2019 Illinois State Redbirds football team


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.

Preseason All–MVFC team

The Redbirds had four players selected to the preseason all-MVFC team.
Offense
James Robinson – RB
Drew Himmelman – OL
Defense
Luther Kirk – DB
Devin Taylor – DB

Schedule

at Northern Illinois

Morehead State

at Eastern Illinois

Northern Arizona

North Dakota State

at Southern Illinois

at Western Illinois

Indiana State

Northern Iowa

at South Dakota State

Missouri State

at Youngstown State

FCS Playoffs

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

at Southeast Missouri State–First Round

at Central Arkansas–Second Round

at North Dakota State–Quarterfinals

Ranking movements