NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State football program has announced that it will host in-state foe St. Francis (Ill.) to open the 2026 football season on Saturday, August 29, at 6 p.m. on Jay and Lori Bergman Field at Hancock Stadium. With the game, the Redbirds now have a full 12-game slate for the 2026 season.
The meeting will be the fourth in program history between the two schools, with the Redbirds holding a 3-0 advantage in the series. All three previous meetings were held in Normal, with the ISU winning the initial game in 1991 by a 19-17 margin. The Redbirds then picked up a 45-3 victory in 1995 and defeated the Saints by a final of 47-3 in the last meeting between the programs in 1998.
Illinois State made history in 2025, becoming the first team to ever win four-straight road games in the playoffs on way to the FCS National Championship game. Overall, the Redbirds went 9-0 on the road against FCS foes and are a combined 15-1 against FCS opponents on the road the past two seasons. ISU will be looking to extend its playoff streak to three-straight years and match the run from 2014-16, when the Redbirds also earned a pair of MVFC titles and made their first FCS National Championship appearance in 2014.
The Redbirds return 42 letterwinners and nine starters from last year's playoff squad, including consensus First-Team All-American and MVFC Defensive Player of the Year Tye Niekamp. The senior middle linebacker heads into his final season as a favorite for the Buck Buchanan Award, which is given to the top defensive player in FCS football. ISU also returns four players who were named to the MVFC All-Newcomer team in 2025, highlighted by MVFC Freshman of the Year Luke Mailander and outside linebacker Dexter Niekamp, who both earned FCS Freshman All-America honors. Also on the MVFC All-Newcomer team was tailback Victor Dawson, who recorded six 100-plus yard rushing games on the year including four in a row to end the playoff run for the Redbirds, as he finished with 1,377 yards and five touchdowns on the year.
The Saints, a NAIA member school that plays in the Mid-States Football Association, posted a 3-7 record during the 2025 season with a 1-4 mark in conference play. A total of 10 Saints earned all-conference honors, headlined by Carl Bew who led the team in eight categories highlighted by his eight total touchdowns.Â
To secure your 2026 Redbird Football season tickets or to purchase a three-game mini-plan, visit GoRedbirds.com/Tickets, call the Illinois State Athletics Ticket Office at (309) 438-8000 or email at tickets@ilstu.edu.
GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App: Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
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