McLean County Times

No. 17 Illinois State will return home to face the Northern Iowa Panthers on November 1, 2025, at Jay and Lori Bergman Field at Hancock Stadium in Normal, Illinois. The game is set for a 2 p.m. CT kickoff and will be broadcast on ESPN+ and Marquee Sports Network, with radio coverage available on WJBC 1230 AM, 102.1 FM, 98.9 FM WJEZ, and The Varsity Network.

Illinois State (5-3 overall, 2-2 in the Missouri Valley Football Conference) is looking to maintain its playoff hopes as it enters the final stretch of conference play. The Redbirds currently hold the No. 17 national ranking and have won three of their last four meetings against Northern Iowa.

The matchup marks the 41st meeting between Illinois State and Northern Iowa, with UNI leading the all-time series 23-17. Head coach Brock Spack has guided Illinois State to an 8-7 record against UNI during his tenure and holds a 5-3 mark at home in these matchups.

Brock Spack is in his seventeenth season as head coach of Illinois State with a record of 116-77. He has led the team to six playoff appearances and became the program's all-time wins leader in 2021. Under his leadership, Illinois State has made nine FCS playoff appearances since 1998, including reaching the quarterfinals six times and making it to the championship game once in 2014.

Northern Iowa comes into the contest with a record of 2-6 overall and is winless in conference play (0-4 MVFC). Todd Stepsis is serving his first season as head coach at UNI after previously coaching at Drake University where he led that program to consecutive FCS Playoff appearances.

Last week, UNI lost to Southern Illinois by a score of 31-17. Quarterback Jaxon Dailey completed eight passes for 93 yards with two touchdowns while linebacker Ryan Crandall leads UNI’s defense this season with 72 tackles.

Illinois State defeated Northern Iowa in their last meeting on November 9, 2024, by a score of 31-9 at the UNI-Dome. Running back Wenkers Wright rushed for over one hundred yards and scored twice in that game.

This season, fullback Scotty Presson Jr. has contributed key catches for Illinois State, including two touchdown receptions against South Dakota. Junior linebacker Tye Niekamp recently earned MVFC Defensive Player of the Week honors after recording fourteen tackles against South Dakota.

Quarterback Tommy Rittenhouse set career highs this year with five touchdown passes against South Dakota State and now ranks second in league touchdown passes for the season.

With wide receiver Daniel Sobkowicz sidelined due to injury, receivers Dylan Lord and Rylan Crawford have increased their contributions on offense.

Senior running back Wenkers Wright recently surpassed 2,500 career rushing yards for Illinois State and continues to climb up the school’s all-time rushing list.

Wide receiver Daniel Sobkowicz also reached a milestone by becoming only the third player in school history to surpass three thousand career receiving yards.

In recent games against Murray State, several Redbird players scored their first touchdowns of either their careers or seasons at ISU.

Earlier this year against North Dakota State, linebacker Tye Niekamp recorded a safety—the first for Illinois State since 2018.