Illinois State’s Brock Spack is the longest-tenured Missouri Valley Football Conference head coach following the retirement of Northern Iowa’s Mark Farley at the end of last season. (Photo by Barry Bottino, PrairieStatePigskin.com)
By Dan Verdun
For 16 seasons, Illinois State’s Brock Spack and Northern Iowa’s Mark Farley coached against one another.
That will no longer be the case at 2 p.m. Saturday when ISU (5-3, 2-2) hosts UNI (2-6, 0-4) at Hancock Stadium in Missouri Valley Football Conference action. Farley retired at the end of last season and is now an analyst for FBS Illinois.
“Very weird. I’ll probably go out there thinking he’s going to be there and then he’s not ” Spack said. “He’s a really good football guy, and I miss him a lot.”
Spack held an 8-7 edge in head-to-head games, including a 41-21 playoff victory in 2014.
Farley, who played at UNI in the 1980s, is the MVFC leader with 183 wins, including 17 playoff victories. He spent 24 years coaching his alma mater.
With Farley retired, Spack, in his 17th season at ISU, is now the dean of conference coaches. Spack is Illinois State’s career leader with 116 coaching wins, eight in the postseason.
Spack has won 72 MVFC games, which ranks third all-time behind Farley (119) and John Stiegelmeier of South Dakota State (84).
Meanwhile, the Panthers are now led by Todd Stepsis, who guided Drake to back-to-back FCS playoff appearances the past two seasons.
The Redbirds are coming off a 21-13 win at South Dakota and strive to gain momentum for the stretch run to a desired FCS postseason berth.
“November is when all the fun starts and we’ve got some momentum going into it,” linebacker Tye Niekamp said.
ISU is ranked 17th in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 and 18th in the American Football Coaches Association rankings.
This week’s opponent
Northern Iowa lost to Southern Illinois, 31-17, last week in Carbondale.
The Panthers have run a two-quarterback system with redshirt juniors Matthew Schecklman and Jaxon Dailey. Dailey saw his first extended action last weekend, completing eight passes for 93 yards with two touchdown passes.
While redshirt sophomore J.C. Roque Jr. is UNI’s leading receiver, five different pass catchers have two touchdowns.
Moline native Harrison Bey-Buie, who began his career at Eastern Illinois, is the team’s top rusher.
Redshirt senior Ryan Crandall, who began his career at Western Illinois, leads the Panthers in tackles. Cornerback Jonathan Cabral-Martin has seven pass breakups and one interception to his credit.
Kickoff: 2 p.m.; TV: ESPN-Plus & Marquee; Radio: WJBC.com.
Key matchup to watch
ISU quarterback Tommy Rittenhouse vs. UNI defense
The senior produced 161 yards of offense (141 passing, 20 rushing) in last weekend’s win at South Dakota. He passed for two touchdowns and ran for another,
“Tommy played really well, but the thing is he can play even better. We keep pushing him to get the best out of him,” Spack said.
Northern Iowa ranks 44th out of 126 FCS teams in total defense.
“They show multiple fronts and will also blitz and show some pressure,” Spack said.
What’s at stake
An ISU win keeps the Redbirds on a path to the FCS postseason and puts them over .500 in league games.
News and notes
Senior running back Wenkers Wright needs 13 yards to surpass Larry Spinks for seventh place on the career ISU rushing yardage list. … With All-American receiver Daniel Sobkowicz out with an injury last Saturday, Dylan Lord and Rylan Crawford combined for 14 catches for 126 yards. Tight end Scotty Presson Jr. grabbed two touchdown receptions. “They all caught balls and we knew coming into the season that they’d be a factor,” Spack said. … Illinois State and Northern Iowa will meet for the 41st time, with the Panthers holding a 23-17 advantage in the all-time series. … UNI has dropped five straight contests while averaging just 10 points scored in those games. … ISU has converted 8 of 12 fourth-down attempts this season. … After Saturday, the Redbirds will have only one home game remaining, a Nov. 22 date with rival Southern Illinois to close the regular season. ISU has two road games left, Nov. 8 at Indiana State and Nov. 15 at South Dakota State.
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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