Lindenwood Beats Chicago State 44-9 on Homecoming as Pops Battle Throws for 292 Yards

For most of September and early October, Lindenwood's offense looked like a unit searching for an identity. It scored 14 points at Missouri State. It scored three at Eastern Michigan. On homecoming Saturday in St. Charles, it found one, and it took about a quarter and a half to put the game out of reach.

Lindenwood rolled past Chicago State 44-9 on Oct. 24 at Steward Field at Hunter Stadium. Quarterback Pops Battle threw for 292 yards and three touchdowns on just 22 attempts, Jalen Smith caught two of those scores, and the Lions led 31-3 at halftime before the visitors could get comfortable.

The win was Lindenwood's second straight and pushed the Lions to 3-4. Chicago State fell to 1-7 and has now lost five in a row.

A fast start, then a flood

The tone was set before Lindenwood's offense ever touched the ball. The Lions' defense forced a stop on Chicago State's opening possession, and the offense went 56 yards in seven plays. Battle capped it with a 25-yard touchdown pass to Drew Krobath, and it was 7-0.

Chicago State answered early in the second quarter with a field goal to make it 7-3. That was as close as it got. Lindenwood needed only three plays on its next drive. Battle connected with Jared Rhodes, then hit Smith for a 30-yard touchdown and a 14-3 lead.

From there, the second quarter turned into a Lindenwood highlight reel. Brayon Crawford picked off a Chicago State pass, and Will Graham converted the takeaway into a 37-yard field goal for a 17-3 lead. Steve Hall found the end zone on the next scoring drive to make it 24-3. Chicago State still had a chance to reach the locker room down three scores. It did not get there.

The turning point: a blocked punt before the break

If there was any doubt about how this afternoon would end, it disappeared in the final minutes of the first half. Chicago State lined up to punt, and Andrew Baumgart came through to block it. Lindenwood took over, and two plays later Battle hit Smith again for the receiver's second touchdown of the day.

That sequence turned a 24-3 game into a 31-3 game. A 21-point halftime deficit is a tall order. A 28-point deficit against a team that had just found its offense is something else entirely. Special teams plays like that one do not show up in passing yards, but they decide how much fight is left in the other sideline. Baumgart's block was the moment the visitors' afternoon went from difficult to over.

Giaimo's 81 yards and a quiet second half

The third quarter was mostly about running out the clock, with one exception. Graham opened the scoring after the break with another field goal, the kicker's second of the day, to make it 34-3. Then, with just over six minutes left in the third quarter, Robert Giaimo took a handoff and went 81 yards for a touchdown. That made it 41-3, and it was the kind of play that empties the visiting sideline of hope.

Lindenwood's only points in the fourth quarter came on Graham's third field goal. Chicago State added six points late to get to 9, but the outcome had long been decided by then. Carter Johnson added Lindenwood's second interception of the game in the second half. The Lions finished with two takeaways and a blocked punt, and their defense allowed only nine points, the fewest it had given up all season. Its previous low was 13, in its previous game, a win at Eastern Illinois.

The players who decided it

Battle was the engine. The quarterback completed 14 of 22 passes for 292 yards and three touchdowns. That works out to nearly 21 yards per completion and more than 13 yards per attempt. This was not a dink-and-dunk afternoon. Battle pushed the ball down the field, and Lindenwood's receivers made Chicago State's secondary pay for every coverage mistake.

Smith was the main beneficiary. The receiver caught only four passes, but they went for 95 yards and two touchdowns. When the Lions needed a big play, Smith was where the ball went. Krobath's 25-yard touchdown opened the scoring, and Rhodes helped set up the second score.

Giaimo's line will stand out in any box score. Three carries, 120 yards, one touchdown. That is an average of 40 yards per carry, and most of it came on one burst through the Chicago State defense in the third quarter.

On defense and special teams, Crawford and Johnson each had an interception, and Baumgart's blocked punt produced the play of the game. Graham made three field goals and gave Lindenwood points every time a drive stalled.

The stats that matter

The final score tells most of the story, but the numbers underneath it are worth a look. Lindenwood's 44 points were its most of the season by a wide margin. Before Saturday, the Lions' season high had been 32, in a loss at Stony Brook. Across their first six games, they had averaged a little more than 19 points. They more than doubled that average against Chicago State.

The defense had the same kind of day. Lindenwood had allowed 48 points at Missouri State and 38 to Southeast Missouri earlier in the season. Over its last two games, it has allowed a combined 22 points. That is real progress for a unit that looked overmatched for much of September.

The efficiency was the other key. Battle needed only 22 throws to get to 292 yards. Giaimo needed only three carries to get to 120. Lindenwood did not have to grind out long drives on this day. It hit big plays, took the ball away and let its kicker handle the rest. The Crawford interception and the Baumgart block alone turned into 10 Lindenwood points, which is how a close game becomes a rout in the span of one quarter.

What it means

Lindenwood started the season with a 20-17 win over Charleston Southern and then lost four straight: at Stony Brook, at Missouri State, at Eastern Michigan and against Southeast Missouri. Since then, the Lions have won a tight one at Eastern Illinois, 20-13, and now blown out Chicago State. They are 3-4 overall and 2-1 in Ohio Valley Conference play.

That conference record matters. Lindenwood was picked third in the OVC's preseason poll, and coach Jed Stugart, now in year 10 leading the program, has a team that is suddenly playing like the one the league expected. The schedule gave the Lions a chance to keep climbing. Next was a home game against Tennessee State on Saturday, Oct. 31.

For Chicago State, the season has been a hard one. The Cougars are 1-7, and they did not score after their early field goal until the game had long been decided. There are lessons to take from a day like this, but they are not easy ones.

The last word

Homecoming games are supposed to be fun for the home crowd, and Lindenwood made sure this one was. The Lions scored on the opening drive, blocked a punt to bury the visitors before halftime and turned an 81-yard run into a third-quarter exclamation point.

One blowout does not fix a season. But a team that started 1-4 is now 3-4 and riding a two-game winning streak, with an offense that finally looks like it knows what it wants to be. In a league as balanced as the OVC, that is a dangerous thing to find in late October. The full details are in the Lindenwood recap (opens in a new tab).

Sources: Lindenwood Athletics recap and OVC preseason preview, Ohio Valley Conference, theScore schedules and results, and BVM Sports. More college football coverage on Undrafted.

Photos: Lindenwood Athletics.