Image is courtesy of goredbirds.com
NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State Football team heads to Charleston, Illinois this Saturday, looking to revive their rivalry with the Eastern Illinois Panthers.
The Redbirds and Panthers didn’t get to play each other last season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but when the two teams last met in 2019, the Redbirds took care of business, defeating the Panthers 21-3. The Redbirds lead the series all time 57-42-9. The panthers come into this matchup with a 3-0 record while the Redbirds sit at an even 1-1 so far.
After a tough loss that saw the Redbirds get blanked 28-0 this past weekend, the Redbirds look to get back into the win column. They lit up the score board week one, defeating Butler 49-7 with an impressive 491 total yards, but were completely shut down by the Broncos defense, only recording 57 total yards.
The Redbirds look to get their offense going again this Saturday, starting with their run game which dominated Butler, recording 294 yards. In their first two games their opponents have dominated time of possession, having the ball for almost 16 minutes longer than the Redbirds.
The defense also wasn’t the sharpest for the Redbirds last weekend, surrendering 407 total yards of offense, with 233 of those being on the ground. Turnovers have been a bright spot for this Redbird defense, forcing two big fumbles against the Broncos.
ISU head coach Brock Spack is chasing some ISU history, looking to record win number 87 and pass Edwin Struck for sole possession of most wins in program history.
The Redbirds match against the Panthers is set to start this Saturday at 6 pm.