# 2019 Illinois State Redbirds football team

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.

## Preseason
### MVFC poll

In the MVFC preseason poll released on July 29, 2019, the Redbirds were predicted to finish in third place.
| 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.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| August 31 | 6:00 p.m. | at Northern Illinois* | No. 15 | Huskie StadiumDeKalb, IL | ESPN+ | L 10–24 | 14,568 |
| September 7 | 6:30 p.m. | Morehead State* | No. 16 | Hancock StadiumNormal, IL | NBCS CHIC+/ESPN+ | W 42–14 | 11,256 |
| September 14 | 2:00 p.m. | at Eastern Illinois* | No. 13 | O'Brien StadiumCharleston, IL (Mid-America Classic) | ESPN+ | W 21–3 | 6,119 |
| September 21 | 6:30 p.m. | Northern Arizona* | No. 15 | Hancock StadiumNormal, IL | ESPN+ | W 40–27 | 9,891 |
| October 5 | 12:00 p.m. | No. 1 North Dakota State | No. 10 | Hancock StadiumNormal, IL | NBCS CHIC/ESPN+ | L 3–37 | 13,391 |
| October 12 | 6:00 p.m. | at Southern Illinois | No. 14 | Saluki StadiumCarbondale, IL | ESPN3 | W 21–7 | 5,525 |
| October 19 | 1:00 p.m. | at Western Illinois | No. 11 | Hanson FieldMacomb, IL | ESPN+ | W 28–14 | 2,984 |
| October 26 | 2:00 p.m. | Indiana State | No. 8 | Hancock StadiumNormal, IL | ESPN3 | W 24–7 | 8,510 |
| November 2 | 12:00 p.m. | No. 9 Northern Iowa | No. 7 | Hancock StadiumNormal, IL | NBCS CHIC | L 10–27 | 6,705 |
| November 9 | 2:00 p.m. | at No. 4 South Dakota State | No. 11 | Dana J. Dykhouse StadiumBrookings, SD | ESPN+ | W 27–18 | 7,211 |
| November 16 | 12:00 p.m. | Missouri State | No. 7 | Hancock StadiumNormal, IL | NBCS CHIC/ESPN+ | W 17–12 | 5,701 |
| November 23 | 11:00 a.m. | at Youngstown State | No. 7 | Stambaugh StadiumYoungstown, OH | ESPN+ | L 3–21 | 9,190 |
| November 30 | 1:00 p.m. | at No. 12 Southeast Missouri State* | No. 13 | Houck StadiumCape Girardeau, MO (NCAA Division I First Round) | ESPN3 | W 24–6 | 3,274 |
| December 7 | 2:00 p.m. | at No. 9 Central Arkansas* | No. 13 | Estes StadiumConway, AR (NCAA Division I Second Round) | ESPN3 | W 24–14 | 5,127 |
| December 14 | 11:00 a.m. | at No. 1 North Dakota State* | No. 13 | FargodomeFargo, ND (NCAA Division I Quarterfinal) | ESPN | L 3–9 | 14,132 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll 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 |

### At Southeast Missouri State—NCAA Division I First Round

The Redbirds were selected for the postseason tournament, with a first-round pairing against Southeast Missouri State.
| | 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

| | 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

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 13 Redbirds | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| No. 1 Bison | 16 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 37 |

## Ranking movements

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | 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 |