Tommy Rittenhouse takes off on the first of his two touchdown runs Saturday in Illinois State’s Missouri Valley Football Conference win against Murray State. (Photo by GoRedbirds.com)
By Barry Bottino
Every time Murray State gave its Homecoming crowd of 15,991 fans something to cheer about Saturday, Illinois State made its own noise.
The Redbirds answered Murray State touchdowns with points of their own three times, including twice in the fourth quarter, to help No. 21 ISU (5-3 overall, 2-2 Missouri Valley Football Conference) hold off the Racers (1-6, 0-4) by a 40-32 score.
“I knew this game would be hard. We’ve had a lot of adversity and our players have bounced back,” said ISU head coach Brock Spack, whose team rebounded from a 41-7 home loss to Missouri State last weekend. “There were a lot of critical situations where I felt guys stepped up.”
The main man to step up was junior quarterback Tommy Rittenhouse, who set career highs with 347 passing yards and 128 yards on the ground while accounted for three touchdowns.
“It starts with the O-line, always. They did a great job all game,” Rittenhouse said. “I had great protection all day. The running game balanced out the passing game. Everyone did their part, which helps me out a lot.”
Rittenhouse got plenty of help from wide receivers Xavier Loyd (five catches, career-high 148 yards) and Daniel Sobkowicz (nine catches, 77 yards, two touchdowns).
With Murray (1-6, 0-4) trailing 16-14 at halftime, the Redbirds responded with a 26-yard rushing TD from Rittenhouse and a 1-yard Sobkowicz TD from Jake Rubley – who briefly replaced an injured Rittenhouse – to take a 30-14 lead.
With 7:08 in the game, Sobkowicz hauled in a 13-yard TD from Rittenhouse to give ISU a 37-22 lead.
Of Loyd’s five catches on the day, four of his receptions went for at least 23 yards.
“I take a lot of pride in (key plays) because the team is relying on me to make plays,” Loyd said. “I feel like me and Dan’s games really correlate with each other.”
Rittenhouse connected with eight different receivers for the Redbirds, and running back Wenkers Wright rushed for 79 yards and a touchdown.
Game changers
9:31, 2nd quarter: Wright scored on a 1-yard run to give the Redbirds a 16-7 lead after Murray
3:19, 3rd quarter: After Rittenhouse left the field with an injury, ISU quarterback Jake Rubley delivered a TD pass in the corner of the end zone to Sobkowicz, putting the Redbirds up 30-14.
7:08, 4th quarter: Sobkowicz scored again – this time from Rittenhouse – to give ISU a 37-22 lead.
What it means
The Redbirds rebounded from last week’s humbling loss to Missouri State and evened their MVFC record at 2-2.
Best Birds
Prairie State Pigskin chooses the top three Illinois State players in the game:
Rittenhouse, QB: The junior QB racked up 475 total yards, ran for two touchdowns and threw for another.
Sobkowicz, WR: His two TD grabs Saturday give him a team-high six for the season.
Loyd, WR: The Kansas State transfer made several big plays and piled up a career-high 148 receiving yards.
What’s next?
The Redbirds head to their bye week to prepare for their four-game November stretch run, which begins with a Nov. 2 home game against Youngstown State.
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.
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