Quarterback Tommy Rittenhouse threw for 277 yards in last weekend’s 35-27 first-round FCS playoff victory against Southeast Missouri. (Photo by GoRedbirds.com)
By Barry Bottino
Illinois State quarterback Tommy Rittenhouse threw for 277 yards in the Redbirds’ first-round playoff victory against Southeast Missouri.
That effort was his fourth-highest passing total in a single game this season.
As No. 12 seed ISU (10-3) prepares for its second-round game at 3 p.m. Saturday at fifth-seeded UC Davis (10-2), Rittenhouse is far from satisfied.
“Something we can always improve on is consistency, whether that’s in the passing game or the running game, and just staying on the field a little longer,” he said. “We could always be better. I don’t care if we win 80-0, there’s always improvement to be made.”
The Redbirds’ only second-half points came on safety Keondre Jackson’s interception return for a touchdown.
The offense ran 31 plays in the final two quarters and gained 61 yards. ISU’s eight second-half drives featured six punts and a turnover on downs, along with six drives of four plays of fewer.
“We stalled a bit and just didn’t do well staying on the field,” Rittenhouse said. “The defense kept going back out there.”
That was due in part to SEMO’s 20th-ranked run defense, which held Illinois State to 45 rushing yards – its second-lowest total of the season – and 1.4 yards per carry.
“I think we won the line of scrimmage, which is hard to do defensively,” SEMO head coach Tom Matukewicz said. “I didn’t know if we’d be able to do that, and we did.”
The ISU run game relied heavily this season on 1,000-yard rusher Wenkers Wright. But the junior left the game with an injury after the third quarter and was wearing his left arm in a sling afterward.
Illinois State head coach Brock Spack said Monday that Wright “should be available” Saturday. Wright is listed as the starter for Saturday on ISU’s depth chart.
“We didn’t run with authority the way I wanted us to,” Spack said of the SEMO game. “It’s simple, sensible things that need to be corrected.”
Spack said the Redbirds identified the wrong defender in their blocking schemes on several occasions, leading to an unblocked SEMO defensive player.
“That was a little disappointing,” he said. “We didn’t run the ball as well as we had hoped.”
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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