The Redbirds of Illinois State University will be opening their season Saturday, September 4th after a short off season due to the 2021 spring season. To make up for no games played in the fall of 2020, Illinois State and the Missouri Valley Conference agreed to play a ten-game schedule in the spring of 2021. Unfortunately for the Redbirds, due to COVID issues, ISU was only able to play four of their ten games and ended with a 1-3 record. The Birds come into this new season with high hopes. Sophomore quarterback Bryce Jefferson is returning after a shaky spring season. Jefferson did show flashes of great ability, but overall, there were constant mistakes. Jefferson does have some experience winning, as he was the starting quarterback at the end of the 2019 season, after starting quarterback Brady Davis suffered a season ending injury late in the regular season. In that 2019 season, Illinois State made it to the FCS quarterfinals with Bryce Jefferson under center, so he has shown that he can be the guy for the Redbirds. 

Behind Jefferson, in the backfield for Illinois State, there will be a pair of young running backs in Pha’leak Brown and Nigel White. Brown is a redshirt freshman and White is a sophomore and the Redbirds are planning to use both running backs in a platoon style backfield, as they did in their four games last spring. In their shortened spring season, both backs had over 225 rushing yards. These two young running backs will be led by the Redbird’s veteran senior full back, Tim McCloyn. In Illinois State’s 2019 quarter final season, McCloyn helped lead the way for running back James Robinson, who led the league in rushing that season and is now the starting running back for the Jacksonville Jaguars. In his 2021 spring season, McCloyn earned All-MVFC Honorable Mention honors and scored his first career touchdown. With his experience, I think it is safe to say that Tim McCloyn will be a strong leader in a rather young Redbird backfield. As far as receivers go for the Redbirds, the two leaders of the group, Andrew Edgar, and Taylor Grimes both transferred out after the 2021 spring season. Returning from injury will be 6’4” 220-pound Eric Rogers. In just his sophomore season, Rogers will be expected to take on a leadership role at Illinois State. The Redbirds also added junior Micah Jones when he decided to transfer from Notre Dame. ISU hopes to see Jones also take on a leadership role in the Birds receiving corps. 

On the defensive side of the ball, the Redbirds lost two starters via transfer in nose tackle John Ridgeway to Arkansas and cornerback Charles Woods to West Virginia. The team did get a transfer themselves at nose tackle in Noah Hickcox from Minnesota. The strongest unit of the defense, and maybe even the team, is Illinois State’s linebacker unit. Guys like Zeke Vandenburgh and Brandon Simon on the outsides and Shanon Reid and Kenton Wilhoit on the inside, this unit brings both experience and leadership to the defense. Zeke Vandenburg is a junior for the Redbirds and his goal is to be the best defense in the Missouri Valley Football Conference. Last season, Illinois State’s defense had some impressive FCS rankings. The group ranked 4th in pass efficiency defense, 7th in third-down conversion, 10th in total defense and 12th in run defense. 

The Illinois State Redbirds are poised for a bounce back season in the fall of 2021. With a good mix of experience and leadership and young guys looking to make an impact, if this team works well together, they have the potential for a great season. ISU head coach Brock Spack says that he has seen improvement in every unit and is excited to see what his guys can do this year.