NORMAL, Ill. – As the calendar continues to move into summer, projections for the fall have already started as the Illinois State football team was picked No. 12 in the HERO Sports 2020 Preseason Top 25 Poll released by the organization Wednesday.
The Redbirds, who were ranked in every HERO Sports FCS Top 25 poll last season, are one of five Missouri Valley Football Conference programs to make this year's preseason list. Defending national champion North Dakota State was tabbed as the favorite once again, while South Dakota State and Northern Iowa were right behind in the second and third spots, respectively. Southern Illinois rounded out the MVFC representation on the list at No. 22.
The Redbirds are led by veteran head coach Brock Spack, who begins his 12th season at the helm of the program. Â In his 11 previous seasons as head coach, Spack has posted an overall record of 84-50 (.627) and a mark of 53-35 (.602) in Missouri Valley Football Conference play. During that time, he has led the Redbirds to five FCS playoff appearances and back-to-back Missouri Valley Football Conference championships in 2014-15. The 2014 team advanced to the NCAA FCS National Championship game against North Dakota State, marking the first appearance for the Redbirds in the title contest.
Illinois State returns 55 letterwinners and 17 starters (eight offense, nine defense) from last year's squad that won 10 games and advanced to the FCS quarterfinals for the fourth time since 2012. All-American left tackle Drew Himmelman highlights a talented group of returning players that also includes All-Missouri Valley Football Conference First-Team selections in Devin Taylor and Romeo McKnight and MVFC honorable mention picks in John Ridgeway and Paul Monaco.
The 2020 squad will be anchored by one of the best defenses in FCS football, which returns nine starters from 2019. Last season, the Redbird defense ranked in the Top 10 in eight national defensive categories, including ranking No. 1 overall in red zone defense (.614). ISU also led the FCS in team sacks with 52, which also ranked No. 2 in all of NCAA Division I football and had the No. 4 scoring defense in the country, allowing just 16 points per contest.
Illinois State's offense will have to replace the loss of All-American tailback James Robinson and a pair of offensive linemen in Jared Rients and Adam Solomon, but a young core returns and several key starters and reserves will be back to full speed after injury for the start of the season. Quarterback Brady Davis and wide receivers Taylor Grimes and Eric Rogers are back after recovering from offseason knee injuries, as is running back Jeff Proctor who looks to lead a talented stable of Redbird backs. They will join a talented group of returners including wide receivers Andrew Edgar, Kacper Rutkiewicz and Austin Nagel as well as tight ends Robert Gillum and Tanner Taula.
HERO Sports will announce its 2020 FCS Preseason All-America list on Thursday at 11 a.m.Â
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