Illinois State at Northern Illinois (Aug. 31)

Illinois State has a two-game winning streak against the FBS, beating Northwestern in 2016 and Colorado State last year. New NIU head coach Thomas Hammock, who was a running back at the school, knows a standout runner when he sees one, and he will impressed by the Redbirds’ James Robinson, who went for 184 yards and two touchdowns against Colorado State.

If we are on upset alert, that means we are expected to win....but I thought they are the Bama of the Midwest.....

I would not exactly call the Redbirds a giant-killer. Yes, all that counts is the final score, but since Athlon made such a big deal about Colorado State ...

In 2018, CSU finished 2-6 in the MWC West Division (5th place of 6 teams) and 3-9 overall. Only two teams had a worse MWC record; only 1 of the 12 conference members had a worse record overall.

Two of CSU's three wins were against MWC bottom feeders New Mexico (1-7/3-9) and San Jose State (1-7/1-11). The other was at home against Arkansas, which finished dead last in the SEC with a 0-8/2-10 record. Arkansas' two wins were against Tulsa (2-6/3-9, last place, West Div.-American) and Eastern Illinois.

Illinois State beat CSU 35-19. It finished the season 6–5/3-5 in a three-way tie for sixth place in the 10-member MVFC.

(06-15-2019 12:33 PM)MiamiHuskie Wrote:  New NIU head coach Thomas Hammock, who was a running back at the school, knows a standout runner when he sees one, and he will impressed by the Redbirds’ James Robinson, who went for 184 yards and two touchdowns against Colorado State.