2015 Illinois State Redbirds football team

2015 Illinois State Redbirds football
MVFC co–champion
NCAA Division I Quarterfinal, L 27–39 vs. Richmond
Conference	Missouri Valley Football Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 5
FCS Coaches	No. 5
Record	10–3 (7–1 MVFC)
Head coach	Brock Spack (7th season)
Offensive coordinator	Kurt Beathard (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Spence Nowinsky (2nd season)
MVP	Marshaun Coprich, Pat Meehan, Dalton Keene
Captain	Tre Roberson, Pat Meehan, Soniel Estime
Home stadium	Hancock Stadium

2015 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 1 North Dakota State +^		7	–	1					13	–	2
No. 5 Illinois State +^		7	–	1					10	–	3
No. 8 Northern Iowa ^		5	–	3					9	–	5
No. 15 South Dakota State ^		5	–	3					8	–	4
Western Illinois ^		5	–	3					7	–	6
Indiana State		3	–	5					5	–	6
Youngstown State		3	–	5					5	–	6
South Dakota		3	–	5					5	–	6
Southern Illinois		2	–	6					3	–	8
Missouri State		0	–	8					1	–	10
+ – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2015 Illinois State Redbirds football team represented Illinois State University as a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) during the 2015 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by seventh-year head coach Brock Spack, the Redbirds compiled an overall record of 10–3 with a mark of 7–1 in conference play, sharing the MVFC title with North Dakota State for the second consecutive season. Illinois State received an at-large bid to the NCAA Division I Football Championship playoffs. After a first-round bye, the Redbirds defeated Western Illinois in the second round, before losing to Richmond in the quarterfinals. The team played home games at Hancock Stadium in Normal, Illinois.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 5	11:00 am	at Iowa*	No. 2	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	BTN	L 14–31	59,450
September 12	6:30 pm	Morgan State*	No. 4	Hancock Stadium Normal, IL	CSN+/ESPN3	W 67–14	13,391
September 19	6:00 pm	at Eastern Illinois*	No. 5	O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL (Mid-America Classic)	WMBD	W 34–31 OT	8,104
October 3	12:00 pm	No. 7 Northern Iowa	No. 4	Hancock Stadium Normal, IL	MVC TV/ESPN3	W 21–13	13,391
October 10	6:00 pm	at No. 9 Youngstown State	No. 4	Stambaugh Stadium Youngstown, OH	ESPN3	W 31–29	17,715
October 17	2:00 pm	at Missouri State	No. 4	Plaster Sports Complex Springfield, MO	ESPN3	W 38–2	14,212
October 24	2:00 pm	No. 20 Western Illinois	No. 3	Hancock Stadium Normal, IL	CSNC/ESPN3	W 48–28	13,391
October 31	12:00 pm	No. 21 Indiana State	No. 3	Hancock Stadium Normal, IL	CSNC/ESPN3	W 27–24	7,498
November 7	2:00 pm	at No. 11 South Dakota State	No. 2	Coughlin–Alumni Stadium Brookings, SD	ESPN3	L 20–25	9,081
November 14	2:00 pm	at Southern Illinois	No. 6	Saluki Stadium Carbondale, IL	MVC TV/ESPN3	W 42–21	6,388
November 21	12:00 pm	South Dakota	No. 6	Hancock Stadium Normal, IL	CSNC/ESPN3	W 46–0	5,210
December 5	1:00 pm	Western Illinois*	No. 4	Hancock Stadium Normal, IL (NCAA Division I Second Round)	ESPN3	W 36–19	6,124
December 11	6:30 pm	No. 12 Richmond*	No. 4	Hancock Stadium Normal, IL (NCAA Division I Quarterfinal)	ESPN3	L 27–39	5,356
*Non-conference game Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Game summaries

@ Iowa

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

See also: 2015 Iowa Hawkeyes football team

Morgan State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	0	7	7	0	14
#4 Redbirds	22	14	21	10	67

See also: 2015 Morgan State Bears football team

@ Eastern Illinois

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
#5 Redbirds	10	14	0	7	3	34
Panthers	14	7	0	10	0	31

See also: 2015 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team and Mid-America Classic

Northern Iowa

	1	2	3	4	Total
#7 Panthers	0	7	3	3	13
#4 Redbirds	0	0	7	14	21

See also: 2015 Northern Iowa Panthers football team

@ Youngstown State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#4 Redbirds	7	7	3	14	31
#9 Penguins	6	3	3	17	29

See also: 2015 Youngstown State Penguins football team

@ Missouri State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#4 Redbirds	14	17	7	0	38
Bears	0	0	0	2	2

See also: 2015 Missouri State Bears football team

Western Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
#20 Leathernecks	7	14	7	0	28
#3 Redbirds	14	7	14	13	48

See also: 2015 Western Illinois Leathernecks football team

Indiana State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#21 Sycamores	0	21	3	0	24
#3 Redbirds	2	7	7	11	27

See also: 2015 Indiana State Sycamores football team

@ South Dakota State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#2 Redbirds	7	0	7	6	20
#11 Jackrabbits	0	13	6	6	25

See also: 2015 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team

@ Southern Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
#6 Redbirds	0	14	21	7	42
Salukis	0	21	0	0	21

See also: 2015 Southern Illinois Salukis football team

South Dakota

	1	2	3	4	Total
Coyotes	0	0	0	0	0
#6 Redbirds	3	20	13	10	46

See also: 2015 South Dakota Coyotes football team

Western Illinois—NCAA Division I Second Round

	1	2	3	4	Total
Leathernecks	3	3	6	7	19
#4 Redbirds	7	0	8	21	36

Richmond—NCAA Division I Quarterfinal

	1	2	3	4	Total
#12 Spiders	10	9	6	14	39
#4 Redbirds	0	7	7	13	27

See also: 2015 Richmond Spiders football team

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	2 (3)	4 (20)	5 (6)	4 (2)	4 (2)	4 (1)	4 (1)	3 (6)	3 (3)	2 (18)	6	6	4	5
Coaches	2	5 (6)	6 (1)	5	4	4	4	4 (2)	3 (20)	2 (3)	6	6	4	5