2017 Illinois State Redbirds football team

The 2017 Illinois State Redbirds football team represented Illinois State University in the 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by ninth-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 6–5, 4–4 in MVFC play to finish in a three-way tie for fifth place.

2017 Illinois State Redbirds football
Conference	Missouri Valley Football Conference
2017 record	6–5 (4–4 MVFC)
Head coach	Brock Spack (9th season)
Offensive coordinator	Billy Dicken (4th season)
Defensive coordinator	Spence Nowinsky
Home stadium	Hancock Stadium (Capacity: 13,391)

2017 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 1 North Dakota State $^		7	–	1					14	–	1
No. 3 South Dakota State ^		6	–	2					11	–	3
No. 19 Northern Iowa ^		6	–	2					8	–	5
No. 13 Western Illinois ^		5	–	3					8	–	4
No. 15 South Dakota ^		4	–	4					8	–	5
Illinois State		4	–	4					6	–	5
Youngstown State		4	–	4					6	–	5
Southern Illinois		2	–	6					4	–	7
Missouri State		2	–	6					3	–	8
Indiana State		0	–	8					0	–	11
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	6:30 p.m.	Butler*	No. 20	Hancock Stadium Normal, IL	ESPN3	W 45–0	10,840
September 16	2:00 p.m.	at Eastern Illinois*	No. 18	O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL (Mid-America Classic)	OVCDN	W 44–13	7,031
September 23	2:00 p.m.	at Missouri State	No. 14	Plaster Sports Complex Springfield, MO	ESPN3	W 34–9	7,183
September 30	6:30 p.m.	Indiana State	No. 12	Hancock Stadium Normal, IL	ESPN3	W 24–13	13,391
October 7	6:00 p.m.	at Northern Arizona*	No. 11	Walkup Skydome Flagstaff, AZ	FCSP Pluto TV	L 16–37	10,420
October 14	2:00 p.m.	at Southern Illinois	No. 17	Saluki Stadium Carbondale, IL	ESPN3	L 7–42	8,121
October 21	2:00 p.m.	No. 4 South Dakota	No. 24	Hancock Stadium Normal, IL	ESPN3 NBCS CH	W 37–21	12,113
October 28	1:00 p.m.	at No. 21 Youngstown State	No. 16	Stambaugh Stadium Youngstown, OH	ESPN3	W 35–0	12,723
November 4	Noon	No. 15 Western Illinois	No. 12	Hancock Stadium Normal, IL	ESPN3	L 14–31	13,192
November 11	2:00 p.m.	at No. 6 South Dakota State	No. 17	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD	ESPN3	L 24–27 ^OT	9,458
November 18	Noon	No. 4 North Dakota State	No. 21	Hancock Stadium Normal, IL	ESPN3 NBCS CH	L 7–20	7,664
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS FCS Poll released prior to game Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

• Source: Schedule

Game summaries

Butler

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	0	0	0	0	0
No. 20 Redbirds	0	17	21	7	45

See also: 2017 Butler Bulldogs football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
1–0	1949	ILST, 14–0

at Eastern Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 18 Redbirds	10	17	10	7	44
Panthers	0	6	7	0	13

See also: 2017 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team and Mid-America Classic

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
54–41–9	2016	EIU, 24–21

at Missouri State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 14 Redbirds	3	3	28	0	34
Bears	6	0	0	3	9

See also: 2017 Missouri State Bears football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
20–16–1	2016	ILST, 37–0

Indiana State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Sycamores	0	0	13	0	13
No. 12 Redbirds	10	14	0	0	24

See also: 2017 Indiana State Sycamores football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
36–30–2	2016	ISU, 34–31

at Northern Arizona

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 11 Redbirds	0	6	3	7	16
Lumberjacks	0	13	14	10	37

See also: 2017 Northern Arizona Lumberjacks football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

at Southern Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 17 Redbirds	0	0	7	0	7
Salukis	7	14	7	14	42

See also: 2017 Southern Illinois Salukis football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
36–40–3	2016	ILST, 31–28

South Dakota

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 4 Coyotes	0	14	0	7	21
No. 24 Redbirds	14	3	7	13	37

See also: 2017 South Dakota Coyotes football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
5–1	2016	USD, 27–24

at Youngstown State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 16 Redbirds	14	7	7	7	35
No. 21 Penguins	0	0	0	0	0

See also: 2017 Youngstown State Penguins football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
13–13	2016	YSU, 20–6

Western Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 15 Leathernecks	0	0	17	14	31
No. 12 Redbirds	7	7	0	0	14

See also: 2017 Western Illinois Leathernecks football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
46–50–3	2016	ILST, 31–26

at South Dakota State

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
No. 17 Redbirds	7	10	0	7	0	24
No. 6 Jackrabbits	7	10	0	7	3	27

See also: 2017 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
4–3	2016	ILST, 38–21

North Dakota State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 4 Bison	0	0	13	7	20
No. 21 Redbirds	0	0	0	7	7

See also: 2017 North Dakota State Bison football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2–7	2016	NDSU, 31–10

Redbirds drafted

Draft Year	Player	Position	Round	Overall	NFL Team
2018	Davontae Harris	CB	5	151	Cincinnati Bengals

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	20	18	18	14	12	11	17	24	16	12	17	21	23	RV
Coaches	18	15	14	12	8–T	7	15	24	21	13	20	25	RV	NR

References