2022 Illinois State Redbirds football team

The 2022 Illinois State Redbirds football team represented Illinois State University as a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) during the 2022 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by 14th-year head coach Brock Spack, the Redbirds compiled an overall record of 6–5 with a mark of 4–4 in conference play, tying for sixth place in the MVFC. Illinois State played home games at Hancock Stadium in Normal, Illinois.

2022 Illinois State Redbirds football
Conference	Missouri Valley Football Conference
Record	6–5 (4–4 MVFC)
Head coach	Brock Spack (14th season)
Offensive coordinator	Tony Petersen (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Travis Niekamp (5th season)
Home stadium	Hancock Stadium

2022 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 1 South Dakota State $^		8	–	0					14	–	1
No. 2 North Dakota State ^		7	–	1					12	–	3
No. 20 North Dakota ^		5	–	3					7	–	5
Youngstown State		5	–	3					7	–	4
Northern Iowa		5	–	3					6	–	5
Illinois State		4	–	4					6	–	5
Southern Illinois		4	–	4					5	–	6
Missouri State		3	–	5					5	–	6
South Dakota		2	–	6					3	–	8
Indiana State		1	–	7					2	–	9
Western Illinois		0	–	8					0	–	11
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant As of December 26, 2024 Rankings from STATS Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 3	6:00 p.m.	at No. 18 (FBS) Wisconsin*	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	FS1	L 0–38	73,727
September 10	6:30 p.m.	Valparaiso*	Hancock Stadium Normal, IL	Marquee/ESPN+	W 28–21	6,937
September 17	6:30 p.m.	Eastern Illinois*	Hancock Stadium Normal, IL (Mid-America Classic)	Marquee/ESPN+	W 35–7	8,208
October 1	6:30 p.m.	No. 19 Southern Illinois	Hancock Stadium Normal, IL	Marquee/ESPN+	L 14–19	11,127
October 8	4:00 p.m.	at Northern Iowa	UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA	ESPN+	W 23–21	9,306
October 15	2:00 p.m.	South Dakota	Hancock Stadium Normal, IL	ESPN3	W 12–10	9,302
October 22	12:00 p.m.	at Indiana State	Memorial Stadium Terre Haute, IN	ESPN3	W 27–21	5,182
October 29	2:30 p.m.	at No. 4 North Dakota State	Fargodome Fargo, ND	ESPN+	L 7–24	16,172
November 5	2:00 p.m.	Youngstown State	Hancock Stadium Normal, IL	Marquee/ESPN+	L 17–19	4,989
November 12	2:00 p.m.	at No. 1 South Dakota State	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD	ESPN+	L 7–31	8,160
November 19	11:00 a.m.	Western Illinois	Hancock Stadium Normal, IL	Marquee/ESPN+	W 20–13 OT	2,579
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Game summaries

At No. 18 (FBS) Wisconsin

See also: 2022 Wisconsin Badgers football team

Illinois State vs. Wisconsin – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Redbirds	0	0	0	0	0
No. 18 (FBS) Badgers	7	10	14	7	38

at Camp Randall Stadium, Madison, Wisconsin

• Date: September 3, 2022
• Game time: 6:10 p.m.
• Game weather: 70 °F (21 °C); Cloudy; Wind at NE10 MPH
• Game attendance: 73,727
• Referee: Larry Smith
• TV announcers (FS1): Tim Brando (play-by-play), Spencer Tillman (analyst)
• [1]

Game information

First quarter WIS – John Torchio 100-yard interception return (Vito Calvaruso kick), 1:52 Wisconsin 7–0 Second quarter WIS – Braelon Allen 96-yard run (Vito Calvaruso kick), 13:15 Wisconsin 14–0 Drive: 1 play, 96 yards, 0:44. WIS – Vito Calvaruso 28-yard field goal, 3:11. Wisconsin 17–0. Drive: 13 plays, 68 yards, 7:42. Third quarter WIS – Braelon Allen 1-yard run (Vito Calvaruso kick), 9:36 Wisconsin 24–0 Drive: 9 plays, 59 yards, 5:18. WIS – Chimere Dike 16-yard pass from Graham Mertz (Vito Calvaruso kick), 2:55. Wisconsin 31–0. Drive: 4 plays, 93 yards, 1:50. Fourth quarter WIS – Isaac Guerendo 1-yard run (Vito Calvaruso kick), 8:57 Wisconsin 38–0 Drive: 14 plays, 76 yards, 7:26. Top passers ISU – Zack Annexstad – 16/24, 186 yards, 2 INT WIS – Graham Mertz – 14/16, 219 yards, TD Top rushers ISU – Nigel White – 4 rushes, 22 yards WIS – Braelon Allen – 14 rushes, 148 yards, 2 TD Top receivers ISU – Daniel Sobkowicz – 2 receptions, 41 yards WIS – Chimere Dike – 3 receptions, 106 yards, TD Top defenders ISU – Zeke Vandenburgh – 10 tackles, TFL, sack WIS – John Torchio – 3 tackles, TFL, sack, INT, TD

Valparaiso

	1	2	3	4	Total
Beacons	7	7	0	7	21
Redbirds	7	14	7	0	28

See also: 2022 Valparaiso Beacons football team

Eastern Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	7	0	0	0	7
Redbirds	7	14	14	0	35

See also: 2022 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team and Mid-America Classic

No. 19 Southern Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 19 Huskies	0	19	0	0	19
Redbirds	0	0	7	7	14

See also: 2022 Southern Illinois Salukis football team

At Northern Iowa

	1	2	3	4	Total
Redbirds	10	10	3	0	23
Panthers	7	7	0	7	21

See also: 2022 Northern Iowa Panthers football team

South Dakota

	1	2	3	4	Total
Coyotes	0	7	3	0	10
Redbirds	3	3	6	0	12

See also: 2022 South Dakota Coyotes football team

At Indiana State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Redbirds	20	0	0	7	27
Sycamores	0	7	7	7	21

See also: 2022 Indiana State Sycamores football team

At No. 4 North Dakota State

See also: 2022 North Dakota State Bison football team

Illinois State Redbirds (5–2) vs North Dakota State Bison (5–2)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Redbirds	7	0	0	0	7
No. 4 Bison	7	3	7	7	24

at Fargodome, Fargo, ND

• Date: October 29, 2022
• Game time: 2:30 p.m. (CT)
• Game weather: Indoors; 70 °F (21 °C)
• Game attendance: 16,172
• Referee: Grant Henderson
• TV: ESPN+
• [2]

Statistics	Illinois State	North Dakota State
First downs	10	21
Plays–yards	50–219	68–373
Rushes–yards	28–76	37–192
Passing yards	143	181
Passing: comp–att–int	16–21–1	21–31–0
Time of possession	25:54	34:06

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Illinois State	Passing	Zack Annexstad	16/22, 143 yds, TD, INT
	Rushing	Pha'leak Brown	13 car, 41 yds
	Receiving	Jalen Carr	4 rec, 42 yds
North Dakota State	Passing	Cam Miller	20/30, 174 yds, TD
	Rushing	Kobe Johnson	10 car, 51 yds
	Receiving	Braylon Henderson	4 rec, 67 yds

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP ILL ST NDSU 1st 3:24 9 75 4:17 ILL ST Daniel Sobkowicz (#12) 13-yard touchdown reception from Zack Annexstad (#5), Ian Wagner (#31) kick good 7 0 1st 0:43 6 75 2:41 NDSU Hunter Luepke (#44) 20-yard touchdown reception from Cam Miller (#7), Griffin Crosa (#39) kick good 7 7 2nd 0:04 9 41 2:00 NDSU 29-yard field goal by Griffin Crosa (#39) 7 10 3rd 7:45 6 44 2:58 NDSU Cam Miller (#7) 4-yard touchdown run, Griffin Crosa (#39) kick good 7 17 4th 7:30 11 52 5:20 NDSU Cole Payton (#15) 12-yard touchdown run, Griffin Crosa (#39) kick good 7 24 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 7 24

Youngstown State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Penguins	7	6	0	6	19
Redbirds	10	7	0	0	17

See also: 2022 Youngstown State Penguins football team

At No. 1 South Dakota State

See also: 2022 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Redbirds	7	0	0	0	7
No. 1 Jackrabbits	0	13	15	3	31

Statistics	ISU	SDSU
First downs	7	23
Total yards	100	431
Rushing yards	45	148
Passing yards	55	283
Turnovers	1	1
Time of possession	20:26	39:34

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Illinois State	Passing	Tommy Rittenhouse	9/20, 55 yards, INT
	Rushing	Tommy Rittenhouse	9 carries, 18 yards
	Receiving	Daniel Sobkowicz	4 receptions, 32 yards
South Dakota State	Passing	Mark Gronowski	20/28, 283 yards, TD, INT
	Rushing	Isaiah Davis	16 carries, 50 yards, TD
	Receiving	Jadon Janke	5 receptions, 129 yards

Western Illinois

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Leathernecks	0	7	3	3	0	13
Redbirds	7	6	0	0	7	20

See also: 2022 Western Illinois Leathernecks football team