The nation’s 13th oldest rivalry among I-AA schools kicks off Saturday as the Illinois State Redbirds roll into Charleston to take on 18th-ranked Eastern.

Ironically, the 2003 script does sound similar to last season when Illinois State head coach Denver Johnson brought his troops into O’Brien Stadium and received a woodshed beating to the tune of 45-10 after Eastern had lost to a pair of I-A opponents. Johnson surely hopes the sequel has an alternate ending.

“That was easily our worst performance of the year in that game,” Johnson said. “That was the only time we really didn’t come to play.”

Offense:

Eastern needs a U-Haul truck to move the ball down the field. The Panthers currently rank near the bottom in nearly every offensive category.

“I kinda thought we might but we are really struggling offensively,” Spoo said.

Sophomore quarterback Andy Vincent has been efficient by not throwing an interception this season until late in the fourth quarter of last week’s loss.

Vincent has thrown for an average of 157 yards per game with one touchdown in Eastern’s two games this season.

Eastern offensive coordinator John Carr has failed to open up the offense with a young offensive line and an inexperienced signal caller.

The lack of a big play option downfield has allowed for the receiving spotlight to be squarely set on senior All-American candidate tight end Nick Eller. Eller leads the team in receptions and yardage as the Hubbard, Iowa native is the only Panther with double-digit catches (11), more than 100 yards (103) and the only touchdown catch of the season. In the 4-4 system used by the Redbirds, Eller will have to find holes between linebackers to be a quality dump-off option for Vincent.

Carr’s main problem has been the disappointing performance by 2003 Water Payton Award Candidate Andre Raymond. The senior tailback rushed nine times for only 26 yards against Missouri which according to Spoo was one of his worst performance ever.

“I was really disappointed with the way Andre ran today,” Spoo said in the post-game press conference. “Sometimes a running back has to find his own way.”

Finding those holes and establishing a running game while keeping the ISU offense off the field will be a key for the Panthers on Saturday afternoon.

The Redbirds offense is powered by one of the most dangerous quarterback-receiver combinations in I-AA football.

Senior signal caller Mike Souza is 23rd in the nation in total offense with an average of 224 yards per game. Souza passed for a career high 385 yards in the Redbirds’ 49-22 loss to I-A Illinois and rushed for 71 yards. By the end of the afternoon, Souza’s 456 total yards ranks him third on the Illinois State all-time list.

“They threw the ball all over the place at Illinois,” Spoo said. “Illinois State has one of its best teams in a long time.”

The other end of that mixture is receiver Dwayne Smith who leads the Gateway conference by averaging 105 yards per game. The Illinois transfer made his return to Memorial Stadium by racking up 14 catches for a 214 yards which was 16 yards shy of a school record.

The senior 6-foot-3 receiver was named the Gateway Football Conference Player of the Week after the milestone performance. The Redbirds rushing game consists of a two-headed monster in the backfield with junior Demetrus Johnson and senior Sha-Ron Edwards who have both compiled 100-yard rushing games this season. Spoo believes that pair of tailback threats is what makes Illinois State even tougher to defend.

“They resorted to a running game against Truman State, so they have a very balanced attack,” Spoo said.

Advantage: Illinois State

Defense

Eastern has one of the most dominant defenses in I-AA football which was evident when the Missouri Tigers took nearly 29 minutes to put points on the scoreboard last weekend.

“Our defense played extremely well and the offense actually spoiled what was a good defensive effort,” Spoo said.

The defense forced two Missouri turnovers and every Tiger scoring drive except for one was 47 yards or less.

On the defensive front, sophomore Marcus Lorick is third on the team in tackles with eight but the only weakness for the Panthers defense has been their inability to pressure the quarterback. Through two games, Eastern has failed to record a sack even though several defensive lineman had Tigers sophomore quarterback Brad Smith in their sights.

The linebacker trip of Nick Ricks, Fred Miller and Jacob Maurer have recorded 39 tackles and three for losses. Ricks, the senior Buck Buchanan Award candidate leads the Panthers in tackles and is the main reason why Eastern has been able to force seven turnovers.

“It will be a challenge for our offense to move the ball on that crew,” Johnson said.

The secondary will key in not allowing this contest to turn into a shoot-out. Cornerbacks Vince Lewis and Terrance Sanders will be under-sized once again but have been able to counter that problem in the first two games by only allowing 155 passing yards per game.

The spotlight will be focused on two members of the Redbirds defense.

Junior linebacker and Buck Buchanan Award candidate Boomer Grigsby leads the defense as a two-year captain. In 2002, Grigsby led the NCAA in tackles with 179 and got off to a good start this year with 21 tackles against Illinois.

Fellow junior Antawn Oliver is a transfer from Eastern and makes his first return to O’Brien Stadium after sitting out due to NCAA transfer rules. Oliver has started the first two games for Illinois State and leads the team in pass breakups.

The challenge for the Redbirds’ 45th-ranked defense will be allowing less than their average of 320 yards and 33 points per game. Johnson believes that his defense will receive a test from a struggling Panthers offense.

“I don’t look at their offense and see struggling,” Johnson said. “I see a very dangerous offense with young talented players.”

Advantage: Eastern

Special Teams

This foundation of this game will fall on upon the kicking game where Panthers kicker Steve Kuehn is two of three this year but wasn’t allowed to attempt a 37-yarder against Missouri after Vincent failed to get hold down.

“Special teams and turnovers killed us against Missouri and we can’t win if we continue to make those mistakes,” Spoo said.

Illinois State kicker Stephen Carroll’s only has one miss in six attempts and it was blocked. The problem is that block was returned for a touchdown right before halftime of the Illinois game.

Advantage: Illinois State

Final Score: Illinois State 20, Eastern 14