3 Matchups to Watch: Illinois State


It has been a quiet week from both SDSU and Illinois State.  Both teams are coming off a loss and both teams realize the importance of this game in terms of holding out hope for a seed in the playoffs.  Whichever team walks away with a loss will then need to win-out to make the playoffs.  This game has plenty of meaning as the second half of MVFC play begins.

Matchups to Watch
Cade Johnson vs. the Redbird secondary
Last week, NDSU's Darrius Shepherd had a big week against this UNI secondary (6 rec. 126 yards).  Shepherd and Johnson play the same role for their offenses and are built similarly.  Johnson also had a big game last week (7 rec. 121 yards).  This could be a chance for Cade to build on his excellent 2018 (29 rec. 555 yards, 8 TD) against a young cornerback group. 

#605Hogs vs. ISU 3 man front
A week after struggling against a similar alignment, the #605Hogs will look to regain their dominance of the line of scrimmage.  Illinois State's three down linemen are young and inexperienced.  However, the Redbirds bring pressure from all over the field and want to get after the quarterback.  The Jacks will need to run the ball better then they did against UNI to at least keep the defense honest against the pass.

Jackrabbit defense vs. running back James Robinson
The Redbird offense goes through James Robinson.  If the Jacks can stop him, it will go a long way towards securing a victory.  On the season Robinson has 911 total rushing yards and 122 through the air.  This season the Jackrabbit defense has mixed against good running backs.  The absolutely held Tevin McCaster, Bruce Anderson, and Lance Dunn in check but struggled against Ja'Quan Keys and Marcus Weymiller.  If the Jacks can limit Robinson's impact then I like their chances to win.  I believe the secondary can limit the damage that Brady Davis does through the air.                 

Kickoff is at noon and you can watch it on ESPN3.

Go Jacks!
Matt 

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