Illinois State Redbirds are very good, period

IOWA CITY - A story is posted on Illinois State's athletics website informing people how to order tickets for the Jan. 9 FCS championship game in Frisco, Texas.

Clearly, and with cause, they're thinking big in Normal these days. Had Iowa wanted a softer football season-opener, it could have dipped into a vast supply of fluffy foes at its own FBS level rather than jumping into the fire against the Redbirds.

Florida Atlantic, Florida International.

Tulsa, Troy, Tulane.

UConn, UMass. USM, SMU.

In fact, perhaps as many as two-thirds of the 128 FBS teams aren't better than Illinois State.

Granted, some Big Ten teams have mighty challenging openers (Utah, BYU, Virginia Tech, Stanford, and, uh, Alabama and TCU) this week. But the Hawkeyes could get all the game they want and more Saturday in Kinnick Stadium against last season's FCS national runner-up.

The Sagarin Ratings were used in the BCS' ranking formula. Sagarin lumps all the FBS and FCS teams together. Predictably, FCS teams seldom are ranked especially high.

But at last season's end, Illinois State was 41st. Iowa was 47th. And the Hawkeyes were ranked higher than seven other Big Ten teams, as well as the three other nonconference teams on Iowa's 2015 schedule, Iowa State, Pittsburgh and North Texas.

Nine months ago, I covered Illinois State's 41-21 FCS playoff win over Northern Iowa at Normal. The Redbirds had 233 yards in the first quarter. UNI had 3. The score was 24-0 at halftime.

ISU quarterback Tre Roberson completed 10 passes for 20-plus yards that day against what UNI Coach Mark Farley said was 'probably the best defense we've ever had here.”

Roberson had 30 touchdown passes in 2014, and ran for seven more. He rushed for 1,029 yards. Which was a nice accompaniment for tailback Marshaun Coprich, who rushed for 2,274 yards and 27 TDs.

The Redbirds averaged 241 rushing yards, 222 passing last year. Pick your poison, Hawkeye defense, because Roberson and Coprich are both back. Roberson may be the best quarterback Iowa faces in the regular-season.

'(Illinois State) sold the fact that they are going to win a national-championship,” Roberson said last year after transferring to ISU from Indiana. 'They were just missing a quarterback.”

ISU's receiving corps and offensive line needed some replacements, but it's kind of nice to have preseason All-Americans at both quarterback and running back. As well as at linebacker (Pat Meehan) and defensive end (Teddy Corwin).

I'd love to have seen Iowa open with a TCU, BYU, Alabama or Stanford like its Big Ten West brothers. But if it's FCS Illinois State or FBS teams like Georgia State, Kent State or New Mexico State, give me the State team with 22 fewer scholarships but better players.

Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany has called for an end to Big Ten teams playing FCS opponents. It's a good stance, in general. But Iowa is in the second of three straight years of opening its season against a primo FCS club.

'Might have been a good job to start that last year based on the way we've scheduled,” Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said Tuesday. 'We had UNI last year, Illinois State and then North Dakota State coming up.”

No, Illinois State isn't TCU, Alabama, Stanford or BYU, all opponents of Big Ten West teams this week. But if Iowa can handle the Redbirds, a 1-0 record should look very good.