2024 Illinois State Redbirds football team explained

Year:	2024
Team:	Illinois State Redbirds
Sport:	football
Conference:	Missouri Valley Football Conference
Short Conf:	MVFC
Record:	10–3
Conf Record:	6–2
Statsrank:	11
Fcscoachrank:	10
Head Coach:	Brock Spack
Hc Year:	16th
Off Coach:	Tony Petersen
Oc Year:	3rd
Def Coach:	Travis Niekamp
Dc Year:	7th
Stadium:	Hancock Stadium
Bowl:	NCAA Division I Playoffs

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.

Preseason

MVFC poll

The MVFC released it preseason prediction poll on July 22, 2024. The Redbirds were predicted to finish sixth in the conference.^[2]

MVFC media poll
1	South Dakota State	482 (42)
2	North Dakota State	437 (1)
3	South Dakota	371
4	Southern Illinois	293
5	North Dakota	276
6	Illinois State	264
7	Youngtown State	255
8	Northern Iowa	227
9	Missouri State	164 (1)
10	Indiana State	68
11	Murray State	67

Schedule

^[3] ^[4]

Game summaries

at No. 25 (FBS) Iowa

style=	Pregame line!	style=	Over/under
Iowa 21.5	37.5

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		21/31, 251 yards, 3 TD
Rushing		11 carries, 119 yards, 2 TD
Receiving	Reece Vander Zee	5 receptions, 66 yards, 2 TD

at North Alabama

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

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 (Mid-America Classic)

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

No. 2 North Dakota State

Statistics	NDSU	ILST
First downs	29	12
Total yards	544	206
Rushing yards	307	8
Passing yards	237	198
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	21–24–0	17–24–0
Time of possession	38:57	21:03

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
North Dakota State	Passing		20/23, 216 yards, 3 TD
Rushing	CharMar Brown	17 carries, 100 yards, TD
Receiving	Bryce Lance	8 receptions, 65 yards, TD
Illinois State	Passing	Tommy Rittenhouse	10/14, 132 yards
Rushing	Wenkers Wright	9 carries, 24 yards, TD
Receiving	Xavier Lloyd	3 receptions, 52 yards

at No. 19 Southern Illinois

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

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

Missouri State

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

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

at Murray State

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

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

Youngstown State

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

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

at Northern Iowa

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

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Illinois State	Passing
Rushing
Receiving
Northern Iowa	Passing
Rushing
Receiving

at Indiana State

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

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

North Dakota

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

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

No. 16 Southeast Missouri State (NCAA Division I Playoff–First Round)

Statistics	ILST	SEMO
First downs	14	34
Total yards	322	602
Rushing yards	45	35
Passing yards	277	567
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	24–36–0	48–85–5
Time of possession	25:33	34:27

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Illinois State	Passing	Tommy Rittenhouse	24/36, 277 yards, 2 TD
Rushing	Wenkers Wright	12 carries, 17 yards, 1 TD
Receiving	Daniel Sobkowicz	7 receptions, 136 yards, 1 TD
Southeast Missouri State	Passing	Paxton DeLaurent	48/85, 567 yards, 4 TD, 5 INT
Rushing	Brandon Epton Jr.	6 carries, 32 yards
Receiving	Cam Pedro	11 receptions, 149 yards

Notes and References

Web site: Football Coaches . 2024-03-09 . Illinois State University Athletics . en.
Web site: Missouri Valley Football Conference . Valley Football 2024 Preseason Team and Poll . July 22, 2024 . November 27, 2024.
Web site: 2024 Illinois State Football Schedule . FBSchedules . 9 March 2024.
Web site: 2024 Football Schedule . Illinois State Athletics . 9 March 2024.