The Illinois State Redbirds (3-1) host the Jackrabbits (3-0) in an MVFC clash Saturday night at 6pm. I fully expected Illinois State to be down in 2023 but they have seemingly reloaded and are the same hard nosed, physical football team that we have come to expect under Brock Spack. Spack has been the head man at Illinois State since 2009 and owns the best mustache in the FCS. He also is pretty good at the whole coaching thing and has an overall record of 95-65 while at Illinois State. This is a good team and they will be amped up to host the #1 team in the country. They are having a blackout game and this is their only night home game so I do expect the crowd to be frenzied to start off.
Offense
The Redbird offense we saw in Brookings last November was beat up and was playing without their preferred starters at multiple positions and it showed as the offense was only able to muster 7 points, 45 rushing yards, and 55 passing yards. However, now that Illinois State has its full array of weapons, they look much more capable. This year they are averaging 34 points per game, 197 yards rushing, and 255 yards passing. They are decent on 3rd Down and convert on 43% of their opportunities. They have also gone for it 7 times on 4th down, converting 6 times. In the redzone they have scored on 15 of 17 trips and 13 have been touchdowns.
The QB that SDSU didn’t get to face last fall is recovered from injury and looks really good! #5 Zack Annexstad (6-3, 220) is a Minnesota transfer and originally from the Mankato area. He is a pass first quarterback but is mobile enough to create plays with his feet too. He has completed 70% of his passes for 965 yards and 4 TD while also adding a TD on the ground with 64 gross yards. He looks in complete command of the offense and it looks like he has built some really good rapport with his wide receivers. The Valley is full of good quarterbacks this season and Annexstad is just the next one.
He has a room full of exciting wide receivers at his disposal and they are certainly off to a hot start to this season! The room returns #2 Daniel Sobkowicz (6-3, 200) as its leading receiver and he has 22 receptions for 335 yards and 2 TD. He is a game breaker and has a long of 62 yards. He was the Redbirds leading receiver in 2022. #13 Eddie Kasper (5-10, 155) has looked good earning 4 starts in his young career. He has 18 receptions for 187 yards and 1 TD. Eastern Michigan transfer, #1 I’Shawn Stewart (5-10, 180), is the other listed starter and he has 5 receptions for 70 yards. He is being pushed by the electric #0 Jalen Carr (5-9, 160) who has 8 receptions for 63 yards in just 2 games. The Redbirds have found another good tight end in #89 Cam Grandy (6-5, 260) who is a transfer from Missouri Western. He had a nice career at Missouri Western and caught 31 passes for 275 last year. Already this year he has 18 receptions for 205 yards and 1 TD.
In true Illinois State fashion, this team LOVES to run the ball and they have a bunch of talented backs that can get the job done. The leader in the clubhouse is #3 Mason Blakemore (6-1, 215) with 294 yards (8.6 ypc avg) and 5 touchdowns, including a 71 yard scamper. The Northern Illinois transfer sat out against Lindenwood before the Redbird bye with a sore shoulder but it doesn’t sound like a serious injury. His compliment in the backfield is #4 Cole Mueller (6-0, 210) who has 170 yards (4.5 ypc avg) and 4 TDs. However, Mueller did have 2 fumbles against Lindenwood and was playing with a thumb sprain. Maybe the bye week healed him up but it is worth watching. In Blakemore’s absence against Lindenwood, #24 Josh Robinson (6-0, 200) saw his reps go up. He has 11 carries for 92 yards (8.4 ypc avg), and had a TD. He is just a freshman and has only played in two games so we may not even see him on Sunday but he looked good while he was out there. #32 Wenkers Wright (6-1, 200) is also still on the team and he has 111 yards and 2 TD.
The Illinois State offensive line is always a strength. They are big, physical, and nasty. From left to right they go #57 Hunter Zambrano (6-5, 300), #76 Kobe Rios (6-6, 315), #66 Peter Bussone (6-2, 305), #75 Ryan Gudaitis (6-4, 295), and #67 Jake Pope (6-7, 295). This group has surrendered just 3 sacks through 4 games. Rios did miss the game against Lindenwood with a knee sprain and was replaced in the lineup by #54 Justin Bromagen (6-4, 290).
Defense
Illinois States defense is always tough. They play fast, physical, and really want to win the line of scrimmage. They play a 3-4 defense that brings pressure from all over. Hence, why they have 20 sacks through just 4 games. They are allowing just 12.3 ppg, 58 yards rushing (1.7 per carry), and 197 yards passing. As mentioned before, I thought this defense would be way down in 2023. Their 2-deep prior to the Lindenwood game, shows that they only had 4 of the same starters from their matchup vs. the Jacks last year. It is a crazy amount of turnover but these new players have bought into the system and are competing.
Upfront they are much bigger than the UND 3-4 and they are relatively young. At end they have #97 Jake Anderson (6-5, 270, RFr), #51 Jalen Monrrow (6-4, 315, RFr), and #91 Josh Dinga (6-6, 265, Sr). Anderson leads the group with 12 stops, 3 TFL, and a QBH. Dinga is next with 9 tackles, 3 TFL, and 2 sacks. That big frame has also batted down two passes. Dinga has competed in 34 games for the Redbirds and is seemingly the grizzled vet for this group. Monrrow has just 1 tackle but his backup #90 Greg Galloway (6-2, 275, So) has 10 tackles. #87 Nick Kessler (6-6, 265, So) has 6 tackles and a sack in a reserve role as well.
Illinois State ALWAYS has a bevy of playmaking linebackers and this year appears no different. #46 Tye Niekamp (6-3, 230) has earned the first 4 starts of his young career and is off to a great start. He has 31 total tackles, 4 TFL, 1.5 sacks, 5 PBUs and 2 QBH. If he keeps this up, he’ll be the next Redbird great. #22 Amir Abdullah (6-4, 215) is the starting SAM backer and is a transfer from Nebraska Kearny. He had a nice career at UNK and has adjusted well to FCS play. He is 4th on the team with 24 tackles, has 7 TFL including 5.5 sacks already this season and 2 forced fumbles! #1 Lavoise-Deontae McCoy (6-1, 235) is one of the returning starters from last season and is settled in at the WILL in 2023. He has 20 tackles and a sack on the year. The wildcard position for this defense is always the JACK linebacker. #50 Jalen Gaines (6-4, 235) is that player this year and he has 24 tackles, 4 TFL, 2 sacks, 2 PBU, 2 QBH, and a forced fumble. Again this is a really fun and active group. I’m very curious to see how much blitzing they do against the Jacks or if they choose to drop these guys and play coverage.
The secondary returns the other 3 starters from the 2022 team and is pretty experienced overall as the other 2 starters were key reserves and have played significant snaps. At corner, #21 Jeff Bowens (5-9, 170) and #6 Nigel White (5-9, 175) are undersized but are competitors! Bowens has 19 tackles and a PBU and White has 11 stops and a PBU on the year. #17 Mark Cannon Jr. (6-3, 205) is a key reserve and brings some size to the group. He has 10 tackles. #3 Keondre Jackson (6-3, 210) and #16 Dillon Gearhart (6-0, 200 are returning starters and have played in over 40 games combined. Both are very active in this defense with Jackson ranking second on the team with 26 tackles, 5 TFL, 3 sacks, 1 PBU, and 2 QBH. #34 Jack Dwyer (6-0, 200) is a key reserve and he has 6 stops. This group is not afraid to get dirty and loves to play near the line of scrimmage. Again, I’m very curious to see how Illinois State chooses to play. Last year they chose to take away the big play and did for the most part. SDSU was just ultra methodical in moving the ball down the field.
Special Teams
The special teams for the Redbirds have not been great so far. The kicker they started the season with, #96 Josh Jasek was 0-2 on field goals and 12 of 15 on extra points. Spack said that he was dealing with injuries and did not play against Lindenwood. The punter, #31 Ian Wagner, filled in on the kicking duties and was 2-2 on field goals, including a long of 43, and was 4-4 on extra points. It sounds like there has been long snapping issues in the place kicking game. On kickoffs, Wagner has had touchbacks on 15 of 22 kicks while Jasek is 2 for 3 on touchbacks. Opponents are averaging just 17.3 yards per kick return even with a long return of 42 yards.
As a punter, Wagner has a 39 yard average on 17 punts including a 71-yard booming punt. He has booted 3 50+ yards, forced 6 to be fair caught and has just 1 touchback. Opponents have returned just 2 punts but one of them was for 45 yards.
The Illinois State return game has not been dynamic so far. Eddie Kasper is the main punt returner and he has a 3.8 yard average on 6 returns including a long of 13 yards. They have utilized 4 different guys to return kicks and none of them have done much. The speedster, Jalen Carr, is one of the listed returners and Wenkers Wright is the other.
Predictions
The offense for Illinois State is much healthier and should be better than the group that came to Brookings last fall. Zack Annexstad is a good QB and he will test this Jackrabbit secondary which has been inconsistent at times. The Illinois State defense still seems like a bit of an unknown. They have plenty really well so far but have not been tested. I think the Jacks follow a similar pattern as this last week and get out to a fast start while weathering the energy from the Redbird fans.
Jackrabbits 38 Redbirds 17
Go Jacks!
Matt
