Following an inconsistent regular season, the Illinois State Redbirds have peaked at the right time. Boosted by four road playoff wins, they’re set to play for the FCS national championship.
Throughout an incredible playoff run, the Illinois State Redbirds haven’t paused fully to admire their accomplishments.
They’ve moved on to the next step.
The next one would be the biggest in program history.
Having become the first team to win four road games in the FCS playoffs, the unseeded Redbirds (12-4) will seek their first national championship when they face second-seeded Montana State (13-2) Monday night at FirstBank Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee.
Their maturity level and resiliency of the Redbirds help to explain how they’ve navigated the proverbial Road to Nashville.
“There hasn’t been a magic wand, so to speak, or pixie dust thrown over our head (that), hey, it’s because of this is why we’ve made this run,” coach Brock Spack said. “I told them toward the end of the season, the only thing I told them before we got on the bus is ‘just be us.’ That’s it, just be us and you’ll be fine.”
That the Missouri Valley Football Conference squad found itself as one of the last four at-large selections in the 24-team bracket is because the Redbirds didn’t necessarily reach their full potential during the regular season. Boosted by the return of a veteran nucleus while adding in some transfers, they were ranked sixth in the preseason and expected to have one of the strongest of Spack’s 17 seasons in Normal, Illinois.
But Illinois State opened with just a 4-3 record, including expected losses to Oklahoma and 2024 FCS champion North Dakota State, but also with some tighter-than-expected results, including a double-overtime home escape against North Alabama, which beat only one FCS opponent this season.
Road victories over South Dakota and South Dakota State – two of the five teams ranked above Illinois State in the preseason – were part of a four-game winning streak that clinched a second consecutive playoff bid, but the Redbirds then dropped their regular-season finale in a big way – 37-7 at home to Southern Illinois.
“We obviously set a high standard for ourselves. Judging off some wins and losses, I think certain weeks we may not have met that standard,” senior quarterback Tommy Rittenhouse said. “But getting our name in the playoffs, that’s all we really cared about. Once we had that, we knew we had a shot.”
The playoff run, which has increased Illinois State’s overall road winning streak to nine, has come against teams that entered the games with a combined four losses against FCS opponents. In succession, the wins have been against No. 16 seed Southeastern Louisiana 21-3, No. 1 seed North Dakota State 29-28, No. 8 seed UC Davis 42-31, and No. 12 seed Villanova 30-14.
The upset of NDSU, which ended the Bison’s 14-game winning streak in the series, included the Redbirds rallying with 15 points in the final three minutes (capped by a two-point conversion at the 1:00 mark). They eliminated a No. 1 seed in the Round of 16 for the first time since 2004.
“I think the big thing for us was just moving on,” junior linebacker Tye Niekamp, a two-time All-American, said. “Even after we beat NDSU, it was like, ‘All right, we’ve got to move on to UC Davis now.’”
All-America wide receiver Daniel Sobkowicz has worked his way back from missing two games due to injury to catch seven touchdowns and pass for one in the playoffs, while Victor Dawson has been a workhorse with 512 rushing yards in the four wins. The defense, playing with a high level of physicality, has allowed under 100 rushing yards per game and forced nine turnovers.
Illinois State has appeared in one previous FCS championship game, falling 29-27 to NDSU to end the 2014 season.
This year’s finalist, Spack said, is full of “smart, high-end, quality, character guys.”
“They correct themselves, which is a great trait.”
Photos from Illinois State Redbirds Athletics and Associated Press News. For more FCS football coverage, follow on social media at X, Facebook, Instagram and Bluesky.
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