Illinois State quarterback Jake Rubley completed 14 of 28 passes Saturday for 167 yards in the Redbirds’ 41-7 loss to Missouri State. (Photo by GoRedbirds.com)
By Barry Bottino
NORMAL – Wenkers Wright’s third-quarter dive into the end zone ignited celebratory music Saturday from the PA system and the Illinois State marching band.
His touchdown, however, was a rare crescendo among numerous sour notes for the ISU offense in a 41-7 Missouri Valley Football Conference loss to Missouri State at Hancock Stadium.
The Redbirds turned the ball over four times and fell behind 31-0 in a game that could hinder their FCS playoff hopes. The only touchdown came 5 minutes into the third quarter and after their first six drives of the game produced three punts, two lost fumbles and a turnover on downs.
“The slow start put us behind,” Wright, ISU’s leading rusher with 58 yards, told Prairie State Pigskin after the game. “We had a players’ talk. We’ve got a couple winnable games coming up. We’re going to win the games we’re expected to win, and then we’re going to win the games that we may not be expected to win. Our spirits are high.”
Illinois State fell to 4-3 overall and 1-2 in the Missouri Valley Football Conference with the loss. Both conference defeats came against teams with winning records – 6-1 North Dakota State and 4-2 Missouri State.
The Redbirds had three drives longer than 40 yards in the second half, but only one resulted in points.
“We were flashy at times, and then we were pretty crappy at other times,” junior quarterback Jake Rubley said. “There was a lot of good out there. There was also way more bad.”
Rubley and starting QB Tommy Rittenhouse combined for 23 of 45 passing (51% completion rate) and two interceptions.
Missouri State coach Ryan Beard credited all three levels of his defense – D-line, linebackers and secondary — with the victory and for “understanding the weapons they had that we needed to take away.”
The Missouri State defensive line had two sacks, a forced fumble and four quarterback hurries.
“They were getting a pretty good push,” ISU head coach Brock Spack said. “That’s not something you want on a quarterback. We didn’t play very well up front, particularly inside. I thought that’s where the issues were. Both of our quarterbacks weren’t great today.
“None of us are blame free. We can’t play like this again.”
Rubley added: “They did a lot of good stuff, bringing stunts by the D-linemen. We just didn’t play well on offense. I put a lot of blame on myself.”
Illinois State was 5-for-14 (36%) on third downs, below its season average of 43% entering the game.
“We’ve got a lot of stuff to fix – up front, running backs, quarterbacks, everybody. We can all get better,” Wright said. “Our O-line, it just took them a little bit to get warmed up. You’ve got to start hot, because (opponents) are not going to wait for us to warm up.”
With Murray State (1-5, 0-3) on deck Saturday, Oct. 19, followed by a bye week, the Redbirds are hoping to rebound quickly.
The remaining five teams on the Illinois State schedule have three combined conference wins thus far and an 11-20 overall record. ISU’s four wins have come against teams that are a combined 8-20.
“We can let this (Missouri State) team beat us twice,” Rubley said. “We’ve got a big windshield and we’re just looking forward.”
Wide receiver Xavier Loyd, who had led all receivers Saturday with six catches for 99 yards, said the best strategy is to “leave this in the past. Hopefully we don’t shoot ourselves in the foot like that next week or going through this last stretch.”
Barry Bottino is a co-founder of Prairie State Pigskin and a 19-year veteran of three Illinois newspapers. He has covered college athletics since 1995.
Find us on social media!
Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/PSPigskin
Facebook: Prairie State Pigskin
Instagram: Prairiestatepigskin
Prairie State Pigskin 
Leave a comment