ISU football to play at Illinois and Iowa

Posted on August 29, 2018

Illinois State football earned a 9-7 win over Northwestern in 2016. (GoRedbirds.com)

By Howard Packowitz and Greg Halbleib

NORMAL – It will be a gridiron battle two years from now between the Illinois State University Redbirds and the University of Illinois Fighting Illini, and four years later ISU will take on the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Illinois State football announced Wednesday a game at Memorial Stadium between the Birds and the U of I will take place on September 5th, 2020 and a Redbirds-Hawkeyes encounter at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City on August 31st, 2024.

ISU and the Illini last met in 2009, with the U of I winning that game 45-17. Illinois State and Iowa reunite after a 2015 game in which the Hawkeyes won 31-14.

Illinois State previously announced games against FBS opponents have been scheduled against Northern Illinois in 2019 and Wisconsin in 2022.

“It’s nice for us to be able to schedule some of these Big Ten opponents again,” Illinois State coach Brock Spack said in a release. “I think any Missouri Valley Football Conference team can hang with these kinds of teams and have proven that in the past.”

Overall, the Redbirds are 1-9 against Big Ten opponents. The only victory came in September 2016 when Illinois State upset the Northwestern Wildcats 9-7.

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