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American college football season
The 2019 Illinois State Redbirds football team represented Illinois State University in the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by eleventh-year head coach Brock Spack and played their home games at Hancock Stadium. They were a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference. They finished the season 10–5, 5–3 in MVFC play to finish in a three-way tie for third place. They received an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs where they defeated Southeast Missouri State and Central Arkansas to advance to the quarterfinals where they lost to North Dakota State.
Previous season
The Redbirds finished the 2018 season 6–5, 3–5 in MVFC play to finish in a three-way tie for sixth place.
Preseason
MVFC poll
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
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
| 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
|
Game summaries
at Northern Illinois
|
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4 |
Total |
| No. 15 Redbirds
|
0
|
3
|
0
|
7 |
10 |
| Huskies
|
3
|
0
|
7
|
14 |
24 |
Morehead State
|
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4 |
Total |
| Eagles
|
0
|
0
|
7
|
7 |
14 |
| No. 16 Redbirds
|
21
|
14
|
0
|
7 |
42 |
at Eastern Illinois
|
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4 |
Total |
| No. 13 Redbirds
|
7
|
7
|
7
|
0 |
21 |
| Panthers
|
0
|
3
|
0
|
0 |
3 |
Northern Arizona
|
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4 |
Total |
| Lumberjacks
|
14
|
7
|
0
|
6 |
27 |
| No. 15 Redbirds
|
10
|
13
|
14
|
3 |
40 |
North Dakota State
|
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4 |
Total |
| No. 1 Bison
|
16
|
7
|
7
|
7 |
37 |
| No. 10 Redbirds
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
0 |
3 |
at Southern Illinois
|
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4 |
Total |
| No. 14 Redbirds
|
7
|
7
|
7
|
0 |
21 |
| Salukis
|
0
|
0
|
7
|
0 |
7 |
at Western Illinois
|
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4 |
Total |
| No. 11 Redbirds
|
7
|
7
|
0
|
14 |
28 |
| Leathernecks
|
0
|
0
|
7
|
7 |
14 |
Indiana State
|
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4 |
Total |
| Sycamores
|
0
|
7
|
0
|
0 |
7 |
| No. 8 Redbirds
|
0
|
7
|
3
|
14 |
24 |
Northern Iowa
|
|
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
|
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4 |
Total |
| No. 11 Redbirds
|
7
|
3
|
3
|
14 |
27 |
| No. 4 Jackrabbits
|
3
|
8
|
7
|
0 |
18 |
Missouri State
|
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4 |
Total |
| Bears
|
6
|
3
|
0
|
3 |
12 |
| No. 7 Redbirds
|
7
|
7
|
0
|
3 |
17 |
at Youngstown State
|
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4 |
Total |
| No. 7 Redbirds
|
0
|
3
|
0
|
0 |
3 |
| Penguins
|
7
|
7
|
0
|
7 |
21 |
FCS Playoffs
The Redbirds were selected for the postseason tournament, with a first-round pairing against Southeast Missouri State.[5]
at Southeast Missouri State–First Round
|
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4 |
Total |
| No. 13 Redbirds
|
14
|
7
|
0
|
3 |
24 |
| No. 12 Redhawks
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
3 |
6 |
at Central Arkansas–Second Round
|
|
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–Quarterfinals
|
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4 |
Total |
| No. 13 Redbirds
|
|
|
|
|
0 |
| No. 1 Bison
|
|
|
|
|
0 |
Ranking movements
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking | Week |
|---|
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | Final |
|---|
| STATS FCS | 15 | 16 | 13 | 15 | 14 | 10 | 14 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 11 | 7 | 7 | 13 | 7 |
|---|
| Coaches | 13 | 16 | 13 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 13 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 12 | 8 | 6 | 14 | 7 |
|---|
References
|
|---|
| Venues | |
|---|
| Bowls & rivalries | |
|---|
| Culture & lore | |
|---|
| People | |
|---|
| Seasons | |
|---|
