BOZEMAN, Montana — It may seem like a corotation as much as a national title clash to some, but Montana State is aware they have to take care of business one more time in order to snap a championship drought that dates back to 1984.
MSU fifth-year head coach Brent Vigen has led his team to the title game three times during his tenure guiding the Bobcats. On January 5, Montana State takes on Illinois State, an unseeded team out of the Missouri Valley Football Conference that has done the unfathomable. The Redbirds have won four straight road games, including beating No. 1 North Dakota State in Fargo in the second round, to reach the title game for the first time since 2014.
Montana State is riding high after beating archrival Montana for the second time in 28 days by running away from the Grizzlies in the fourth quarter to post a 48-23 win on December 20. That victory was MSU’s 13th straight and vaults them into the title game for the first time against an opponent other than NDSU.
Beating a top 3 team twice in a month is certainly a huge launch point for Montana State and the Bobcats certainly take plenty of confidence to Nashville, Tennessee. But they also have to take care of business against the red-hot Redbirds if MSU hopes to win its first national title in 41 years.
Vigen made sure to emphasize this exact fact following his team’s most recent rivalry win. He said no less than four times in the post-game press conference following the Montana victory that his team “is not done yet.”
Illinois State won four straight games to put itself in playoff position only to lose 37-7 to No. 24 Southern Illinois in its regular-season finale to limp into the playoffs. That loss gave ISU an 8-4 regular-season record and a road game at No. 16 Southeastern Louisiana in the first round.
That Thanksgiving weekend, the Redbird defense came alive, stonewalling SELA in Hammond, Louisiana on the way to a 21-3 win. The following week, Illinois State quarterback Tommy Rittenhouse threw five interceptions and North Dakota State scored on special teams, yet the Redbirds still became just the second team EVER to win at the Fargo Dome in the playoffs. ISU went for two in the final minute to earn a 29-28 win over NDSU, ensuring the Bison did not qualify for the quarterfinals of the playoffs for the first time ever in years NDSU has qualified for the FCS Playoffs.
Illinois State kept rolling in the quarterfinals, getting up early and holding for a 42-31 win over No. 8 UC Davis. The common opponents for ISU and MSU this season include the Aggies and South Dakota State. Montana State beat UC Davis 38-17 in Bozeman in early November while losing to South Dakota State in Bozeman 30-24 in double overtime in Week 2. The Redbirds beat SDSU 35-21 in Brookings the second to last weekend of the regular season with stud Jackrabbits quarterback Chase Mason still on the shelf with an injury.
ISU had no trouble with No. 12 Villanova in the semis, beating the Wildcats 30-14 to advance to the title game.
The Redbirds are the first team in the history of the subdivision to win four consecutive road games. ISU will look to win its first football national championship against Montana State.
QUICK HITS
Nickname: Redbirds
Location: Normal, Illinois
Founded: 1857 as the Illinois State Normal University, making it the oldest university in the state of Illinois. The university emphasizes teaching and is recognized as one of the top ten largest producers of teachers in the US according to the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education. It is classified among “R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity”.
Enrollment: 21,994, including 19,513 undergraduates.
Endowment – $240 million
Stadium: Illinois State plays at Hancock Stadium, a venue that holds 12,440 that was most recently renovated in 2013. Since those renovations, Illinois State is 50-18 at home. The Redbirds averaged 9,212 fans per home game during its six games at Hancock this year. Opened in 1963 and named after Illinois State’s former athletic director Dr. Howard Hancock. In 1969, Hancock Stadium became Illinois’ first college stadium that featured artificial turf as its playing surface.
Famous alumni:
- Richard Roeper, film critic and writer for the Chicago Sun-Times
- Michelle Williams of Destiny’s Child
- Dave Bergman, the first baseman for the 1984 World Series champion Detroit Tigers.
- Doug Collins, former head coach of the Chicago Bulls, Detroit Pistons, Philadelphia 76ers and Washington Wizards.
- Mike Zimmer, former Minnesota Vikings head coach who has a Super Bowl ring as the DC of the Dallas Cowboys
- Gary Sinise, Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor
Last meeting: First ever meeting.
THE COACH
Brock Spack, 16th season at Illinois State
The former Purdue All-American linebacker still ranks fifth in Boilermaker history in career tackles (384). His teams have most often played with the edge of someone with a linebacker background.
Spack became Illinois State’s all-time wins leader in 2021 when he won his 87th game. He’s won 36 more since then and enters the national title game, his second as a head coach, with a 123-78 record, including 12-6 in the FCS Playoffs.
Spack led ISU to back-to-back Missouri Valley Football Conference championships in 2014 and 2015. That 2014 team was his best until the current edition found its stride. In 2014, the Redbirds ripped No. 10 Northern Iowa 41-21 before going to Cheney and blasting No. 4 Eastern Washington 59-46. The following week, ISU beat No. 1 New Hampshire 21-18 to advance to the FCS title game. The Redbirds fell 29-27 to North Dakota State as the Bison won their fourth straight FCS title.
ISU has made the playoffs five times since that run, advancing to the quarterfinals in 2015, 2019 and this season. Spack has posted double digit wins in a single season five times in his 16 seasons at the helm.
Spack’s coaching career began as a GA at Purdue before his first full-time assistant job at Eastern Illinois from 1987 to 1990. He was the DC on Joe Tiller’s staff at Wyoming in 1995 and 1996 before following Tiller, a Montana State alum, to Purdue, where Spack was the DC from 1997 until taking over in Normal.
PLAYERS TO WATCH – OFFENSE
QB Tommy Rittenhouse, senior, 5-11, 195 — Rittenhouse started for three games as a freshman in 2022 and the last two games of 2023 before taking over as the full-time starter last season. He has started 30 straight games entering the national title game and has been the Missouri Valley’s honorable mention all-conference quarterback.
Rittenhouse has thrown for more than 300 yards on four occasions this season. He is throwing for 228 yards per game durin the playoffs and has tossed eight touchdowns. His best game came against UC Davis when Rittenhouse completed 15-of-20 passes for 266 yards and three touchdowns.
This season, he has completed 64 percent of his passes for 3,257 yards and 36 touchdowns compared to 12 picks. He has an efficiency rating of 142.4.
RB Victor Dawson, 5-11, 220, senior — Wenkers Wright was the starter for most of the first half of the season. And he earned second-team all-conference during his senior season.
But since Illinois State has turned to Dawson, a Cincinnati transfer, to be its bell cow, the Redbirds have only lost once.
Dawson rushed for 101 yards and a touchdown on November 1 against Northern Iowa, the first of six games with at least 98 yards over the last eight games.
In the playoffs, Dawson has been particularly durable and prolific. He rushed for 137 yards and a touchdown, including a 69-yard TD rip, against North Dakota State. The following week, he gutted out 29 carries on the way to 148 yards against UC Davis. Last week, he had his best game, rushing for a career-high 155 yards on 34 carries and scored his fifth touchdown of the season against Villanova.
Dawson enters the national title game with 1,251 yards on 249 carries. He has rushed for 852 yards on 169 carries since November 1 alone, including piling up 512 yards in the playoffs alone. He is averaging 128 yards per game and 5.2 yards per carry during ISU’s epic run.
WR Daniel Sobkowicz, 6-3, 205, senior — The Arlington Heights, Illinois native has been one of the best receivers in the MVFC for the last three seasons. Last season, he became the first Illinois State wide receiver to surpass 1,000 yards since 2016 and his 1,108 yards were the fifth-most in school history.
After a first-team all-league senior year, Sobowicz had been on a next-level heater this playoffs, helping him surpass 1,000 yards again. He’s caught eight touchdowns in the last three weeks, alone. He has caught 29 passes for 403 yards and those eight scores during the playoffs, bringing his season totals to 78 catches for 1,089 yards and an FCS-best 18 touchdowns.
Sobowicz, who missed a 1,000 yards season during a sophomore season that saw him catch 10 TDs, enters his final college game with 257 catches for 3,507 yards and 40 touchdowns in his illustrious career. With just 58 more yards, he will become ISU’s all-time leading receiver. He’s already Illinois State’s all-time leader in catches and touchdown catches.
WR Luke Mailander, 5-11, 180, freshman — Coming off his redshirt year, the in-state product won the starting receiver spot opposite Sobowicz and has thrived. He earned Missouri Valley Freshman of the Year honors.
He has 43 catches for 659 yards and four touchdowns so far this season. His last touchdown catch came on October 18. In the playoffs, he has nine catches for 102 yards.
OL Jake Pope, 6-7, 300, senior– Illinois State’s massive offensive line averages 6-foo-5 and 308 pounds among its five starters, including three seniors. Pope is the most accomplished of the group.
The former Kentucky transfer has started 41 games over the last three seasons. He was a three-star recruit and one of Florida’s Top 100 prep players coming out of national powerhouse St. Thomas Aquinas. He was selected to the Blue Grey All American Bowl following his senior year.
He did not play at Kentucky, first because of youth and then because of injury. But since transferring to Illinois State and getting healthy, he’s been one of the highest graded tackles in the FCS. He earned first-team All-Missouri Valley honors this year for an offense that averaged 175 yards per game on the ground. ISU has also only given up 20 sacks in 16 games this season.
PLAYERS TO WATCH – DEFENSE
LB Tye Niekamp, 6-3, 240, junior — The Missouri Valley Defensive Player of the Year has been a tackling maniac this year for the Redbirds.
The Mike linebacker was an All-American as a sophomore and he followed that up with the most prolific season by a power conference linebacker in the FCS this season. he has 155 tackles, including 78 solo tackles, 14.5 tackles for loss and two sacks. He’s also forced a dumble, recovered a fumble and he had an interception against SELA. He has 341 tackles, 34.5 tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks and has snared five interceptions in his unbelievable career.
His father, Travis Niekamp, was the special teams coordinator and linebackers coach at Montana in 2017 and 2018 before landing at Illinois State as the defensive coordinator. Travis Niekamp was a defensive lineman at ISU from 1994 until 1997.
DB Shadwel Nkuba II, 6-1, 190, senior — The former Louisiana transfer has not just been a tackling machine — his 76 stops are ** on the team and his 43 solo tackles are ** — but he’s also been a ballhawk.
Nkuba helped Illinois State lead the Missouri Valley with 19 interceptions and earned first-team All-MVFC honors along the way. Despite the ability to take the ball away, ISU gave up 244 passing yards per game.
DB La’Shavion Brown, 6-2, 215, junior — The former junior college transfer has been an impact player for the Redbirds, earning second-team All-MVFC in his first season in Normal. He is ISU’s second-leading tackler with 91 stops, including a tackle for loss. He’s also broken up four passes and snared an interception.
