Illinois State senior captain Mason Kaplan ranks third on the team in tackles (25) and tackles for loss (2.5). The linebacker is tied for second in quarterback hurries (2). (Photo by GoRedbirds.com)
By Dan Verdun
Both Illinois State head coach Brock Spack and team captain Mason Kaplan downplayed the urgency of Saturday’s Missouri Valley Football Conference game at rival Southern Illinois.
Both the No. 13 Redbirds (4-2 overall, 0-2 MVFC) and the Salukis (3-4, 1-2) enter the 3 p.m. kickoff in Carbondale with two conference losses.
“I think the overall losses are more important, to be honest with you,” Spack told Prairie State Pigskin. “You might get a hickey (loss) or two in the league because of the way it is. It’s an important game. They’re all important. Every game is important. Every weekend is a playoff game.”
Both Spack and Kaplan, a senior linebacker, said Saturday’s game is important “because it’s the next game.”
“That’s how we approach it,” Spack said. “We don’t put any more stress on it than that.”
Kaplan, a sixth-year player, echoed his head coach’s thoughts.
“I’ve been on teams that are at this point and have done well and on teams that haven’t,” he said. “The main thing I’ve seen, for example last year, is you’re not looking too far ahead with what-ifs. It’s treating everything with one rep at a time and one day at a time.”
Kaplan said the coaching staff has stressed “just getting back to work and improving each day” through ISU’s two-game losing streak.
“For us as a team, we don’t really get moody. It’s not about highs and lows. It’s staying the course,” he said.
That course has taken a different path. After starting the season with a 4-0 record and rising to No. 3 in the national rankings, the Redbirds have sustained league losses at then-unranked Northern Iowa and at home to then-No. 2 South Dakota State.
“It’s a really competitive conference,” Kaplan said. “Every week, it doesn’t matter who it is, it’s going to be elite competition. That’s exciting. That’s the type of conference you want to be in. That’s why guys come here.”
Spack said that each season has its own unique ebbs and flows.
“We were playing really well earlier, then all of the sudden we hit a road block,” Spack said, citing injuries to running backs Victor Dawson and Seth Glatz as well as receivers Dylan Lord and Luke Mailander. “It’s just been funky that way.
“Those (injured) guys are back, so it’s better.”
Kickoff: 3 p.m.; TV: ESPNU; Radio: WJBC.com
Key matchup to watch
ISU quarterbacks vs. SIU defense
The Illinois State three-QB rotation appears to still be in play, according to Spack.
Whether fifth-year QB Gage Roy or junior Beckham Pellant starts against the Salukis isn’t really the point, he said.
Both will likely take snaps as well as sophomore running specialist Chase Kwiatkowski.
Southern ranks fifth among the MVFC’s nine teams in scoring defense (26.43 points per game). The Salukis are sixth in rush defense (149 yards per game) and pass defense (215.1 yards per game).
What’s at stake
The official Illinois State athletics website calls Saturday’s game a “crucial tilt.”
History shows that teams with three MVFC losses halfway through the league schedule do not usually make the playoffs.
Quick hits
Illinois State middle linebacker Tye Niekamp is 11 tackles away from reaching the 400-tackle mark for his career. He will become the fifth player in program history to do so. He also needs two tackles for loss to pass former teammate Zeke Vandenburgh for fourth on the ISU career list. … Six MVFC teams are ranked in the Stats Perform FCS poll this week: No. 1 South Dakota State, No. 6 Youngstown State, No. 9 South Dakota, No. 11 North Dakota, No. 13 Illinois State and No. 19 Northern Iowa. Southern Illinois, ranked No. 25 earlier in the season, has dropped out of the poll but is still receiving votes. … ISU and SIU will meet for the 87th time, with the first game taking place in 1929. The Salukis lead the series, 44-39-3. SIU has won three of the last four games. However, the Redbirds have won two of the last three games in Carbondale. Spack is 7-8 overall against SIU. The two teams did not play in the spring 2021 COVID-19 season and in 2023 because of an unbalanced MVFC schedule. … Spack (18 years) and SIU’s Nick Hill (11 years) are the two most senior head coaches in the MVFC.
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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