 The Redbirds struggled offensively, tallying just 268 total yards
with three turnovers. Blake Winkler finished 9 for 21 for 110 yards
with one touchdown and three interceptions. Seniors Milton Colbert
and Phil Dudley each had three receptions, and Colbert paced the
receivers with a career-high 70 receiving yards.
Defensively, Pat Meehan tallied a career-best 15 tackles and
added a half of a sack. Colton Underwood finished his storied
Redbird career with a 3.5 tackle-for-loss effort, which tied a
career best, and added three pass breakups, three quarterback
hurries and one forced fumble. Dontae McCoy also added the second
defensive touchdown of the season, when he returned an interception
for a touchdown and collected nine tackles in the defeat.
Southern Illinois received the opening kickoff and used a 45-yard
return to open their first offensive drive near midfield. After a
quick first down, Underwood dropped running back Tay Willis for an
8-yard loss. Two plays later, McCoy secured his first career
interception and returned 64 yards for a touchdown, giving Illinois
State a 7-0 lead with 12:44 to play in the first quarter. It marked
the second defensive touchdown this season for Illinois State, in
addition to Tevin Allen returning a fumble for a score earlier this
season versus Northern Iowa.
The Salukis responded with a 36-yard field goal to cut the
Redbird lead to 7-3 with 9:47 left in the opening frame. On the
ensuing ISU possession, Winkler fired an off-balance pass in an
effort to avoid being sacked, but it was intercepted by D.J. Cameron
and returned to the ISU 16-yard line. Three plays later, SIU
quarterback Ryan West fired a pass to a slanting LaSteven McKinney,
who raced into the end zone for a score, putting the Salukis on top
10-7 with 7:26 to go in the first half.
[to top of second column] |
Following an ISU punt, the Redbird defense came up with its
second takeaway of the game. With SIU facing second-and-6 from its
own 14-yard line, Underwood tallied his second forced fumble of the
season, stripping the ball from Saluki running back Ken Malcome.
Rickey Simpson recovered the fumble and kicker Nick Aussieker
drilled a 33-yard field goal to tie the game 10-10 with 1:53 left in
the opening quarter.
The Redbirds reclaimed the lead with a seven-play, 80-yard
scoring drive midway through the second quarter. Winkler completed
both pass attempts, including a 14-yard gain to Colbert and a
19-yard touchdown pass to Chick Chatham. The touchdown gave ISU a
17-10 lead going into the break, but those would be the final points
of the game for the Redbirds.
Southern Illinois marched 94 yards on 12 plays to tie the game
17-17 with 36 seconds to go in the third quarter and tallied the
game-winning touchdown seven minutes later. Both scores were on
short runs from Malcome. The Redbirds attempted a 37-yard field
goal, trailing 24-17 with 5:30 remaining, but Aussieker's attempt
was blocked. Southern Illinois then ran out the clock to secure the
defeat for Illinois State.
Saturday's loss at Southern Illinois marked the final game for 17
Illinois State seniors, a group that guided Illinois State to the
FCS quarterfinals last season for just the second time in school
history and four straight winning seasons from 2009-12.
___
ISU-SIU
scoring (PDF)
ISU notes (PDF)
[Text from
news release received from
Illinois State University] |
