The Missouri Valley Football Conference announced on Tuesday the placement of five Redbirds on the Preseason All-Conference team and have ranked Illinois State eight overall in the preseason poll voted on by league coaches, media and sports information directors.
Following its ninth FCS championship in 2021, North Dakota State has been chosen as the league's preseason favorite with 446 points and 39 first-place votes. South Dakota State follows close behind in second with 407 points and two first-place votes. Missouri State (355), Southern Illinois (306), Northern Iowa (304), and South Dakota (235) make up the middle third through sixth places respectively. North Dakota took the seventh spot (190), followed closely by the Redbirds (178) and rounding out the remainder of the poll were Youngstown State (132), Indiana State (109) and Western Illinois (44).
In addition to the poll, the preseason All-MVFC teams were also selected with a quintet of Redbirds being selected. Senior linebacker Zeke Vandenburgh was named a first-team selection, while running back Cole Mueller, offensive lineman Drew Bones, defensive lineman Braydon Deming and longsnapper Joey Malinowski earned second-team honors in the annual vote.
Vandenburgh was selected as a 2021 All-MVFC Honorable Mention selection, after he ranked second on the team with 73 tackles, led the team with four sacks and tied for the team lead with 8.5 tackles-for-loss.
Mueller was also named a 2021 All-MVFC Honorable Mention selection, following his breakout first season for the Redbirds. He ranked third in the MVFC in rushing yards (977), was fourth in rushing yards per game (88.8) and finished the season ranked in the Top 20 in the FCS in rush yards (No. 15) and yards per game (No. 20).
Bones started all 11 games at center for the Redbirds, the only Redbird lineman to start every game at the same position last season. He graded out at over 90 percent for the season and helped lead the way for Mueller, who rushed for nearly 1,000 yards and scored six touchdowns for ISU.
Deming earned MVFC All-Newcomer Team honors in 2021 in his first season with the Redbirds. He finished the year with 42 tackles and tied for the team lead with 8.5 tackles-for-loss, while adding 2.5 sacks and one pass breakup.
Malinowski rounds out the preseason honorees as one of the longer tenured longsnappers in the league. He was not credited with a bad snap during the 2021 season and tallied seven tackles on special teams coverage during the year.
The Redbirds are set to open the 2022 fall season in Madison, Wisconsin, on Saturday, Sept. 3, against the Wisconsin Badgers with kickoff slated for 6 p.m. at Camp Randall Stadium.
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