Saturday will be a battle of the ISUs as Indiana State travels to FCS No. 10-ranked Illinois State for Missouri Valley Football Conference action at 3 p.m. EDT.
The Illinois State Redbirds are the reigning FCS runner-up after losing a heartbreaker to Montana State in the national championship game last year.
The Sycamore defense will have its work cut out for them as the Redbirds average 37.7 points per game while holding their opponents to 17.1.
Indiana State on the other hand averages 27.71 ppg while allowing opponents an average of 37.29 ppg.
Defensive lineman Kolten Gajewski said the Sycamores need to have a relentless pursuit to the ball with a fanatical effort.
Hancock Stadium will be a tough environment as Illinois State conducts its homecoming festivities. But the Sycamores aren’t strangers to that after their game at South Dakota.
Indiana State coach Curt Mallory acknowledged that Illinois State is a tough place to play, but how that’s how it is each and every week.
Sycamore linebacker Braxton Sampson said he and his teammates love getting booed.
“It’s a fun thing,” Sampson said. “It’s why we play the game.”
Gajewski said the South Dakota game was good preparation for Saturday and that the homecoming environment on the road fuels the team in a positive way.
The Sycamores are coming off their bye week after a rough loss at home to Youngstown State. The Redbirds are coming off a 35-14 win at Southern Illinois last Saturday.
“I thought the bye week was very important,” Mallory said. “I thought our players had a great week. We got better, we got healthy and we’re ready for a new opponent this week.”
The ranked Redbirds have had their weak moments as well as they lost 28-21 at Northern Iowa on Sept. 26.
“All of us have to understand every Saturday, it’s going to be a dog fight,” Illinois State coach Brock Spack said. “If you’re not ready to play on Saturday in this league, you’re going to get beat.”
When asked about weaknesses in the Redbirds that the Sycamores could exploit, Mallory instead referenced the Redbirds almost winning the national championship last season.
“They return a lot of really, really good football players,” Mallory emphasized.
He said the Redbirds are very physical up front, both offensively and defensively.
For the Sycamores, while a loss, one of the best games so far this season was arguably on Sept. 26 when they lost 42-35 to ranked North Dakota. The Sycamores dug a hole, but they almost climbed out of it.
“This team has a lot of fight,” Mallory stressed.
He acknowledged the miscues with taking care of the football against South Dakota where multiple turnovers led to scores for the Coyotes. The Sycamores started off well with a touchdown against YSU before falling 57-24. Mallory said the Sycamores have to step up defensively and get off the field.
The Sycamores failed to respond as they needed to when running back Jaden Gilbert went off on them. Mallory acknowledged that saying the Sycamores have to respond as both coaches and players.
A big nonconference game the Sycamores can look at was against Valparaiso as ISU’s defense allowed -7 rushing yards. Mallory said the defense always starts with stopping the run.
Gajewski said he and his teammates can fight tooth and nail as long as they have to as he noted the game against North Dakota. The Sycamores have had a couple of upset victories over ranked opponents the last two seasons.
Last season the Sycamores won at South Dakota State and the season before that, they knocked off North Dakota in Terre Haute. So how can they upset Illinois State on Saturday?
”Coach talks about it all the time, this is the Missouri Valley,” Gajewski said. “Any team has a chance to beat any team at any time in the season.”
Gajewski said Saturday will come down to preparation and how ISU responds to ups and downs.