Brock Spack has returned Illinois State to the FCS national championship game for the second time in program history. His Redbirds lost, 29-27, to North Dakota State in the title game played in January 2015. (Photo by Barry Bottino, PrairieStatePigskin.com)
By Dan Verdun
Illinois State’s Brock Spack and Montana State’s Brent Vigen have much in common.
Both played high-level college football – Spack at Purdue in the early 1980s and Vigen at North Dakota State in the mid-1990s. Each spent time as a coordinator at FBS Wyoming and worked his way up the coaching ladder.
Both have coached in a national championship game.
Yet, neither has raised the FCS championship trophy as a head coach.
That will change for one of them Monday when the unseeded Redbirds (12-4) face the No. 2 seed Bobcats (13-2) at 6:30 p.m. (ESPN) at Nashville’s First Bank Stadium on the campus of Vanderbilt University.
Spack, in his 17th season in Normal, took his Redbirds to the 2014 national championship game, where they dropped a last-second 29-27 decision to top-ranked North Dakota State.
Montana State has made five trips to the I-AA/FCS championship game, the last three under Vigen. The Bobcats finished runners-up in 2021 and 2024.
“He has a really good idea of how this is done,” Spack said of his counterpart.
Vigen, 50, took over the Montana State program in 2021 and has led the Bobcats to the playoffs each season.
“Speaking of Illinois State, I really have a lot of respect for that football program. Coach Spack has been there for quite some time, going back to 2009,” Vigen said.
The coaches squared off against one another from 2009-13 in the Missouri Valley Football Conference when Vigen was the offensive coordinator at North Dakota State.
“They were always very well-coached, talented teams and that’s certainly the case with this team,” Vigen said of ISU.
Spack’s Redbirds are the first FCS team to win four straight playoff games on the road to earn a spot in the title game.
“You could see them just continuing to get better through this stretch,” Vigen said. “(ISU has) a really confident, high-powered offense right now. Defensively, it’s a group certainly playing its best football and really causing issues.”
Spack’s 123 wins is the most in Illinois State history. The 63-year-old Rockford native is 11-6 in post-season games.
Senior running back Wenkers Wright was quick to credit Spack for ISU’s success.
“He’s where it all started,” Wright told Prairie State Pigskin. “He’s a tough, old-school coach. He’s instilled toughness into the program. That’s where it basically starts. We always try to be the toughest team on the field. If you’re the toughest team on the field, you’re not going to quit. That’s all because of Coach Spack.”
Vigen sees those same traits.
“It’s a team that reflects, and always has reflected, who he is,” Vigen said of Spack. “He was a very successful defensive coordinator prior to becoming a head coach. There’s a toughness factor there that his teams have always exuded.”
This week’s opponent
Montana State enters Monday’s game as a double-digit favorite, according to Las Vegas oddsmakers.
The Bobcats began the season with a loss to FBS national semifinalist Oregon and shook off an 0-2 start. MSU has won 13 straight games, including a pair of wins against arch-rival Montana.
MSU features plenty of stars on an offense that has averaged nearly 38 points per game this season.
Quarterback Justin Lamson, who began his career at FBS Stanford, has passed for 2,892 yards. He has thrown for 24 touchdowns against only three interceptions. Lamson has completed 72% of his passes, second best in FCS.
“They’re a very good offensive team, I mean really good,” Spack said of Montana State. “It’s a really good quarterback, a bigger guy that is strong. He can run through people. He throws the ball well.”
All–American offensive lineman Titan Fleischmann paves the way for the backfield tandem of Julius Davis (1,110 rushing yards, 8 TDs) and Adam Jones (1,047 yards, 15 TDs).
“They’re really good downhill runners,” Spack said.
Receiver Taco Dowler leads the Bobcats with 69 catches for 914 yards and six touchdowns. The junior averages 13.46 yards per punt return and had a 90-yard TD return earlier this season.
Tackle Paul Brott, end Kenneth Eiden IV and safety Caden Dowler anchor a defense that has allowed 21.3 points a game in the postseason.
“They’re long. Both their fronts are good,” Spack said.
Dowler, the brother of Taco, was the Big Sky Conference’s Defensive Player of the Year. The junior left MSU’s semifinal win with a wrist injury but “is going to do everything he can to play,” said Vigen.
Kickoff: 6:30 p.m.; TV: ESPN; Radio: WJBC.com.
Key matchup to watch
ISU run game vs. MSU front seven
Illinois State has ridden running back Victor Dawson and a ball-control, big-play offense to dominate the time of possession in the postseason.
Dawson has rushed for a career-high yardage total in each of the last three weeks. The Akron, Ohio, native ran for 155 yards on 34 carries in ISU’s semifinal win at Villanova.
“Dawson is certainly a force. He’s had a couple of phenomenal games, the last two weeks in particular,” Vigen said. “He’s the type that just keeps getting better the more opportunities he gets.”
ISU’s ability to run the ball has set up All-American receiver Daniel Sobkowicz.
“He’ll certainly be at or near the top of the list of guys we’ve seen all year,” Vigen said of Sobkowicz.
Both teams have wins against UC Davis this season.
Common opponent
Montana State defeated the Aggies, 38-17, in a Nov. 15 Big Sky game played in Bozeman.
Illinois State toppled No. 8 seed UC Davis, 42-31, in the FCS quarterfinals.
What’s at stake
An Illinois State victory would mark the university’s first Division I national championship.
News and notes
The Redbirds won the NCAA College Division (D-II today) baseball title in 1969 under head coach Duffy Bass and future National League ERA leader Buzz Capra. The 1969 and 1973 ISU softball teams finished as College Division national runners-up. Illinois State joined Division I in 1976. … Both Illinois State and Montana State have opened indoor practice facilities in recent years. … Montana State won the 1984 I-AA title. … Illinois State and Montana State have never met on the football field. …Sobkowicz is the program’s career leader in receptions (257) and receiving touchdowns (40). He needs 58 yards to pass Tyrone Walker on the career receiving yards list. Sobkowicz is the second player in ISU history with back-to-back 1,000-yard receiving seasons. …Middle linebacker Tye Niekamp, the Missouri Valley Defensive Player of the Year and a consensus All-American, has registered 155 tackles, ranking second only to Fordham’s James Conway’s 159 stops. Conway broke the FCS career tackles record previously held by College Football Hall of Fame member James “Boomer” Grigsby of Illinois State. … Redshirt freshman C.J. Richard Jr. has key interceptions in the last two ISU wins. … More than 75 ISU alumni were scheduled to attend Sunday’s practice, according to Illinois State associate athletic director Mike Williams.
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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