few young guys that can go out and play.”
Late in the game, junior Brayden Jellison took over at center “to calm things down,” Spack said.
“There were some things that (Abbs) missed, that we just can’t miss with IDs, so it was a position by committee Saturday and both guys did a pretty good job,” Spack said.
‘Weight-room run’
Illinois State running back Wenkers Wright scored the game’s first touchdown with a 38-yard run early in the second quarter.
Wright broke five tackles en route to his fourth TD run of the season. It was his longest run of the year.
“I call it a weight-room run, that’s where it’s built,” Spack said. “I saw it live and it’s the same watching it on tape. It’s very, very impressive.
“He’s a hard runner, determined to get into the end zone.”
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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