Illinois State Beats Indiana State 17-10 as Redbird Defense Wins in the Red Zone

Both offenses came to Normal averaging more than 25 points a game. Neither one got there. On a homecoming afternoon built for shootouts, Illinois State won a game decided almost entirely inside its own 20-yard line.

Illinois State held off Indiana State 17-10 on Oct. 24 at Jay and Lori Bergman Field at Hancock Stadium. The Redbirds forced three turnovers, returned an interception 48 yards for a touchdown and stopped the Sycamores on downs at the Illinois State 20 on the final drive.

Illinois State, ranked No. 10 coming in, improved to 6-2 and 2-2 in the Missouri Valley Football Conference. Indiana State fell to 2-6 and 0-4.

An early punch from the Sycamores

Indiana State came out looking like the team that had something to prove. The Sycamores opened with a 10-play, 77-yard drive, and quarterback Brady Allen finished it with an 8-yard touchdown pass to freshman receiver Jayden Reed at 9:11 of the first quarter. It was 7-0, and the visitors were in control of the tempo.

Illinois State answered with a field goal. Indiana State's Micah McNair made a tackle for loss on third-and-4 to stall the drive, and Michael Cosentino kicked a 22-yard field goal with 3:30 left in the opening quarter to make it 7-3.

The Redbirds took the lead in the second quarter with the kind of drive that wins November games. They went 83 yards in 15 plays and took 6:48 off the clock, helped by two Indiana State penalties. Victor Dawson finished it with a 3-yard touchdown run at 10:04, and Illinois State led 10-7.

The turning point: Crowell's pick-six

Less than two minutes later, the game swung for good. Key Crowell picked off an Allen pass and went 48 yards the other direction for a touchdown at 8:13 of the second quarter. That made it 17-7. It was Crowell's first interception as a Redbird and Illinois State's second pick-six of the season.

The Redbirds did not score again. They did not need to. A 10-point lead, with that defense, turned out to be enough.

A second half of near misses

Indiana State had every chance to come back, and it kept arriving at the doorstep. On the first snap of the third quarter, redshirt freshman running back Max McCool broke a 17-yard run. Later in that drive, a Sycamore fumble went out of the end zone after touching the pylon, giving Illinois State a touchback and the ball. Indiana State got back into the red zone on another possession and turned it over on downs.

Nic Yatsko gave the Sycamores another opening in the fourth quarter. Yatsko intercepted a pass for the second time on the day, setting up the offense at midfield. Indiana State moved all the way to the Illinois State 5 and stalled again. Sebastian Lopez kicked a 23-yard field goal at 7:47, and it was 17-10.

The final drive was the best of the bunch. Starting at its own 13, Indiana State moved to the Illinois State 20. A pass interference call helped. So did a 22-yard shoelace catch by KeShon Singleton on third-and-2. Then the Redbird defense held one last time. Two incompletions ended in a turnover on downs, and Illinois State knelt it out.

Indiana State went 2-for-5 in the red zone. In a seven-point game, that is the margin. The Redbird defense bent all afternoon, giving up 359 yards, but it never broke when the ball was close to its own goal line.

The players who decided it

Tye Niekamp was everywhere for Illinois State. Niekamp finished with 12 tackles, a tackle for loss, a pass breakup and two quarterback hurries. Niekamp now has 407 career tackles, the fifth player in school history to reach 400, and tied Zeke Vandenburgh for fourth on the program's career tackles for loss list.

Crowell's pick-six produced the only defensive points of the day, and Dawson's touchdown run was Dawson's sixth score of the season. That is already more than the five Dawson scored all of last season.

Indiana State had the better individual numbers in the passing game. Allen completed 25 of 45 passes for 279 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Reed caught nine passes, a career high, for 98 yards and a touchdown. The freshman came up just short of a third 100-yard game this season and was named the MVFC Newcomer of the Week for the second time. Reed is also on the Jerry Rice Award watch list, which goes to the top freshman in FCS, and performances like this one explain why. Singleton added six catches for 81 yards. McCool ran 19 times for 84 yards, both career highs.

The Sycamores' defense kept them in it. Braxton Sampson made 16 tackles, tying a career high, along with a tackle for loss and half a sack. Yatsko's two interceptions made Yatsko the first Sycamore with two in a game since Rylan Cole on Sept. 1, 2022. Xavier McIntyre and Zach Coleman added eight tackles apiece.

The stats that matter

Indiana State outgained Illinois State 359 to 285. It was the fourth time this season the Sycamores have outgained an opponent, and the result was another loss. Yards do not count in the standings. Points do, and Indiana State left too many on the field.

The Sycamores reached the red zone five times and scored only twice. One possession ended with a fumble through the end zone. Another ended on downs. A third stalled at the 5 and settled for a field goal. Then the final drive died at the 20. Illinois State, by contrast, needed only one long drive and one interception return to get its 14 touchdown points.

Turnovers were the other story. Illinois State forced three. Indiana State forced two, both Yatsko interceptions, but the Sycamores' only points after the first quarter came on Lopez's field goal.

What it means

For Illinois State, this is the kind of win that keeps a season on track. The Redbirds opened MVFC play 0-2, a skid that included a 31-14 home loss to South Dakota State on Oct. 3. They snapped it by beating Southern Illinois 35-14 and have now won two straight. They moved up to No. 9 in the next poll. Coach Brock Spack, in year 18 with the program, is now 13-4 against Indiana State, and the Redbirds have won six of the last seven meetings.

For Indiana State and coach Curt Mallory, the frustration is that the Sycamores were good enough to win this one. They outgained a top-10 team on the road. They did not finish. They had lost 57-24 to Youngstown State earlier in October, and this was a much better performance, but it is still 0-4 in league play.

Both teams were next on the schedule on Saturday, Oct. 31. Illinois State had a home game against Murray State, which came in 1-7 and 0-4 in the Valley after a 42-9 loss at South Dakota State. Indiana State had a trip to Northern Iowa and the UNI-Dome.

The last word

Illinois State did not play a pretty game. Its offense managed 285 yards and 10 points. But the Redbirds' defense scored a touchdown, took the ball away three times and won almost every big snap in the red zone. In the Missouri Valley, where every week feels like a playoff game, that is a winning formula. The details are in the recaps from Illinois State (opens in a new tab) and Indiana State (opens in a new tab).

Sources: Illinois State Athletics and Indiana State Athletics recaps, Missouri Valley Football Conference weekly honors, and Wikipedia. More college football coverage on Undrafted.

Photos: Illinois State Athletics.