Illinois State Opens Up Conference Play Against UNI

Photo courtesy of Illinois State football

NORMAL, Ill. — After a long four weeks, Illinois State football finally begins its Missouri Valley Football Conference campaign Saturday on the road against Northern Iowa. The No. 4 Redbirds come into the matchup 4-0 after a statement 49-13 win over Eastern Illinois on Sept. 19.

The Panthers are coming off a 55-0 loss over the University of Iowa, where the Hawkeyes opened the game with five straight touchdown drives.

Despite lass week’s defeat, UNI holds the all-time series over ISU, leading 23-18. Since the arrival of head coach Brock Spack, the Redbirds have gone 9-7 against the conference rival and have won four of the last five games.

The Redbirds survived the Panthers’ attack last November with a 31-16 win, however, things look much different for the Redbirds this year. They currently lead the MVFC in scoring offense, scoring defense, total defense and touchdowns.

It seems as if ISU has turned over a new leaf, but UNI brings experience on the offensive side.

“15 (Quarterback Jaxon Dailey), he’s a good player,” Spack said. “He played against us last year, left handed, good player, big arm, runs pretty well,” he continued. “The offensive team is all seniors, 10 seniors starting, so they’re very experienced.”

Dailey is sixth in the conference in passing yards, averaging just over 206 yards per game, while also being in the top three in completions with an average of 13 per game.

Despite his completion percentage, the graduate student leads the Valley in interceptions with three so far on the season.

Spack says that the Panthers are very similar to Northern Illinois, a team they beat 28-24 just two weeks ago. A key component in ISU’s wins over NIU and EIU was tight end Alex Herrera.

He has three touchdowns in three consecutive games and will continue to be an asset heading into Saturday.

“He’s always going to be apart of the (game) plan,” Spack said. “He’s athletic, he can catch and run…he’s a bigger guy that can play in space and he’s hard to tackle from that standpoint.”

Another star offensive player for ISU is Victor Dawson. The running back suffered a minor injury early in the season and was cleared to play last weekend against Eastern Illinois, but Spack mentioned he did not want to take any risks. Dawson will return to the field on Saturday.

“Vic will be fine, he should be able to play,” Spack said. “I chose not to play him…he hadn’t had enough practice time in my opinion to protect himself in my opinion,” he continued. “He looks fine and I’m sure he’ll be available.”

The Birds are currently second in the conference in rushing offense because of players like Dawson, and he could be a game changer going against a Panthers defense that is ranked last in the MVFC.

ISU may seem like the better team on paper, but they are 3-4 inside the UNI-Dome under Spack’s 18-year long career as head coach. The dome is different than ISU’s home turf at Hancock Stadium since it is an indoor venue.

“The (atmosphere) difference is not as big as it used to be since we have the bubble to practice in now and that helps a little bit,” Spack said. “It feels a little different indoors, there’s no wind blowing, no rain, it’s not real hot, so we have a feel for that which is helpful,” he continued. “Our players are comfortable on the road and enjoy being on the road.”

Another talking point for the ISU defense is the quarterback situation. The Redbirds been using a three-quarterback system, and it has been working.

Gage Roy, Beckham Pellant and Chase Kwiatkowski all bring different values to the program.

Spack likes how Roy throws the ball and the IQ he brings offensively. Pellant has a bigger arm and can throw deep shots with a good release of the ball. Kwiatkowski has mainly been used for special run plays, but Spack said he has been throwing the ball more in practice this week and the coaching staff feels comfortable with his abilities.

“We’re going to play all three quarterbacks and its worked well for us,” Spack said. “Gage is playing really well, he’s starting to figure it out a little bit and Beckham has come back from his sore shoulder thing and has thrown the ball really well this week,” he continued. “Chase has a real sharp arm, he can throw the ball too now.”

In addition to it working on the field, the three quarterback rotation works well internally for the team.

“Everyone’s really comfortable with the role, the other 10 guys in the huddle are very comfortable with whoever is playing quarterback so it’s really kind of amazing, it’s never been like that before.”

The entire offense will need to keep that comfortability going against a defense that is third in the conference in the red zone, forcing three turnovers total in the final 20 yards of the field.

The ISU defense will need to be sharp in order to stop players like Brady McCullough. He is top 10 in the conference in average yards per play, touchdowns, total scoring and yards per catch.

Defense is where the Panthers really shine. They have three players who are in the top 10 in receptions and John Powers is fourth in tackles with 22 on the season.

The linebacker will look to slow down ISU’s run game, but defensive backs Calvin Jaworski and Josiah Young will need to keep their eyes on Dylan Lord, Mar’Quan Gary and Luke Mailander.

The receiving core for the Redbirds is fourth in the MVFC in yards averaging 244 yards per game, but so far, Lord has been the key cog in the Redbird offense.

He is second in receptions per game, third in receiving touchdowns and fifth in receiving yards per game in the conference.

Each team brings their own area of expertise, but the Valley always has something in store for fans. ISU hopes to keep its win streak alive and move to 5-0, while UNI looks to reset and get back in the win column.

Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. on Saturday at the UNI-Dome when conference play officially takes off for the Redbirds.

For all things Redbird football, stay tuned on wznd.com