2016 Illinois State Redbirds football team

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 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	Conf							Overall
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

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

See also: 2016 Valparaiso Crusaders football team

@ Northwestern

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

See also: 2016 Northwestern Wildcats football team

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

See also: 2016 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team and Mid-America Classic

@ Indiana State

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

See also: 2016 Indiana State Sycamores football team

@ North Dakota State

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

See also: 2016 North Dakota State Bison football team

Youngstown State

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

See also: 2016 Youngstown State Penguins football team

Southern Illinois

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

See also: 2016 Southern Illinois Salukis football team

@ South Dakota

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

See also: 2016 South Dakota Coyotes football team

South Dakota State

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

See also: 2016 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team

@ Western Illinois

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

See also: 2016 Western Illinois Leathernecks football team

Missouri State

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

See also: 2016 Missouri State Bears football team

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

See also: 2016 Central Arkansas Bears football team

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

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.