2016 Illinois State Redbirds football team

2016 Illinois State Redbirds football
2016 Illinois State Redbirds football
NCAA Division I First Round, L 24–31 vs. Central Arkansas
Conference	Missouri Valley Football Conference
Record	6–6 (4–4 MVFC)
Head coach	Brock Spack (8th season);
Co-offensive coordinator	Dan Clark (1st season)
Co-offensive coordinator	Billy Dicken (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Spence Nowinsky (3rd season)
MVP	Mark Spelman, Alejandro Rivera, Dalton Keene
Captain	Mark Spelman, Alec Kocour, Cole Bumpus
Home stadium	Hancock Stadium
	Seasons ← 2015 2017 →

The 2016 Illinois State Redbirds football team represented Illinois State University as a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) during the 2016 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by eighth-year head coach Brock Spack, the Redbirds compiled an overall record of 6–6 with a mark of 4–4 in conference play, tying for fourth place the MVFC. For the third straight season, Illinois State received an at-large bid to the NCAA Division I Football Championship playoffs, where the Redbirds lost in the first round to Central Arkansas. The team played home games at Hancock Stadium in Normal, Illinois.

2016 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 3 North Dakota State +^	7	–	1	12	–	2
No. 6 South Dakota State +^	7	–	1	9	–	4
No. 2 Youngstown State ^	6	–	2	12	–	4
Illinois State ^	4	–	4	6	–	6
Northern Iowa	4	–	4	5	–	6
Western Illinois	3	–	5	6	–	5
South Dakota	3	–	5	4	–	7
Indiana State	2	–	6	4	–	7
Missouri State	2	–	6	4	–	7
Southern Illinois	2	–	6	4	–	7

+ – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

Schedule edit

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 3	6:00 pm	Valparaiso*	No. 10	Hancock Stadium Normal, IL	ESPN3	W 50–13	10,026
September 10	2:30 pm	at Northwestern*	No. 10	Ryan Field Evanston, IL	BTN	W 9–7	30,748
September 17	2:00 pm	Eastern Illinois*	No. 5	Hancock Stadium Normal, IL (Mid-America Classic)	CSN CH	L 21–24	13,391
September 24	2:00 pm	Indiana State	No. 9	Memorial Stadium Terre Haute, IN	ESPN3	L 31–34	6,561
October 1	1:00 pm	at No. 1 North Dakota State	No. 18	Fargodome Fargo, ND	ESPN3	L 10–31	18,907
October 8	2:00 pm	No. 15 Youngstown State	No. 23	Hancock Stadium Normal, IL	CSN CH	L 6–20	12,570
October 15	6:00 pm	Southern Illinois		Hancock Stadium Normal, IL	CSN CH	W 31–28	10,211
October 22	2:00 pm	at South Dakota		DakotaDome Vermillion, SD	ESPN3	L 24–27	7,416
October 29	2:00 pm	No. 7 South Dakota State		Hancock Stadium Normal, IL	CSN CH	W 38–21	7,595
November 5	1:00 pm	at No. 12 Western Illinois		Hanson Field Macomb, IL	ESPN3	W 31–26	3,589
November 12	12:00 pm	Missouri State		Hancock Stadium Normal, IL	ESPN3	W 37–0	7,144
November 26	2:00 pm	at No. 14 Central Arkansas*		Estes Stadium Conway, AR (NCAA Division I First Round)	ESPN3	L 24–31	3,165
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

^[1]^[2]

Game summaries edit

Valparaiso edit

	1	2	3	4	Total
Crusaders	3	7	0	3	13
#10 Redbirds	7	27	9	7	50

@ Northwestern edit

	1	2	3	4	Total
#10 Redbirds	0	6	0	3	9
Wildcats	0	0	0	7	7

The Redbirds beat the Wildcats 9–7. The win came on an Illinois State field goal as time expired. This was ISU's first-ever victory over a Big Ten team.^[3]^[4]

Eastern Illinois edit

	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	3	7	7	7	24
#5 Redbirds	0	0	7	14	21

@ Indiana State edit

	1	2	3	4	Total
#9 Redbirds	0	7	7	17	31
Sycamores	7	10	7	10	34

@ North Dakota State edit

	1	2	3	4	Total
#18 Redbirds	3	7	0	0	10
#1 Bison	7	21	3	0	31

Youngstown State edit

	1	2	3	4	Total
#15 Penguins	0	3	0	17	20
#23 Redbirds	0	0	6	0	6

Southern Illinois edit

	1	2	3	4	Total
Salukis	10	0	11	7	28
Redbirds	7	7	14	3	31

@ South Dakota edit

	1	2	3	4	Total
Redbirds	7	10	0	7	24
Coyotes	17	7	3	0	27

South Dakota State edit

	1	2	3	4	Total
#7 Jackrabbits	0	14	7	0	21
Redbirds	14	14	0	10	38

@ Western Illinois edit

	1	2	3	4	Total
Redbirds	14	7	7	3	31
#12 Leathernecks	0	16	3	7	26

Missouri State edit

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	0	0	0	0	0
Redbirds	3	14	17	3	37

Central Arkansas—NCAA Division I First Round edit

	1	2	3	4	Total
Redbirds	10	7	0	7	24
#14 Bears	0	7	0	24	31

Ranking movements edit

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	10	10	5	9	18	23	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV
Coaches	8	9	5	12	20	23	RV	RV	—	RV	RV	25	RV

References edit

^ "Illinois State Redbirds Schedule 2016". ESPN. Retrieved November 29, 2022.
^ "2016 Football Schedule". Illinois State University. Retrieved November 29, 2022.
^ Reinhardt, Randy (September 10, 2016). "ISU Upsets Northwestern with Game-Winning Field Goal". The Pantagraph. Bloomington. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
^ Helfgot, Mike (September 10, 2016). "Illinois State Topples Northwestern 9-7 on Field Goal as Time Expires". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 11, 2016.

[1] "Illinois State Redbirds Schedule 2016". ESPN. Retrieved November 29, 2022.

[2] "2016 Football Schedule". Illinois State University. Retrieved November 29, 2022.

[3] Reinhardt, Randy (September 10, 2016). "ISU Upsets Northwestern with Game-Winning Field Goal". The Pantagraph. Bloomington. Retrieved September 11, 2016.

[4] Helfgot, Mike (September 10, 2016). "Illinois State Topples Northwestern 9-7 on Field Goal as Time Expires". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 11, 2016.

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