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 →

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

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.

Schedule

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

Valparaiso

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

@ Northwestern

	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

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

@ Indiana State

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

@ North Dakota State

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

Youngstown State

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

Southern Illinois

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

@ South Dakota

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

South Dakota State

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

@ Western Illinois

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

Missouri State

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

Central Arkansas—NCAA Division I First Round

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

Ranking movements

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

^ "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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[4]

v t e Illinois State Redbirds football
Venues	Hancock Stadium (1963–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Eastern Illinois: Mid-America Classic
Culture & lore	Reggie Redbird "Go, You Redbirds"
People	Head coaches NFL draftees
Seasons	1887 1888–1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898–1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910–1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

v t e 2016 NCAA Division I FCS playoff participants
Cal Poly Central Arkansas Charleston Southern Chattanooga The Citadel Eastern Washington Illinois State Jacksonville State James Madison Lehigh New Hampshire North Carolina A&T North Dakota North Dakota State Richmond Saint Francis (PA) Samford Sam Houston State San Diego South Dakota State Villanova Weber State Wofford Youngstown State
Champion – James Madison