A couple of times a year, we think it's important to reach out and see what we can do against teams at the top of our division. This game gives our guys a chance, even on an individual basis, to see how we stack up and where we are at the beginning of the season.

Illinois State is a talented team, and the game will be a tall order for us. It will be a challenge for us to match up with them.

There were a lot of positives we took out of our opener at Northern Iowa. We won't play in a tougher atmosphere than that the rest of the year. Our guys learned a good lesson. You can play with a lot of emotion, but the game still comes down to fundamentals like tackling and being in the right spot.

We just need someone who can manage the team. We're probably not going to be able to put as much in their hands early.

I think our team's going to be just fine. We have a group of guys who battled hard, but we just don't have the speed at the skill positions to match up with what UNI has.

I?m just happy that our weather is coming in [today] and not Friday.