Illinois State quarterback Beckham Pellant’s 2-yard touchdown lifted Illinois State past Youngstown State in a key Saturday Missouri Valley Football Conference game with post-season implications. (Photo by GoRedbirds. com)
By Dan Verdun
For much of this season, Seth Glatz has been plagued by a neck injury. Yet, it was the Illinois State senior running back who delivered pain to the Youngstown State defense on a rain-soaked Saturday.
Glatz produced 211 all-purpose yards and helped spark the Redbirds to a comeback 34-33 upset of No. 3 Youngstown State.
The victory – by far the biggest of the season for ISU – should be more than enough to get the Redbirds (8-3 overall, 4-3 Missouri Valley Football Conference) into the FCS playoffs.
Glatz rushed for a career-high 176 yards and two touchdowns. He caught five passes for 35 yards. The Morton (Ill.) High School graduate accounted for 42 yards on the 75-yard winning drive.
“He’s a really good player. I don’t think people realize how good he is,” ISU head coach Brock Spack said. “He’s very balanced. He’s very physical. He’s faster than you think he is.”
Glatz, who began his career at Western Illinois, missed three games with the neck injury this fall.
“I knew if I got my opportunity (that) this might be the week,” said Glatz, who produced the second multiple-touchdown game of his ISU career.
Youngstown State (8-2, 6-2) saw its six-game winning streak end. The loss also prevented the Penguins from gaining a share of the MVFC championship with South Dakota State.
The Redbirds scored 20 fourth-quarter points to rally past Youngstown State.
The game appeared tipped in the Penguins’ favor when quarterback Beau Brungard found a wide-open Bryan Hunt for a 59-yard touchdown pass with two minutes, 21 seconds left in the fourth quarter. The TD gave YSU a 33-28 lead.
Game-winning drive
ISU, however, used Glatz on the ground as well as a short passing game to reach the YSU 2-yard line in the game’s waning seconds.
After each team called timeout, ISU quarterback Beckham Pellant rolled right and dove into the end zone for the game-winning touchdown with 14 seconds remaining.
“This is how you become a great one. You win games like this,” Spack said of Pellant. “You have a two-minute drive that wins the game for you.”
Pellant said: “The run game really made it easier on me.”
ISU rushed for 257 yards, averaging 6.4 yards per carry.
“I was impressed with our front. We run-blocked pretty well and our backs ran hard,” Spack said.
The ISU victory was secured when Dexter Niekamp tipped a Brungard pass that was then intercepted by his brother Tye Niekamp.
Brungard – who appears well on his way to winning his second straight Walter Payton Award as the top offensive FCS player – accounted for 266 yards (178 passing, 88 rushing). He ran for two touchdowns and threw for one TD.
“I thought we did pretty well (defensively). He’s going to make some plays. He’s just such a good player,” Spack said of Brungard. “I thought we did as good a job on him as anybody has.”
ISU – ranked No. 15 in the most recent media poll – ran 66 plays for 398 yards (6.03 average). Youngstown State ran 65 plays for 377 yards (5.8 average).
Victory caps challenging weekend
ISU’s flight out of Central Illinois Regional Airport at Bloomington-Normal did not take off Friday afternoon because of the FAA’s national ground stop. The Redbirds did get cleared to fly Saturday morning for the pushed-back 3:30 p.m. kickoff.
“What these kids did is amazing. They weren’t going to let this define them,” Spack said. “What an exclamation point for the weekend.”
Game changers
11:31, 4th quarter: Pellant connected with Mar’Quan Gary for a 27-yard touchdown, giving ISU a brief 28-27 lead following Michael Cosentino’s extra point.
3:32, 4th quarter: Glatz rushed up the middle for a 7-yard touchdown. Cosentino’s extra point tied the game, 27-27.
0:09, 4th quarter: Pellant scored the game-winning touchdown on a 2-yard rollout run.
Best ‘Birds
Prairie State Pigskin chooses the top three Illinois State players in the game:
Glatz, RB: The fifth-year player accounted for 211 all-purpose yards (176 rushing, 35 receiving) and two touchdowns.
Pellant, QB: The junior threw for 141 yards and one touchdown on 17-for-26 passing. The Arizona native score the game-winning touchdown with nine seconds left.
Tye Niekamp, LB: The senior recorded eight tackles, seven were solo and sealed the win with an interception.
What it means
Illinois State garners its biggest FCS win this season. Saturday’s road victory should secure a spot in the playoffs.
What’s next
ISU hosts No. 10 South Dakota in the regular-season finale. The Redbirds will also honor their seniors.
The 24-team FCS playoff bracket will be released at 11 a.m. Nov. 22 on ESPNU.
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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