Illinois State at Eastern Washington

 
The Records: Eastern Washington brings a four-game winning streak and a 10-2 overall record into the quarterfinals. EWU’s losses came to Washington State of the Pac-12 and Southern Utah. The Eagles finished 7-1 in Big Sky play, tying Montana State and Cal Poly for the regular-season title. The Eagles received the Big Sky’s automatic bid to the playoffs….Illinois State brings a 9-3 record into the quarterfinals. The Redbirds earned an at-large bid to the playoffs out of the Missouri Valley Conference. Illinois State losses were all in conference and all at home. The Redbirds lost to Southern Illinois 17-0, Missouri State 24-17, and North Dakota State 38-20. Both teams received first-round byes. Eastern Washington beat Wagner 29-19 in the second round. Illinois State beat Appalachian State on the road 38-37 in overtime in the second round.
 
The Series: Illinois State leads 1-0.
 
Last Meeting: The Redbirds beat Eastern Washington 31-14 in 1987 at Joe Albi Stadium in Spokane.
 
The Coaches: Eastern Washington’s Beau Baldwin is 43-18 in his fifth season with the Eagles. Baldwin was named Co-Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year along with Tim Walsh of Cal Poly. Baldwin has an overall head coaching record of 53-21. He led Central Washington to a 10-3 season in 2007 prior to returning to EWU, where he previously served as the offensive coordinator. Baldwin is 5-1 in playoff games….Brock Spack is 28-17 in his fourth season at Illinois State. He previously served as the defensive coordinator at Purdue from 1997-2008, and was the defensive coordinator at Wyoming from 1995-1996. He was an assistant coach at Eastern Illinois from 1987-1990. Spack played at Purdue from 1980-83. Spack is 1-0 in the playoffs. Spack worked for many years under Joe Tiller at Purdue and Wyoming. Tiller is a Montana State graduate.
 
Big Sky vs. the Missouri Valley: The Big Sky is 10-10 all-time against teams from the Missouri Valley in the playoffs. During the regular season in 2012, the Big Sky went 1-1 against the Missouri Valley. Montana beat South Dakota. South Dakota State beat UC Davis. The Big Sky has won two straight playoff games over the Missouri Valley and four of the last five. This is the fourth straight season a Big Sky team has faced a Missouri Valley team in the postseason. Eastern Washington is 2-4 all-time against Missouri Valley teams in the playoffs. EWU lost to Northern Iowa 21-14 in a quarterfinal game before the Eagles joined the Big Sky. EWU also lost at Northern Iowa in 1992 and 2005. In 1997, Eastern Washington lost in the semifinals to Youngstown State. In 2004, Eastern Washington upset No. 1 seed Southern Illinois on the road in a first-round game. In 2010, Eastern Washington beat North Dakota State 38-31 in a quarterfinal game at The Inferno.  Illinois State has never played a Big Sky team in the playoffs. Big Sky teams are 8-5 against Missouri Valley in games held in Big Sky venues in the FCS playoffs. The Big Sky is 4-0 against Missouri Valley teams in the quarterfinals. All four previous quarterfinal games were played at Big Sky Stadiums. This is the third straight season the Big Sky and Missouri Valley have matched up in the quarterfinals.
 
Eastern in the Quarters: Eastern Washington is making its sixth quarterfinal appearance. The Eagles are 2-3 in quarterfinal games. In 1997, EWU beat Western Kentucky 38-21 at Joe Albi Stadium in Spokane. In 2004, the Eagles fell 35-34 at Roos Field (then Woodward Field) to Sam Houston State. In 2010, the Eagles beat North Dakota State at Roos Field 38-31 in overtime. EWU also lost in the quarterfinal in 1985 on the road at Northern Iowa and in 2007 at Appalachian State.
 
Illinois State in the Quarters: Illinois State is in the quarterfinal for the third time. The Redbirds are 1-1 in quarterfinal games. In 1999, the Redbirds beat Hofstra on the road 37-20. In 2006, Illinois State lost on the road to Youngstown State 28-21. Illinois State has never advanced past the semifinals.
 
Up Next: Saturday’s winner will play in the semifinals on either Friday, Dec. 14 or Saturday, Dec. 15. The EWU-ISU winner will face the winner of Friday’s quarterfinal game between No. 3 seed Montana State and Sam Houston State. If EWU wins Saturday, the Eagles will host a semifinal game.
 
Notes: EWU’s Kyle Padron started the second-round game at quarterback. It was his first start since the second game of the season, a loss to Washington State. In his last two games, he’s completing 71 percent of his passes for 708 yards with three touchdowns and one interception…Illinois State DE Colton Underwood is a candidate for the Buck Buchanan Award. He has 10.5 sacks and 19.5 tackles for loss, and 95 total tackles…Illinois State is tied for fifth in the nation in sacks per game at 3.17…EWU is ninth in the nation in passing offense. ISU is ninth in the nation in pass efficiency defense…Illinois State has intercepted 16 passes, which is tied for the fourth-most in the nation…Illinois State is 6-0 on the road this season. EWU is 6-0 at home this season, and 16-2 since the red turf was installed in 2010…EWU is 12-0 in games after Nov. 1 since 2010, and 21-3 dating back to 2007…EWU WR Brandon Kaufman has nine 100-yard receiving games this season, and 17 for his career...Illinois State is in the playoffs for the first time since 2006….Illinois State QB Matt Brown tied a career-high with five touchdown passes last week against Appalachian State. Brown has 25 TD passes this season, one shy of the single-season school record. He heads all active FCS QBs with 76…ISU WR Tyrone Walker has six 100-yard receiving games this season and 15 in his career…Illinois State has won eight straight road games dating back to last season…EWU DE Jerry Ceja has 11 sacks, 14 tackles for loss and six QB hurries…LB Ronnie Hamlin leads EWU with 117 total tackles…Illinois State has outscored opponents 90-34 in the third quarter this season…EWU WR Nicholas Edwards has 213 career receptions, which ranks eighth in Big Sky history....EWU WR Brandon Kaufman enters Saturday with 203 career receptions. He needs three more to move into a tie for 10th on the Big Sky’s all-time list. Kaufman has 1,444 receiving yards, and is just 81 yards shy of the Big Sky single-season record of 1,525 set by Weber State’s Tim Toone in 2008...Illinois State secondary coach Cody Deti served five seasons as Northern Colorado’s defensive coordinator...This is the third time in school history EWU has reached the 10-win mark. EWU had 13 wins in 2010 and 12 in 1997.