Wenkers Wright rushed for 109 yards and two touchdowns Saturday in Illinois State’s 31-9 win at Northern Iowa. (Photo by GoRedbirds.com)
By Barry Bottino
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – Brock Spack smiled thinking about Illinois State’s first offensive possession of the second half Saturday.
“I’m a defensive coach, and I like to rest my defense coming out of halftime,” ISU’s head coach said.
Thanks to a 20-play, 86-yard scoring drive that gobbled up 8 minutes, 19 seconds, the Redbirds gained a rested defense, buried a slow offensive start and overwhelmed Northern Iowa, 31-9, in the UNI Dome.
“It was long,” said sophomore wide receiver Eddie Kasper, who made two of his six catches on the drive and was one of four different receivers to catch a pass in the 20-play series. “To have a drive that’s 20 plays and 8-plus minutes, it cements who we are as a team and who we have as a quarterback. After that drive, it kind of put (UNI) to sleep.”
No. 18 ISU (7-3 overall, 4-2 Missouri Valley Football Conference) strengthened its resume for a potential FCS playoff berth, which would be ISU’s first since 2019, by beating the Panthers (2-8, 0-6).
While junior quarterback Tommy Rittenhouse was 6-for-8 passing for 48 yards on the key drive, the Redbirds also leaned heavily on their running game, which capped the drive with junior Wenkers Wright’s 3-yard scoring run.
The drive ignited ISU’s offense, which scored touchdowns on its first three second-half drives. Two of those scores came from Wright, who powered his way to 109 yards. Freshman Matt Lawson also scored while piling up a career-high 84 yards.
The Redbirds rushed for 217 yards and four scores, despite leading only 10-3 at halftime.
“It was a close game,” Wright said. “It was still up in the air at halftime. We just came out and took that opportunity off the table.”
Wright praised the Redbirds’ offensive line for getting plenty of push up front.
“They were constantly moving,” he said. “There were moving parts all around. It was no coincidence that me, Matt and Tommy (22 rushing yards, one TD) all had some solid rushing yards. It was a downhill running day.”
Defensively, the rested Redbirds played only one series in the third quarter.
“That really helped in the fourth quarter,” Spack said of his defense, which had four sacks and limited UNI quarterback Matthew Schecklman to 15 of 29 passing.
But ISU was at its best in the red zone, holding the Panthers to two field goals and forcing a turnover on downs on three second-half possessions that all advanced to the ISU 25-yard line or deeper.
“It was amazing,” Spack said. “I’m really proud of our players and our staff. That was the sign of a gut check.”
Senior safety Keondre Jackson, who had a team-high nine tackles and two pass breakups, said the defense’s timing was excellent.
“You’re going to give up big plays here and there,” he said. “It’s all about bowing up when it matters. That’s what we did today. We’re real confident, but we’re humble at the same time.”
Game changers
10:50, 2nd quarter: Rittenhouse rushed for a 1-yard TD after the Redbirds were stopped on two previous plays inside the UNI 5.
6:35, 3rd quarter: More than 8 minutes after his offense took the ball to start the second half, Wright scored on a 3-yard touchdown run.
8:01, 4th quarter: Wright broke free for a 14-yard TD to help Illinois State score touchdowns on its first three second-half drives.
What it means
With three wins in a row, including two on the road, Illinois State strengthened its resume in hopes of returning to the FCS playoffs for the first time since 2019.
Best ‘Birds
Prairie State Pigskin chooses the top three Illinois State players in the game:
Wright, RB: His 109 yards and two touchdowns helped power a strong running game.
Daniel Sobkowicz, WR: His seven receptions for 136 yards led all players in the game and included a 68-yard catch-and-run in the fourth quarter.
Jackson, DB: The senior safety led ISU with nine tackles and had two of the team’s four pass breakups.
What’s next?
Illinois State plays its final road game of the regular season, visiting Indiana State for a noon kickoff on Nov. 16.
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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