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1978 Illinois State

2–⁠9, coached by Charlie Cowdrey.

Schedule and results

Illinois State in 1978, game by game: lost at Western Michigan 17–27; lost vs. Western Kentucky 6–28; lost at Kent State 3–34; lost at Northern Illinois 21–49; lost vs. Southern Illinois 0–26; lost at Central Michigan 7–45; lost vs. Ball State 7–14; lost at Western Illinois 20–26; lost at Eastern Illinois 7–42; won vs. Indiana State 27–14; won vs. Eastern Michigan 14–13+13−38Lost 17–27 at Western Michigan-10Western MichiganLost 6–28 vs. Western Kentucky-22Western KentuckyLost 3–34 at Kent State-31Kent StateLost 21–49 at Northern Illinois-28Northern Illino…Lost 0–26 vs. Southern Illinois-26Southern Illino…Lost 7–45 at Central Michigan-38Central MichiganLost 7–14 vs. Ball State-7Ball StateLost 20–26 at Western Illinois-6Western IllinoisLost 7–42 at Eastern Illinois-35Eastern IllinoisWon 27–14 vs. Indiana State+13Indiana StateWon 14–13 vs. Eastern Michigan+1Eastern Michigan
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 9atWestern MichiganL 17–⁠2727%
Sep 16vsWestern KentuckyL 6–⁠2864%
Sep 23atKent StateL 3–⁠3422%
Sep 30atNorthern IllinoisL 21–⁠4938%
Oct 7vsSouthern IllinoisL 0–⁠2637%
Oct 14atCentral MichiganL 7–⁠459%
Oct 21vsBall StateL 7–⁠1411%
Oct 28atWestern IllinoisL 20–⁠2650%
Nov 4atEastern IllinoisL 7–⁠4251%
Nov 11vsIndiana StateW 27–⁠1445%
Nov 18vsEastern MichiganW 14–⁠1335%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Eastern Michigan 14–⁠13; unranked in the final AP poll.

In program history: The 50th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 57 on file).

Record
2–⁠9
Conference
—
AP final
Unranked
Points
129–⁠318
Coach
Charlie Cowdrey
Elo
1189 −142 this season
SP+ rating
-19.6 No. 126 of 133; offense No. 123, defense No. 117
SRS
−27.7 No. 138 of 138 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—