2024 Illinois State Redbirds football team

2024 Illinois State Redbirds football
2024 Illinois State Redbirds football
Conference	Missouri Valley Football Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 17
FCS Coaches	No. 15
Record	2–1 (0–0 MVFC)
Head coach	Brock Spack (16th season);
Offensive coordinator	Tony Petersen (3rd season)
Defensive coordinator	Travis Niekamp (7th season)
Home stadium	Hancock Stadium
	Seasons ← 2023 2025 →

2024 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 17 Illinois State	0	–	0	2	–	1
No. 10 North Dakota	0	–	0	2	–	1
No. 2 North Dakota State	0	–	0	2	–	1
No. 25 Northern Iowa	0	–	0	2	–	1
No. 1 South Dakota State	0	–	0	2	–	1
No. 7 Southern Illinois	0	–	0	2	–	1
No. 6 South Dakota	0	–	0	1	–	1
Indiana State	0	–	0	1	–	2
Missouri State*	0	–	0	1	–	2
Murray State	0	–	0	1	–	2
Youngstown State	0	–	0	1	–	2
* Ineligible for 2024 FCS playoffs due to transition to the FBS

$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant As of September 16, 2024 Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2024 Illinois State Redbirds football team will represent Illinois State University as a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) during the 2024 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They will be led by 16th-year head coach Brock Spack.^[1] Illinois State will play home games at Hancock Stadium in Normal, Illinois.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 31	11:00 a.m.	at No. 25 (FBS) Iowa*	No. 19	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	Big Ten Network	L 0–40	69,250
September 7	6:00 p.m.	at North Alabama*	No. 21	Braly Municipal Stadium Florence, AL	ESPN+	W 24–17	8,014
September 14	12:00 p.m.	Western Illinois*	No. 18	Hancock Stadium Normal, IL	ESPN+	W 51–34	12,440
September 21	6:00 p.m.	Eastern Illinois*	No. 17	Hancock Stadium Normal, IL	ESPN+
September 28	2:00 p.m.	North Dakota State		Hancock Stadium Normal, IL	ESPN+
October 5	6:00 p.m.	at Southern Illinois		Saluki Stadium Carbondale, IL	TBD
October 12	12:00 p.m.	Missouri State		Hancock Stadium Normal, IL	ESPN+
October 19	2:00 p.m.	at Murray State		Roy Stewart Stadium Murray, KY	TBD
November 2	2:00 p.m.	Youngstown State		Hancock Stadium Normal, IL	ESPN+
November 9	1:00 p.m.	at Northern Iowa		UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA	TBD
November 16	12:00 p.m.	at Indiana State		Memorial Stadium Terre Haute, IN	ESPN+
November 23	12:00 p.m.	North Dakota		Hancock Stadium Normal, IL	ESPN+
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

^[2]^[3]

Game summaries

at No. 25 (FBS) Iowa

Pregame line	Over/under
Iowa –21.5	37.5

Game One – No. 19 Illinois State Redbirds (0-0) at No. 25 (FBS) Iowa Hawkeyes (0-0) – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 19 Illinois State	0	0	0	0	0
No. 25 Iowa (FBS)	3	3	13	21	40

at Kinnick Stadium • Iowa City, IA

Date: Saturday August 31, 2024
Game time: 11:00 AM CST
Game weather: Sunny; 76 °F (24 °C); Wind: NW 4 mph (6.4 km/h)
Game attendance: 69,250
Referee: Mark Kluczynski
TV announcers (BTN): Mark Followill (play-by-play), Anthony Herron (analyst), and Melanie Ricks (sideline)

Game information

First quarter

5:35 Iowa – Drew Stevens 41-yard field goal (Drive: 4 plays, 6 yards, 1:31; Iowa 3–0)

Second quarter

1:00 Iowa – Drew Stevens 28-yard field goal (Drive: 10 plays, 49 yards, 2:48; Iowa 6–0)

Third quarter

11:32 Iowa – Reece Vander Zee 7-yard pass from Cade McNamara (Two-Point Pass Conversion Failed) (Drive: 7 plays, 75 yards, 3:28; Iowa 12–0)
7:46 Iowa – Jacob Gill 31-yard pass from Cade McNamara (Drew Stevens kick) (Drive: 5 plays, 66 yards, 2:27; Iowa 19–0)

Fourth quarter

14:54 Iowa – Reece Vander Zee 19-yard pass from Cade McNamara (Drew Stevens kick) (Drive: 4 plays, 62 yards, 1:39; Iowa 26–0)
11:09 Iowa – Kaleb Johnson 64-yard run (Drew Stevens kick) (Drive: 4 plays, 77 yards, 2:04; Iowa 33–0)
5:48 Iowa – Kaleb Johnson 18-yard run (Drew Stevens kick) (Drive: 5 plays, 34 yards, 3:11; Iowa 40–0)

Statistics	ILST	IOWA
First downs	12	23
Total yards	189	492
Rushing yards	56	241
Passing yards	133	251
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	14–29–1	21–31–0
Time of possession	25:12	34:48

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Illinois State	Passing	Tommy Rittenhouse	10/20, 119 yards, INT
	Rushing	Wenkers Wright	9 carries, 36 yards
	Receiving	Xavier Loyd	4 receptions, 53 yards
Iowa	Passing	Cade McNamara	21/31, 251 yards, 3 TD
	Rushing	Kaleb Johnson	11 carries, 119 yards, 2 TD
	Receiving	Reece Vander Zee	5 receptions, 66 yards, 2 TD

at North Alabama

Pregame line	Over/under
ILST -13.5	50.5

Game Two – No. 21 Illinois State Redbirds (0–1) vs North Alabama Lions (0–2) – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 21 Illinois State	7	7	10	0	24
North Alabama	3	0	7	7	17

at Braly Stadium • Florence, AL

Date: Saturday September 7, 2024
Game time: 6:00 PM CST
Game weather: SE at 9 miles per hour (14 km/h) • Weather: Sunny • Temp: 81 °F (27 °C)
Game attendance: 8,014
Referee: Jeremee Tate
TV announcers (ESPN+): Benjamin Ray (play-by-play) and Bryan Neece (analyst)

Game information

First quarter

(11:17) ILST – Mitch Bartol 18-yard pass from Tommy Rittenhouse (Ian Wagner kick) (Drive: 7 plays, 75 yards, 3:39; ILST 7-0)
(7:27) UNA – Scott Payne 25-yard field goal (Drive: 9 plays, 67 yards, 3:50; ILST 7-3)

Second quarter

(11:42) ILST – Tommy Rittenhouse 3-yard rush (Ian Wagner kick) (Drive: 9 plays, 65 yards, 3:18; ILST 14-3)

Third quarter

(6:17) UNA – Kobe Warden 15-yard pass from Ari Patu (Scott Payne kick) (Drive: 8 plays, 80 yards, 4:38; ILST 14-10)
(6:00) ILST – Tommy Rittenhouse 71-yard rush (Ian Wagner kick) (Drive: 1 play, 71 yards, 0:10; ILST 21-10)
(7:27) ILST – Ian Wagner 21-yard field goal (Drive: 13 plays, 83 yards, 4:48; ILST 24-10)

Fourth quarter

(10:57) UNA – Ari Patu 7-yard rush (Scott Payne kick) (Drive: 4 play, 72 yards, 1:25; ILST 21-17)

Statistics	ILST	UNA
First downs	20	17
Total yards	478	411
Rushing yards	325	83
Passing yards	153	328
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	16-26-1	21-36-1
Time of possession	30:31	29:29

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Illinois State	Passing	Tommy Rittenhouse	13/21, 142 yards, TD, INT
	Rushing	Wenkers Wright	26 carries, 153 yards
	Receiving	Dylan Ford	6 receptions, 52 yards
North Alabama	Passing	Ari Patu	21/36, 328 yards, TD, INT
	Rushing	Jayvian Allen	14 carries, 63 yards
	Receiving	Takairee Kenebrew	7 receptions, 129 yards

Western Illinois

Game Three – Western Illinois Leathernecks (0–2) vs No. 18 Illinois State Redbirds (1–1) – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Western Illinois	7	14	7	6	34
No. 18 Illinois State	14	10	14	13	51

at Hancock Stadium • Normal, IL

Date: September 14, 2024
Game time: 12:00 p.m.
Game weather: 0 °F (−18 °C)
Game attendance: 12,440
TV: ESPN+

Game information
First quarter Second quarter Third quarter Fourth quarter

Statistics	WIU	ILST
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Passing: Comp–Att–Int
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Western Illinois	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
Illinois State	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

Eastern Illinois

Game Four – Eastern Illinois Panthers (1–2) vs No. 17 Illinois State Redbirds (2–1) – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Eastern Illinois	0	0	0	0	0
No. 17 Illinois State	0	0	0	0	0

at Hancock Stadium • Normal, IL

Date: September 21, 2024
Game time: 6:00 p.m.
Game weather: 0 °F (−18 °C)
TV: ESPN+

Game information
First quarter Second quarter Third quarter Fourth quarter

Statistics	EIU	ILST
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Passing: Comp–Att–Int
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Eastern Illinois	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
Illinois State	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

North Dakota State

Game Five – North Dakota State Bison (0–0) vs Illinois State Redbirds (0–0) – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
North Dakota State	0	0	0	0	0
Illinois State	0	0	0	0	0

at Hancock Stadium • Normal, IL

Date: September 28, 2024
Game time: 2:00 p.m.
Game weather: 0 °F (−18 °C)
TV: ESPN+

Game information
First quarter Second quarter Third quarter Fourth quarter

Statistics	NDSU	ILST
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Passing: Comp–Att–Int
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
North Dakota State	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
Illinois State	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

References

^ "Football Coaches". Illinois State University Athletics. Retrieved March 9, 2024.
^ "2024 Illinois State Football Schedule". FBSchedules. Retrieved March 9, 2024.
^ "2024 Football Schedule". Illinois State Athletics. Retrieved March 9, 2024.

This college football 2020s season article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] "Football Coaches". Illinois State University Athletics. Retrieved March 9, 2024.

[2] "2024 Illinois State Football Schedule". FBSchedules. Retrieved March 9, 2024.

[3] "2024 Football Schedule". Illinois State Athletics. Retrieved March 9, 2024.

[1]

[2]

[3]

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