Watch Rick Comegy's interview here.
ITTA BENA – The Mississippi Valley State football team now has one game under their belt after a thumping upstart program University of Faith, 32-7, last Saturday.
 

Now, the Delta Devils turn their focus to a larger opponent, Illinois State, who Valley will battle Saturday at 6:30 p.m. in Normal, Ill.

Fans can watch the game live on the Illinois State website here or on Comcast Sports Net Chicago on channel 665 with DirecTV. The game will also be broadcasted on a list of other networks including At&T UVerse, Dish Network and Comcast Xfinity. Click here to find the channel for your cable provider. There will also be a free live radio stream from WVSD 91.7 FM, which can be located here.  
 

It'll mark the first game of the season for the Redbirds, who finished 5-6 last season.
 

"We know that we have to get better and we know that we're going to have to be more physical than we were in the last game," said MVSU head coach Rick Comegy. "We know that we're going to have to start out faster than we what we did….We want to start out fast, put points on the board early and keep them off the board."
 

Against University of Faith, Patrick Ivy earned the starting nod at quarterback and finished the game 7-of-20 for 130 yards and two touchdowns. Comegy said Tuesday during his weekly press conference that he was impressed with his senior quarterback. 
 

"He did a pretty good job for us," he said. "Overall, he threw the deep ball for us and he put the ball on the money." 
 

Meanwhile, the Redbirds will go with Blake Winkler, last year's starter, or junior Tre Roberson at quarterback. Winkler, a sophomore, threw for 1,637 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2013. 
 

Their leading rusher from 2013, Marshuan Coprich, also returns. He led the team with 884 yards and nine touchdowns last season. On the defensive side of the ball, middle linebacker Pat Meehan returns to guide the team's defensive unit after leading the Redbirds with 83 tackles and a pair of sacks last season. 
 

But despite whatever may be in the Delta Devils' way, Valley will be entering Saturday's game with a positive mindset. 
 

"I'm going there to win," said Comegy. "Regardless of who we play, we're going to try to bring that game home…..It'll be a good challenge for us to play a team of this caliber to see how we fair out."