How 24 hours of disrespect helped fuel Illinois State’s historic postseason run to Nashville

NASHVILLE – Illinois State walked off the field at Hancock Stadium following the final game of the regular season knowing its standard wasn’t met. 

The Redbirds just suffered their second-worst loss of the 2025 season – a 37-7 shellacking at the hands of in-state rivals Southern Illinois – on senior day, no less. And all of a sudden, their postseason outlook became a bit unclear. The waters would only become murkier on Selection Sunday, though.   

Before the defeat, Illinois State looked poised to take one of the top 16 seeds in the field, possibly even making an argument for a bye had the SIU game turned out differently. However, even with an 8-4 record and a 5-3 mark in the toughest conference in the FCS, the committee clearly put a greater focus on what had happened just the day prior. 

The Redbirds went from a possible seed to dropping to one of the last four teams in the field within a day. That meant if Illinois State were to make a run, it would have to be entirely done on the road.  

But the defeat, coupled with the clear lack of respect during the selection process, only added fuel to the Redbirds’ fire. 

“That game wasn't who we are,” quarterback Tommy Rittenhouse said. “And once we saw our name up there against Southeast Louisiana, we knew we had a shot at playing more games and that's all that mattered at that point. Didn’t matter what happened against SIU and still doesn’t matter now. But we definitely took that as fuel.” 

“We were thankful to be selected into the playoffs, but that just kind of put a chip on our shoulder,” running back Victor Dawson said. “We have something to prove. If we wanted to accomplish the goals that we knew we were capable of, we just had to go out there and play hard every time.”  

The response has led to one of the most unprecedented postseason runs in FCS history. Illinois State became the first team in playoff history to win four straight road games en route to the title game, highlighted by perhaps the biggest upset in postseason history against top-seeded and undefeated North Dakota State. 

Head coach Brock Spack said the way his team responded showed maturity far beyond their experience. While he said he’s seen that on display after every Redbird loss this season, he pointed out that he’s never had to get on the team for a lack of effort or motivation to achieve greatness. 

That’s also a result of a player-led team culture. Players have mentioned before how Spack looks to them to lead, giving them the freedom to develop individual leadership styles and build chemistry. 

“They're really good leaders by example, as well as through verbal cues and whatever,” Spack said. “I think that’s been the key in how they respond after big wins and after poor losses. The response has been really good, and that's the best way I can put it.” 

One of the ways Illinois State has not only rebounded from the end-of-season events, but thrived can be attributed to a phrase Spack told the team near the end of the season. The phrase – or perhaps better described as even a doctrine of sorts – has been there all season, but he specifically pointed out how the Redbirds have taken it to heart during their postseason run.  

“Just be us and you'll be fine. And they've kind of kind of embraced that, not that particular saying, but that philosophy,” Spack said. “Just believe in what we do and how we do it, and we'll be fine. I think that's how we've corrected ourselves all we all year, but they've really taken a lot of personal ownership of that in the playoffs.” 

Linebacker Tye Niekamp said that mentality boils down to sticking to what works and not overreacting to the moment.  

“Sometimes, moments, I won’t say they get too big, but you try and do too much,” Niekamp said. “You try and do too much because you're trying to make a play or something. At the end of the day, if you just do your job, if you just play the way you're supposed to play, everything's going to work out.”