Illinois State nose guard Jake Anderson, who has 50 tackles and three sacks this season said the Redbirds’ defense has evolved this season into “one of the top defenses out there.” (Photo by Barry Bottino, PrairieStatePigskin.com)
By Barry Bottino
Illinois State’s defense is heading into the national semifinals this weekend with confidence galore.
“It’s pretty obvious that we’re one of the top defenses out there,” junior nose guard Jake Anderson said.
The numbers back him up. While winning three road playoff games in a row, unseeded ISU (11-4) has held opposing quarterbacks to less than 60% completions while allowing four passing touchdowns, grabbing five interceptions and compiling eight sacks.
Early in the season, however, the numbers weren’t adding up quite as well.
Over ISU’s first seven games, the Redbirds allowed 31.3 points, 143 rushing yards and 289 passing yards a game.
The last eight games have been a different story – 21.1 points, 124 rush yards and 208.5 yards through the air.
“Statistically, we’ve come a long way, but it’s always been there,” senior linebacker Reese Edwards said. “We knew the pieces were there, we just had some games where we didn’t put it together.”
Suffice it to say the Redbirds have put it all together now defensively heading into Saturday’s 6:30 p.m. game at No. 12 seed Villanova (13-2). The winner will advance to the national championship Jan. 5 in Nashville.
“We just kind of clicked,” Anderson said. “It was like we were playing as different position groups. Now we’re clicking as one group out there and it’s flowing.”
Anderson said communication between all three levels of the defense has paid dividends, along with greater reliance on each other.
“When you have trust in the guys behind you, it allows us to play faster and get after that quarterback,” he said of the defensive front, whose starters also include senior Garret Steffen and junior Christian Lorenzo. “That makes it easier on the (defensive backs) because it’s less time they have to cover.”
Another benefit has been the development of young players.
Along the defensive front, Anderson said a strong bond has formed with his backup – redshirt freshman Wyatt Boals – along with sophomore Travis Jones, who is No. 2 behind Lorenzo, and other young linemen.
“We’re probably the tightest position group,” Anderson said. “We take the younger guys out to dinner every Thursday. We’ve all been really close.”
At the “Jack” outside linebacker, Edwards is backed up by blossoming redshirt freshman Dexter Niekamp, who was honored last week as by FCS Football Central as a member of its Freshman All-American Team.
Highly decorated middle linebacker Tye Niekamp, a junior, is joined by fellow starters Mason Kaplan, a senior who plays the weakside spot, and sophomore strongside starter Patrick Bauer.
That group is supported by second-team sophomores Anthony Corona, Jamarcus Smith and Solomon Oduma.
“We’ve all got some grit to us,” Edwards said. “We’re all good ballplayers. That’s what good teams have. They’re not thin at the top.”
In his final season at ISU, Edwards is nearing the end of his career but is far from finished watching his young teammates’ careers advance.
“It will be really exciting to see how these guys develop,” he said.
Barry Bottino is a co-founder of Prairie State Pigskin and a 19-year veteran of three Illinois newspapers. He has covered college athletics since 1995.
Find us on social media!
Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/PSPigskin
Facebook: Prairie State Pigskin
Instagram: Prairiestatepigskin
Blue Sky: PSPigskin
Prairie State Pigskin 
Leave a comment