2014 Illinois State Redbirds football team

2014 Illinois State Redbirds football
FCS National Runner-up MVFC Co–Champions
FCS Championship Game vs North Dakota State, L 27–29
Conference	Missouri Valley Football Conference
Ranking
Sports Network	#2
FCS Coaches	#2
2014 record	13–2 (7–1 MVFC)
Head coach	Brock Spack (6th year)
Offensive coordinator	Kurt Beathard
Defensive coordinator	Spence Nowinsky
Home stadium	Hancock Stadium (Capacity: 13,391)

2014 MVFC football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
#1 North Dakota St. +^		7	–	1					15	–	1
#2 Illinois State +^		7	–	1					13	–	2
#10 Northern Iowa ^		6	–	2					9	–	5
#12 South Dakota St. ^		5	–	3					9	–	5
#19 Indiana State ^		4	–	4					8	–	6
#22 Youngstown State		4	–	4					7	–	5
Southern Illinois		3	–	5					6	–	6
Western Illinois		3	–	5					5	–	7
Missouri State		1	–	7					4	–	8
South Dakota		0	–	8					2	–	10
+ – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network FCS Poll

The 2014 Illinois State Redbirds football team represented Illinois State University in the 2014 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by sixth-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 13–2, 7–1 in MVFC play to win a share of the conference title with North Dakota State. They received an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs where they defeated Northern Iowa, Eastern Washington, and New Hampshire to advance to the FCS National Championship game where they lost to fellow MVFC member North Dakota State to finish as national runner-up.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent#	Rank#	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 6	6:30 PM	Mississippi Valley State*		Hancock Stadium • Normal, IL	CSNC	W 62–0	10,243
September 13	12:00 PM	#25 Eastern Illinois*		Hancock Stadium • Normal, IL (Mid-America Classic)	CSNC	W 34–15	12,570
September 27	6:30 PM	Austin Peay*	#23	Hancock Stadium • Normal, IL	RTV	W 55–6	8,443
October 4	2:00 PM	#9 South Dakota State	#22	Hancock Stadium • Normal, IL	RTV	W 45–10	10,919
October 11	2:00 PM	at #20 Indiana State	#15	Memorial Stadium • Terre Haute, IN	CSNC	W 20–18	7,534
October 18	3:00 PM	at Western Illinois	#10	Hanson Field • Macomb, IL	WIUtv3	W 37–34	4,641
October 25	6:00 PM	Missouri State	#9	Hancock Stadium • Normal, IL	RTV	W 21–7	10,164
November 1	4:00 PM	at #22 Northern Iowa	#7	UNI-Dome • Cedar Falls, IA	RTV	L 28–42	12,154
November 8	1:00 PM	#10 Youngstown State	#12	Hancock Stadium • Normal, IL	RTV	W 35–21	8,271
November 15	1:00 PM	at South Dakota	#8	DakotaDome • Vermillion, SD	RTV	W 45–26	6,712
November 22	1:00 PM	Southern Illinois	#8	Hancock Stadium • Normal, IL	CSNC	W 44–29	7,295
December 6	1:00 PM	#10 Northern Iowa*	#7	Hancock Stadium • Normal, IL (FCS Playoffs Second Round)	ESPN3	W 41–21	5,575
December 13	3:00 PM	at #4 Eastern Washington*	#7	Roos Field • Cheney, WA (FCS Playoffs Quarterfinals)	ESPN3	W 59–46	6,239
December 20	1:00 PM	at #1 New Hampshire*	#7	Cowell Stadium • Durham, NH (FCS Playoffs Semifinals)	ESPNU	W 21–18	9,497
January 10	12:00 PM	vs. #2 North Dakota State	#7	Toyota Stadium • Frisco, TX (FCS National Championship Game)	ESPN2	L 27–29	20,918
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. #Rankings from The Sports Network FCS Poll released prior to game. All times are in Central Time.

• Source: Schedule

2014 Home Attendance Average

The Illinois State Redbird Football program averaged 10,497 fans for the 2014 home football games.

Redbirds Drafted

Draft Year	Player	Position	Round	Overall	NFL Team
2015	James O'Shaughnessy	TE	5	173	Kansas City Chiefs

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Final
Sports Network	RV	RV	RV	RV	23	22	15	10	9	7	12	8	8	7	2
Coaches	RV	RV	RV	24	22	22	15	9	9	6	12	7	7	7	2