With 123 wins in 17 seasons, Brock Spack is the winningest head coach in Illinois State history. (Photo by GoRedbirds.com)
By Barry Bottino
Illinois State has made the FCS national championship game after being one of the last four teams chosen for the playoffs.
When the unseeded Redbirds face Montana State Jan. 5 in Nashville, they have an opportunity to become only the fifth team to win a title without being seeded.
Prairie State Pigskin takes a look at more numbers as we approach the finale of the FCS season.
Here are 26 stats about the teams playing next week in the title game in Nashville:
Illinois State Redbirds (12-4)
0, 57
Number of Montana players on the ISU roster vs. number of Illinois players on the Redbirds’ roster.
4
Consecutive road playoff victories for Illinois State, the most ever for an FCS team.
14
Pass breakups by cornerback Cam Wilson, which leads the team and ranks second in the nation.
17
Years as Illinois State head coach for Brock Spack. At 123-78, he is the winningest coach in ISU history.
19
Interceptions by the Redbirds this season, which ranks fifth all-time. The school record is 22, set in 1984.
20
Sacks allowed by the Redbirds in 16 games. The 1.25 sacks allowed per game ranks as the 18th fewest in FCS.
36
Single-season school record TD passes for Tommy Rittenhouse, which ranks No. 2 in the nation. Only Western Carolina’s Taron Dickens (38) has more.
55.8
Completion percentage for opposing quarterbacks against ISU in the playoffs.
59
Receiving yards needed by Daniel Sobkowicz to become ISU’s career leader in the category. He already owns the Redbirds’ career reception and receiving touchdown records.
112-41
Points off turnovers this season for Illinois State vs. points off turnovers of the Redbirds’ opponents in 16 games.
114
Passing yards needed for Rittenhouse to overtake Matt Brown’s 3,370 yards passing in 2012, which is the ISU season record.
155
Total tackles this season for All-American linebacker Tye Niekamp. That ranks second nationally and only four stops behind FCS leader James Conway of Fordham.
512
Rushing yards for running back Victor Dawson in four ISU playoff games. He ran for 739 yards in 12 regular-season games.
Montana State Bobcats (13-2)
0, 44
Number of Illinois players on the MSU roster vs. number of Montana players on the Bobcats’ roster.
2
MSU first-team All-American offensive lineman in school history, including current right guard Titan Fleischmann, who previously played tackle.
3
Perfect 8-0 Big Sky Conference seasons – including 2025 – in five seasons under head coach Brent Vigen.
15
MSU players with at least one forced fumble this season.
32
Consecutive games with at least one rushing touchdown for the Bobcats.
34.6
Third-down conversion percentage against the Montana State defense, which ranks 21st nationally. North Dakota (30.3%) leads the nation.
44
Rushing TDs this season by MSU, which ranks second behind only in-state rival Montana’s 46.
53
Games under Vigen in which MSU has scored at least 30 points. The Bobcats are 51-2 in those contests.
72
Completion percentage this season for quarterback Justin Lamson, which ranks second in FCS. He has thrown 24 TDs and three interceptions.
90
Montana State’s total tackles for loss this fall. Only 10 FCS teams have more.
116.7
Rushing yards allowed per game by the Bobcats. Only 13 FCS teams were better this season.
234.5
Rushing yards per game for MSU, which ranks fourth in FCS. The Bobcats boast two players – Julius Davis (1,100) and Adam Jones (1,047) – who have surpassed 1,000 yards.
571
Total points scored this season by the Bobcats, which ranks No. 3 in FCS.
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.
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