Junior Beckham Pellant returned as Illinois State’s starting quarterback Saturday as the Redbirds defeated rival Southern Illinois at Saluki Stadium. (Photo by Valley-Football.org)
By Dan Verdun
CARBONDALE – Illinois State head coach Brock Spack has been looking for someone to establish himself as the Redbirds quarterback.
Junior Beckham Pellant did just that Saturday night as the 13th-ranked Redbirds breezed past rival Southern Illinois, 35-14, in Missouri Valley Football Conference action.
“Absolutely, he did a really good job,” Spack said.
Making his first start since Sept. 5, Pellant stood out as ISU (5-2 overall, 1-2 MVFC) snapped its two-game losing streak.
“I found out Thursday (that I was going to start),” said Pellant, who has been part of a three-QB system along with transfer Gage Roy and sophomore Chase Kwiatkowski.
“I got my mind right and ready to go,” said Pellant, who passed for 191 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for a 10-yard score.
“He was smiling today. He was not uptight,” said Spack, adding that Pellant had been slowed by a throwing shoulder issue in recent weeks.
Pellant completed his first nine passes en route to a 16-for-25 day. His touchdowns went to former high school teammate Dylan Lord (17 yards) and junior Luke Mailander (57 yards).
Defense delivers
SIU (3-5, 1-3) committed two key turnovers as well as a failed fourth down in the second quarter as the Redbirds scored on four straight drives. Those touchdowns staked ISU to a 28-0 halftime lead.
“Those (turnovers gained) were huge,” Pellant said. “We were able to get the ball in plus-territory and go score.”
Defensive lineman Ben Harman recovered two fumbles to set up ISU touchdowns.
“To get the ball on the ground and get it back for our offense was really encouraging,” the junior said.
The Redbirds sacked SIU quarterback D.J. Williams five times while limiting the Salukis to 73 rushing yards.
“It’s all about what we do and how we practice our fundamentals,” said linebacker Solomon Oduma, who had seven tackles and two sacks.
“We stopped the run pretty well,” Spack said. “The (SIU) quarterback runs weren’t really a factor in the game. We kept him in the pocket.”
Illinois State, meanwhile, ran for 175 yards. Senior Victor Dawson was the top rusher with 82 yards. Dawson (41-yard run) and Seth Glatz (19-yard run) produced explosive plays in the ground game.
“We needed those,” Spack said. “We focused on explosive plays in both the run game and passing game.”
Game changers
13:06, 2nd quarter: Dawson’s second-effort got the ball over the goal line to open the scoring.
14:11, 2nd quarter: Harman forced and recovered a fumble on a sack of Williams at the Saluki 35. The Redbirds converted the turnover into a Pellant 10-yard touchdown run four plays later.
1:04, 2nd quarter: ISU safety La’Shavion Brown sacked Williams, forcing a fumble that Harman recovered at the SIU 27. The turnover led to a 17-yard pass from Pellant to Dylan Lord, lifting ISU to a 28-0 halftime lead.
Best ‘Birds
Prairie State Pigskin chooses the top three Illinois State players in the game:
Pellant, QB: The Arizona native established himself as QB1 with a steady 191-yard, 3-touchdown day.
Mason Kaplan, LB: The senior led all tacklers with 13 stops, five of which were solo. He also recorded a quarterback hurry and half a tackle for loss.
Harman, DL: The junior forced a fumble on a sack and recovered two fumbles that led to ISU touchdowns. He was also credited with two pass breakups and a QB hurry.
What it means
Illinois State ended its two-game losing streak, posted its first conference win and garnered its third road victory of the season.
What’s next
Illinois State returns to Hancock Stadium Oct. 24 for Homecoming. The Missouri Valley Football Conference game against Indiana State kicks off at 2 p.m.
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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