By ISU Sports Information
NORMAL – Coming off the most memorable season in Illinois State football history, the Redbirds and 2014 Missouri Valley Football Conference Coach of the Year Brock Spack will look to put together another title run in 2015 when they officially open the 11-game season on Sept. 5 in Iowa City, Iowa, against the Iowa Hawkeyes.
The game against Iowa will be the first for the Redbirds against a Football Bowl Subdivision opponent since 2013, when the Redbirds played at Ball State. It will also be the first game against a Big Ten opponent since 2011, when the Redbirds traveled north to face in-state foe Northwestern.
The remaining 10 games will be against FCS programs, with five on the road and five at home at Hancock Stadium, where the Redbirds have won 13-straight games dating back to 2013.
The home opener will take place Saturday, Sept. 12, when the Redbirds host Morgan State from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. The Bears were the 2014 MEAC co-champions and advanced to the FCS playoffs for the first time in school history, where they lost to Richmond in the first round.
The Redbirds will then travel to face Eastern Illinois in the 104th meeting of the Mid-America Classic, which is set to be played on Sept. 12 at O’Brien Field in Charleston, Illinois. The game will continue the oldest FCS football rivalry in the State of Illinois and the 13th-oldest at the FCS level, with the Panthers leading the all-time series 52-42-9.
Following an off week, ISU will play eight-straight games against MVFC foes, beginning with an Oct. 3 Family Day game against Northern Iowa. ISU and UNI split a pair of games in 2014, with the Panthers winning at home to hand the Redbirds their lone regular-season defeat and the Redbirds winning in the second round of the FCS playoffs at Hancock Stadium.
Illinois State will then hit the road for contests at Youngstown State (Oct. 10) and Missouri State (Oct. 17), and will face off against a pair of new coaches to the league in Bo Pelini and Dave Steckel, respectively. The Redbirds will then round out the month of October with a Homecoming matchup against Western Illinois (Oct. 24) and a Halloween contest versus Indiana State.
The schedule will conclude with the Redbirds playing two out of their last three games on the road, with a Nov. 7 matchup at South Dakota State and a Nov. 14 game at Southern Illinois. ISU will then wrap up the regular season Nov. 21 at home against South Dakota for Senior Day.
2015 schedule
Sept. 5 at Iowa (Time TBA)
Sept. 12 vs. Morgan State (6:30 p.m.)
Sept. 19 at Eastern Illinois (TBA)
Oct. 3 vs. Northern Iowa (noon)
Oct. 10 at Youngstown State (6 p.m.)
Oct. 17 at Missouri State (TBA)
Oct. 24 vs. Western Illinois (2 p.m.)
Oct. 31 vs. Indiana State (noon)
Nov. 7 at South Dakota State (TBA)
Nov. 14 at Southern Illinois (2 p.m.)
Nov. 21 vs. South Dakota (noon)
