Birds Just Enough for Playoff Berth; Coming Off Senior Day Loss

Image Courtesy of Illinois State Athletics

NORMAL, Ill. -Illinois State headed into its regular-season finale on a 5-game winning streak and an 8-3 record, aiming for a lower seed heading into the FCS playoffs. That was the hope and thought process of the Redbirds on their Senior Day, but the Salukis of Southern Illinois had a different idea with playoff hopes of their own.

Coming off a huge road win at South Dakota State, the Illinois State Redbirds were on an all-time high heading into the final game of the season with a record of 8-3 and looking to make it 9-3. Southern Illinois was coming off a tough overtime loss to South Dakota and looking to keep any hope of making the playoffs alive. Quarterback DJ Williams did everything he could, putting the Salukis team on his back. Williams would combine for 299 total yards and 4 touchdowns (all rushing) and lead the Salukis to a 37-7 statement victory over Illinois State.

Illinois State finished its Senior Day with a total of just 217 total yards of offense and gave up 455 total yards. Illinois State lost the turnover battle as well, throwing 2 interceptions (Rittenhouse and Pellant each with 1). Illinois State will hope to get its starting Running Back Wenkers Wright back for their first-round playoff matchup and get back to running the football at a high level.

With the loss, Illinois State still had hopes of the playoffs, but was sure to be on the road for the 1st round of the playoffs (forfeit 1st round home game for the IHSA state playoffs). With the 8 wins, Illinois State did just enough to make it in. The Redbirds are now slated with a first-round matchup against the Southeastern Louisiana Lions in Hammond, LA. The 9-3 Lions have been tested with FBS squads like the LSU Tigers and the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs.

The Lions ended the season on a two game win streak, most recently with a 38-26 win over Nicholls. The Lions finished second in the Southland Conference with a 7-1 conference record. The Redbirds are in for a tough one playing an offense that averages 33 points per game.

Illinois State (8-4, 5-3 MVFC) will make the trip down to Hammond, LA, to take on the #16 Southeastern Louisiana Lions (9-3, 7-1 SLC) on Saturday, November 29th, 2025, with kickoff set for 12 pm.

The winner of this matchup will face top seeded North Dakota State in Fargo, North Dakota next Saturday.

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