The 2019 Illinois State Redbirds football team represented Illinois State University as a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) during the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by 11th-year head coach Brock Spack, the Redbirds compiled an overall record of 10–5 with a mark of 5–3 in conference play, placing in a three-way tie for third in the MVFC. Illinois State received an at-large bid to the NCAA Division I Football Championship playoffs, where the Redbirds beat Southeast Missouri State in the first round and Central Arkansas in the second round before losing to the eventual national champion, North Dakota State, in the quarterfinals. The team played home games at Hancock Stadium in Normal, Illinois.
Table of Contents
Preseason[edit]
MVFC poll[edit]
In the MVFC preseason poll released on July 29, 2019, the Redbirds were predicted to finish in third place.[1]
Predicted finish
Team
Votes (1st place)
1
North Dakota State
392 (32)
2
South Dakota State
348 (4)
3
Illinois State
289 (3)
4
Indiana State
279 (1)
5
Northern Iowa
266
6
South Dakota
176
7
Youngstown State
153
8
Western Illinois
128
9
Southern Illinois
89
10
Missouri State
80
Preseason All–MVFC team[edit]
The Redbirds had four players selected to the preseason all-MVFC team.[2]
Offense
James Robinson – RB
Drew Himmelman – OL
Defense
Luther Kirk – DB
Devin Taylor – DB
Schedule[edit]
Date
Time
Opponent
Rank
Site
TV
Result
Attendance
August 31
6:00 p.m.
at Northern Illinois*
No. 15
ESPN+
L 10–24
14,568
September 7
6:30 p.m.
Morehead State*
No. 16
NBCS CHIC+/ESPN+
W 42–14
11,256
September 14
2:00 p.m.
at Eastern Illinois*
No. 13
ESPN+
W 21–3
6,119
September 21
6:30 p.m.
Northern Arizona*
No. 15
Hancock Stadium
Normal, IL
ESPN+
W 40–27
9,891
October 5
12:00 p.m.
No. 1 North Dakota State
No. 10
Hancock Stadium
Normal, IL
NBCS CHIC/ESPN+
L 3–37
13,391
October 12
6:00 p.m.
at Southern Illinois
No. 14
ESPN3
W 21–7
5,525
October 19
1:00 p.m.
at Western Illinois
No. 11
ESPN+
W 28–14
2,984
October 26
2:00 p.m.
Indiana State
No. 8
Hancock Stadium
Normal, IL
ESPN3
W 24–7
8,510
November 2
12:00 p.m.
No. 9 Northern Iowa
No. 7
Hancock Stadium
Normal, IL
NBCS CHIC
L 10–27
6,705
November 9
2:00 p.m.
at No. 4 South Dakota State
No. 11
ESPN+
W 27–18
7,211
November 16
12:00 p.m.
Missouri State
No. 7
Hancock Stadium
Normal, IL
NBCS CHIC/ESPN+
W 17–12
5,701
November 23
11:00 a.m.
at Youngstown State
No. 7
ESPN+
L 3–21
9,190
November 30
1:00 p.m.
at No. 12 Southeast Missouri State*
No. 13
ESPN3
W 24–6
3,274
December 7
2:00 p.m.
at No. 9 Central Arkansas*
No. 13
ESPN3
W 24–14
5,127
December 14
11:00 a.m.
at No. 1 North Dakota State*
No. 13
ESPN
L 3–9
14,132
*Non-conference game
Homecoming
Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game
All times are in Central time
[3][4]
Game summaries[edit]
At Northern Illinois[edit]
1
2
3
4
Total
No. 15 Redbirds
0
3
0
7
10
Huskies
3
0
7
14
24
Morehead State[edit]
1
2
3
4
Total
Eagles
0
0
7
7
14
No. 16 Redbirds
21
14
0
7
42
At Eastern Illinois[edit]
1
2
3
4
Total
No. 13 Redbirds
7
7
7
0
21
Panthers
0
3
0
0
3
Northern Arizona[edit]
1
2
3
4
Total
Lumberjacks
14
7
0
6
27
No. 15 Redbirds
10
13
14
3
40
North Dakota State[edit]
1
2
3
4
Total
No. 1 Bison
16
7
7
7
37
No. 10 Redbirds
3
0
0
0
3
At Southern Illinois[edit]
1
2
3
4
Total
No. 14 Redbirds
7
7
7
0
21
Salukis
0
0
7
0
7
At Western Illinois[edit]
1
2
3
4
Total
No. 11 Redbirds
7
7
0
14
28
Leathernecks
0
0
7
7
14
Indiana State[edit]
1
2
3
4
Total
Sycamores
0
7
0
0
7
No. 8 Redbirds
0
7
3
14
24
Northern Iowa[edit]
1
2
3
4
Total
No. 9 Panthers
7
7
0
13
27
No. 7 Redbirds
0
7
3
0
10
At South Dakota State[edit]
1
2
3
4
Total
No. 11 Redbirds
7
3
3
14
27
No. 4 Jackrabbits
3
8
7
0
18
Missouri State[edit]
1
2
3
4
Total
Bears
6
3
0
3
12
No. 7 Redbirds
7
7
0
3
17
At Youngstown State[edit]
1
2
3
4
Total
No. 7 Redbirds
0
3
0
0
3
Penguins
7
7
0
7
21
At Southeast Missouri State—NCAA Division I First Round[edit]
The Redbirds were selected for the postseason tournament, with a first-round pairing against Southeast Missouri State.[5]
1
2
3
4
Total
No. 13 Redbirds
14
7
0
3
24
No. 12 Redhawks
3
0
0
3
6
At Central Arkansas—NCAA Division I Second Round[edit]
1
2
3
4
Total
No. 13 Redbirds
0
21
0
3
24
No. 9 Bears
0
7
0
7
14
At North Dakota State—NCAA Division I Quarterfinal[edit]
1
2
3
4
Total
No. 13 Redbirds
0
No. 1 Bison
0
Ranking movements[edit]
Ranking movements Legend:██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
Recent Comments