Redshirt freshman Dylan Lord produced Illinois State’s biggest play, a 47-yard reception on the Redbirds’ opening drive, in a 37-7 loss to SIU. (Photo by GoRedbirds.com)
By Dan Verdun
NORMAL – After building momentum for the past month toward Sunday’s FCS playoff selection announcement, Illinois State looked like anything but a playoff team Saturday at Hancock Stadium.
The No. 11-ranked Redbirds entered their rivalry game with Southern Illinois riding a four-game winning streak. That ended with a 37-7 shellacking to the No. 24 Salukis.
“That was a disappointing game to us obviously,” ISU head coach Brock Spack said. “They just beat us. It was that simple. Our team didn’t do much of anything. There wasn’t a part of this team that can’t take ownership of the loss.”
The defeat dropped Illinois State to 8-4 overall and 5-3 in the Missouri Valley Football Conference. Southern Illinois improved to 7-5, 4-4.
“I didn’t see this coming at all,” Spack said. “We had a good week of practice.”
Both teams scored on their opening drives. From that point on, SIU – which lost a five-overtime heartbreaker a week ago to No. 17/22 South Dakota – dominated.
Spack said his team “just didn’t have a lot of juice today for whatever reason.”
Gashed on the ground
SIU quarterback D.J. Williams accounted for 293 yards of total offense. The Harvey, Ill., native ran for 134 yards and four touchdowns.
“We made him look good, but he is a good quarterback,” Spack said. “We looked like grade school kids trying to tackle him in the first half. (We) couldn’t contain him. When he was under pressure, he got out of the pocket.”
Williams completed 18 of 30 passes for 159 yards. He was sacked twice.
SIU gashed the Redbirds for 455 yards on 74 plays, a season-worst 296 of which came on the ground.
“It was just frustrating the way we played today,” ISU linebacker Tye Niekamp said. “It was the first time that every single side of the ball laid an egg.”
Senior quarterback Tommy Rittenhouse agreed.
“It sucks. They (the Salukis) played a great game today. We didn’t,” he said.
SIU scored all five times it reached the red zone and converted 10 of 16 third downs. The Salukis punted once.
After scoring on its first possession of the game, Illinois State failed to put points on the scoreboard with its final 10 drives. The Redbirds were a paltry 3 of 12 on third down. ISU did not cross midfield in the second half.
“They mixed up stuff well,” Rittenhouse said of the Saluki defense. “They did some unique stuff on third down. The execution just wasn’t there, especially from me.”
Senior Wenkers Wright, last year’s leading ISU rusher, did not play after injuring his ankle in last week’s 35-21 win at South Dakota State.
The Redbirds were held to 73 rushing yards with Victor Dawson topping ISU with 25 yards on 14 attempts.
Game changers
4:43, 1st quarter: Rittenhouse capped ISU’s opening drive with a 1-yard touchdown run, marking the fifth straight game he’s rushed for a score.
11:03, 2nd quarter: Dawson was stopped cold on a 4th-and-2 snap from the SIU 27.
0:29, 2nd quarter: ISU kicker Matt Maldonado’s 51-yard field goal attempt was blocked by SIU defensive lineman Jake Parrella.
Best ‘Birds
Prairie State Pigskin chooses the the top three Illinois State players in the game:
Niekamp, LB: The junior led the Redbirds with 16 tackles, which tied his career-high set last week against South Dakota State. He registered three tackles for loss and a sack.
Dylan Lord, WR: The redshirt freshman topped ISU with four receptions for 67 yards, including a 47-yard catch on the scoring drive.
Hayden Futch, P: The sophomore averaged 47.2 yards per punt. He twice punted for over 50 yards, including a season-long 61 yarder.
What it means
Illinois State saw its four-game winning streak snapped. The Redbirds lost for the first time in November in the last two seasons.
Southern Illinois leads the all-time series, 44-39-3.
What’s next
Illinois State awaits the 11 a.m. FCS playoff bracket announcement on ESPNU for where and whom it will face in the first round.
Dan Verdun is a co-founder of Prairie State Pigskin. He has written four books: NIU Huskies Football, EIU Panthers Football, ISU Redbirds Football and SIU Salukis Football.
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