Beat Western - before they ride off into the sunset

[Total Red]

I'll be headed over to Macomb one more time on Saturday. It may not be the final time. We could still play Western as a non-con opponent. They might even make it a trophy game. Even so it won't be quite the same as playing a conference rival that has been somewhat of a disruptor. WIU beat us in Macomb in '21, and we were tied at 13-13 after 4 quarters last year. We better expect another close hard-fought game. We'll also get to see the giddy up offense back in action against a defense that has played us well.
2-0, 9/9 are the numbers to look for.

 

[topiarydan]

They had to do this for athletic relevance. If they do not increase enrollment over the next couple of years they are going to be in a tough spot. Speakng of relevance if SD State and ND State go elsewhere then you can be damn sure our own football relevance will be in question and a move to at least the MAC would be in order. Damn I wilsh MVC would get some balls and try to grab NIU, Ball State, Arkansas State, Tulsa, Memphis and WKU

 

[Reggie Redbird]

They had to do this for athletic relevance. If they do not increase enrollment over the next couple of years they are going to be in a tough spot. Speakng of relevance if SD State and ND State go elsewhere then you can be damn sure our own football relevance will be in question and a move to at least the MAC would be in order. Damn I wilsh MVC would get some balls and try to grab NIU, Ball State, Arkansas State, Tulsa, Memphis and WKU

I agree on WIU needing to move. They don’t have the resources to compete in the MVFC. The OVC also gives the, more geographic rivals and reduced travel.

The Dakota schools aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. They don’t move the needle unless in FCS football. They also don’t seem to have the budget or donors to move up to FBS. Same with the MVC having schools that can move up to FBS right now. It’s just not feasible unless a school goes to the MAC or C-USA.

 

[Dmills]

Next meeting vs Western may come under a new coach. Next possible game would be 2026 at the soonest.

 

[fourthandshort]

Just posted this on the Dayton thread in reponse to the Zack pic with car. Pasting the WIU portion of post here.

*********************

Now let's go kick some WIU butt ... we let them play with us last year in a meaningless season finale. Granted, we had no Zack or Cole.

But we need to send a clear strong message to the MVFC and FCS .. THIS IS NOT LAST YEAR !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We will put teams like this away this year..

p.s. no hate for Lawson or WIU .. nothing but respect for how long their football program competed well and endured with a lot less resources.

 

[Watson]

ST_Lawson is legit.

Former Pres. played the race card hard!!!!!!!!!!!!

He was a HBCU guy and didn't get why Western was only 8% Black. Ummmmmmm. look at the numbers, that is around what all the universities report save for the the U of I that is around 5%.

The former President was given eight years at his position. After eight years board didn't like it. He wasn't going to go away quietly. Durring his time the enrollment dropped, however the black enrollment soared to nearly 20% . White flight ensued, Rauner budget freeze, not being a premium product in the eyes of high school graduates. JT wanted his payday.

He subsequently went to the only HBCU in Ohio and was dismissed ingloriously after a few years.

Football: well we never invested in upgrading facilities when we had large enrollment over 13K in mid 90's, actually over 15k in 1973.

School is not very inciting geographically or for the accouterments, Once the State started cutting back on how much they subsidize a university, along with Jack Thomas' unique approach....I dislike him, however, our lack of ability to be relevant with any sport made the notion that we are D-I much more devastating. Who, wants to play nobodies that will beat you up.....NDSU, SDSU, Oral Roberts (not same category). These teams are so far away.

Western deserved a chance to rebuild or reassert themselves. However, Western does not and can not be associated with the Summit League. The bussing times were insane. So now Western goes to two St. Louis Metro teams, Eastern, USI, and SEMO. We don't have to go to Denver, or four games in the Dakotas.

 

[Watson]

Oh yeah, our team ain't gonna win a game this year again. Don't hire a kid to do a man's job.

 

[Virginia Redbird]

Sad to see WIU depart and hope ISU can get them on the schedule now and then. I liked the NIU game a few years ago. Always nice to play the other Illinois schools once in a while. Fully understand why WIU is moving on. They need to for a number of reasons. I wish them the best of luck but just not this Saturday! When I was attending ISU in the early 70s it was really fun playing the Illinois schools. I had friends from High School at just about every other Illinois school. Usually a few would come to Normal when we had home games and I travelled to the other campus when the Redbirds were away. It was always fun to get together with friends and engage in a friendly rivalry. For this weekend though...go kick some Western Illinois butts!! Go you Redbirds!!!

 

[fourthandshort]

ST_Lawson is legit.

Former Pres. played the race card hard!!!!!!!!!!!!

He was a HBCU guy and didn't get why Western was only 8% Black. Ummmmmmm. look at the numbers, that is around what all the universities report save for the the U of I that is around 5%.

The former President was given eight years at his position. After eight years board didn't like it. He wasn't going to go away quietly. Durring his time the enrollment dropped, however the black enrollment soared to nearly 20% . White flight ensued, Rauner budget freeze, not being a premium product in the eyes of high school graduates. JT wanted his payday.

He subsequently went to the only HBCU in Ohio and was dismissed ingloriously after a few years.

Football: well we never invested in upgrading facilities when we had large enrollment over 13K in mid 90's, actually over 15k in 1973.

School is not very inciting geographically or for the accouterments, Once the State started cutting back on how much they subsidize a university, along with Jack Thomas' unique approach....I dislike him, however, our lack of ability to be relevant with any sport made the notion that we are D-I much more devastating. Who, wants to play nobodies that will beat you up.....NDSU, SDSU, Oral Roberts (not same category). These teams are so far away.

Western deserved a chance to rebuild or reassert themselves. However, Western does not and can not be associated with the Summit League. The bussing times were insane. So now Western goes to two St. Louis Metro teams, Eastern, USI, and SEMO. We don't have to go to Denver, or four games in the Dakotas.

appreciate your perspective .. thanks for posting !

 

[Phantom]

Just win.

 

[isuquinndog]

Maybe we can get one more @ST_Lawson post?

 

[fourthandshort]

Maybe we can get one more @ST_Lawson post?

Quinnie, great idea !!

Steve .. we need one of your patented scouting reports on your Leathernecks or Bulldogs or whichever mascot you prefer !! I do recall you used to do the MVFC pregame recaps not too long ago ... come on ... give us something !!!!!!

Strengths, weaknesses, injury list, play book .. you know, the basics !!

 

[fourthandshort]

Quinnie, great idea !!

Steve .. we need one of your patented scouting reports on your Leathernecks or Bulldogs or whichever mascot you prefer !! I do recall you used to do the MVFC pregame recaps not too long ago ... come on ... give us something !!!!!!

Strengths, weaknesses, injury list, play book .. you know, the basics !!

 

[ST_Lawson]

Quinnie, great idea !!

Steve .. we need one of your patented scouting reports on your Leathernecks or Bulldogs or whichever mascot you prefer !! I do recall you used to do the MVFC pregame recaps not too long ago ... come on ... give us something !!!!!!

Strengths, weaknesses, injury list, play book .. you know, the basics !!

It's Scott, actually (although a girl I knew in the marching band when I was in college always used to call me Steve for some reason).

I haven't actually had the time to do previews/recaps this year like I used to. There's just a lot of stuff going on (not bad stuff, just busy stuff). Here's a quick and dirty version: Illinois State - Leatherneck Nation

I'm hoping there'll be an outstanding crowd for the game...there are a TON of things going on in town this weekend, including a long-planned "MEGA Reunion" that should bring at least a few thousand alumni back to town. It was a thing that was initially planned as something of a combination "homecoming" for a lot of alumni as well as showing current and prospective students what it was like back when we had twice as many students as we do now. However, it was initially planned to happen in the Fall of 2020. As you may recall, there was very little in the way of public events happening during that timeframe, so it's been pushed back a couple of times. Finally, it landed on this coming weekend, which they didn't realize at the time, but would end up being our last conference football game against the team that is the closest we have to a "rival". There's also our annual "Art, Wind, and Fire Festival" this weekend...Gazebo Art Festival downtown, Disc Golf Tournament in one of our parks, and the 35th annual Balloon Rally. There's also a "Forgottonia 50th Anniversary" celebration going on (if you don't know about "Forgottonia"...here's more info: The Republic of Forgottonia - Macomb Area Convention and Visitors Bureau), and a car show downtown on Friday night (with live music).

Anyway, enough of the tourism spiel...

WIU isn't favored to win this game (Massey Ratings gives us about a 20% chance of victory, Sagarin says 18%), but as I'm sure many of you know, when it's WIU and ISU, you can often throw rankings and records out the window. Both teams will be ready to bring their "A-Game." I was pleasantly surprised with our first-half play against New Mexico State last weekend, but as often happens when an FCS plays an FBS team, the depth difference catches up, and the FBS team runs away in the second half (it was 20-14 at halftime).

Our transfer QB Matt Morrissey (who spent last year at UNI) showed a surprisingly good level of awareness of the times that it was necessary to just toss the ball out of bounds rather than risk a sack or INT. The defense had some decent stops at times, but gave up a number of big plays on blown coverages. With all the turnover we've had on our roster the last couple of years, I barely recognize any names, and I don't really feel like one game against a FBS team is a great example of how we'll play against FCS competition. I'm hopeful that the first half of last weekend's game is similar to what we'll see against the teams in the lower half of the conference this year and we'll maybe be able to pick up a few wins on our "MVFC Farewell Tour".

I'm also hopeful that we can get some H&H series' set up in a few years (I know OOC schedules are generally set pretty far in advance) so I can get back over to Normal to see some of you guys. Even if we don't, I might have to pop over for a game anyway. I'll always bleed purple and gold, but y'all are great people and Hancock Stadium is a really nice place for a football game. When we're not even in the same conference anymore, I don't really have any reason not to root for you guys. I'd much rather see the Redbirds win the MVFC than have another XDSU championship.

 

[Total Red]

I'm also hopeful that we can get some H&H series' set up in a few years (I know OOC schedules are generally set pretty far in advance) so I can get back over to Normal to see some of you guys.

You won't have to wait. Illinois St.- Western IL will continue to play each other in '24 and '25.

 

[fourthandshort]

It's Scott, actually (although a girl I knew in the marching band when I was in college always used to call me Steve for some reason).

I haven't actually had the time to do previews/recaps this year like I used to. There's just a lot of stuff going on (not bad stuff, just busy stuff). Here's a quick and dirty version: Illinois State - Leatherneck Nation

I'm hoping there'll be an outstanding crowd for the game...there are a TON of things going on in town this weekend, including a long-planned "MEGA Reunion" that should bring at least a few thousand alumni back to town. It was a thing that was initially planned as something of a combination "homecoming" for a lot of alumni as well as showing current and prospective students what it was like back when we had twice as many students as we do now. However, it was initially planned to happen in the Fall of 2020. As you may recall, there was very little in the way of public events happening during that timeframe, so it's been pushed back a couple of times. Finally, it landed on this coming weekend, which they didn't realize at the time, but would end up being our last conference football game against the team that is the closest we have to a "rival". There's also our annual "Art, Wind, and Fire Festival" this weekend...Gazebo Art Festival downtown, Disc Golf Tournament in one of our parks, and the 35th annual Balloon Rally. There's also a "Forgottonia 50th Anniversary" celebration going on (if you don't know about "Forgottonia"...here's more info: The Republic of Forgottonia - Macomb Area Convention and Visitors Bureau), and a car show downtown on Friday night (with live music).

Anyway, enough of the tourism spiel...

WIU isn't favored to win this game (Massey Ratings gives us about a 20% chance of victory, Sagarin says 18%), but as I'm sure many of you know, when it's WIU and ISU, you can often throw rankings and records out the window. Both teams will be ready to bring their "A-Game." I was pleasantly surprised with our first-half play against New Mexico State last weekend, but as often happens when an FCS plays an FBS team, the depth difference catches up, and the FBS team runs away in the second half (it was 20-14 at halftime).

Our transfer QB Matt Morrissey (who spent last year at UNI) showed a surprisingly good level of awareness of the times that it was necessary to just toss the ball out of bounds rather than risk a sack or INT. The defense had some decent stops at times, but gave up a number of big plays on blown coverages. With all the turnover we've had on our roster the last couple of years, I barely recognize any names, and I don't really feel like one game against a FBS team is a great example of how we'll play against FCS competition. I'm hopeful that the first half of last weekend's game is similar to what we'll see against the teams in the lower half of the conference this year and we'll maybe be able to pick up a few wins on our "MVFC Farewell Tour".

I'm also hopeful that we can get some H&H series' set up in a few years (I know OOC schedules are generally set pretty far in advance) so I can get back over to Normal to see some of you guys. Even if we don't, I might have to pop over for a game anyway. I'll always bleed purple and gold, but y'all are great people and Hancock Stadium is a really nice place for a football game. When we're not even in the same conference anymore, I don't really have any reason not to root for you guys. I'd much rather see the Redbirds win the MVFC than have another XDSU championship.

woops, Scott ... my bad. The ST threw me, even though we met up once .. I'm blaming the alcohol !!!

Here's a suggestion .. do the farewell tour like Elton John did. Just keep doing it, and noone will notice it keeps extending.

Read the link and understood it's tough to follow the roster with all the portal activity. Didn't realize your QB was from UNI. Got to believe you guys will be tougher win on road for us. You gave us fits in the finale last year .. though our QB was out, among others .. and as per usual, we never seem to have a suitable back up who can come in without shutting down half the playbook.

I'll give you fair warning ... Spack apparently had a lobotomy, and has gone on record as saying, we need to modernize our pass game. Look at our game stats against Dayton ... run-pass was 24-37, we lost time of possession 23 mins to 37 mins, due to no huddle !!! We were up 41-0 after 3 qtrs averaging 9.5 yards per play .. then pulled starters.

It is 2nd year together for our QN Annextstad (Minnesota transfer) and OC Peterson, and looks like Spack has unleashed them. We'll see if Spack uses it in close games or not ... but it is quite a difference from anything Spack has even been willing to do .. but again, it was a tuneup against Dayton. Spack is notorious for tightening up in close games, way more than most. Our defense lost a lot form a year ago .. but Spack is good at rebuilding, just a matter of how soon they find their stride against good teams.

Looking forward to the seeing the game .. should be competitive as usual.

 

[ST_Lawson]

You won't have to wait. Illinois St.- Western IL will continue to play each other in '24 and '25.

That's great to hear. I'm looking forward to it.

 

[RedbirdSoxFan]

That's great to hear. I'm looking forward to it.

With the addition of Matt Morrissey, what does Clay Bruno’s future look like as a Leatherneck?

 

[Total Red]

RB Cole Mueller gets to play in a game #2 for the first time in two years. During that time he's been through a lot of workouts and rehab. I hope he gets his 100 yards tomorrow.

 

[cpacmel]

Illinois State -14

Over / under 47