A struggle on all three phases: Illinois State faces second consecutive conference loss to South Dakota State

Image courtesy of Illinois State football.

NORMAL, Ill. — The defense of Illinois State University could not keep up with the powerhouse of No.2 South Dakota State’s offense, and the Redbirds fell 31-14 to their Missouri Valley Football Conference rival on Saturday night.

The defense was not the only area of struggle for ISU, as the offense had its lowest scoring game all season and three turnovers, two of them being costly.

ISU had possession on the first drive of the game but SDSU forced a quick three-and-out after being nine yards short of the first-down gain.

The Redbirds tried to pull off an early trick play with a fake punt from Hayden Futch, but the punter could only pick up one yard to force a turnover on downs and give the Jackrabbits the ball at ISU’s 38-yard line.

The No.1 team in the conference showed how they could capitalize off turnovers in their first drive, with quarterback Josh Holst connected with Lofton O’Groske for a 33-yard touchdown.

The Birds next drive lasted just under seven minutes but did not end positively. Gage Roy’s third incompletion of the drive resulted in a third-and-10 scenario for the Redbirds. Kicker Drew Drzonek attempted to make it a four-point game with a field goal, but the ball could not find its way in between the posts.

Roy had 16 total incompletions on the night mainly due to the aggression of the Jackrabbits’ defense.

“There were certain guys (receivers) that were struggling a little bit, but that happens in every game and thats part of the game,” ISU Head Coach Brock Spack said. “We have to get off press of coverage, we have to get out of re-routes and all the things defenses try to do to mess up your passing game.”

One receiver that had a hard time breaking off his man was sophomore Dylan Lord. However, Spack contributed the off night to Lord dealing with an injury.

“He had a hamstring (injury) in the first half and was not healthy at all.”

Lord finished the game with 21 yards on two receptions.

ISU held the deficit to just seven going into the second quarter and found the endzone less than a minute in.

The Redbird defense forced a fumble, with Dexter Niekamp recovering it to set the offense up at their own 36-yard line. Chase Kwiatkowski rushed the ball in from the one-yard line to get his first of two touchdowns on the night to tie it 7-7.

Niekamp had five total tackles and a sack on the night, earning some recognition from Spack despite a quiet second half.

“I thought he was playing really well in the first half and he was showing up and making plays inside of the field,” Spack said. “The game wasn’t necessarily coming to him in the second half,” he continued. “But I thought he played really well, one of his better games to date.”

SDSU’s final drive of the first half resulted in a field goal, extending their lead to 10-7 going into the half.

Despite the early success, the final 30 minutes became disastrous for the Birds.

Holst leaned on running back Josiah Johnson, who took a run down to ISU’s seven-yard line. Greyton Gannon finished off SDSU’s second touchdown drive of the night after finding a short pass from Holst to give them a 17-7 lead with 1:26 left in the third quarter.

As control in the game started to slip away for ISU, so did the teams fundamentals.

“For three quarters it (tackling) was really good, I felt like we played really well especially in the first half,” Spack said. “We were worn out, they wore us out at the end. Our defense didn’t have much left in the fourth quarter, which is disappointing and we missed tackles because of it. We fell of backwards.”

The Rebirds had the ball at the start of the fourth but the potential of a comeback was shut off. Lord caught a pass from Roy at the SDSU 46-yard line and ran it for 10 yards before fumbling and giving the ball back to the Jackrabbits at their own 41-yard line.

On the next drive, Myles Green intercepted a pass from Roy and took it to the house to give SDSU a 24-7 lead four minutes into the final quarter.

Roy ended the night 16 for 32 with 141 yards and two interceptions, though one was officially ruled as incomplete.

Two turnovers in back-to-back ISU drives was a key component to the loss according to the man in charge.

“Turnovers lose games for you, Spack said. “How you do that (lose) in football is penalties, second of all is turnovers, that’s how you get beat and we got beat,” he continued…there’s never an excuse for a turnover.”

The Jackrabbit’s offense had a final one-up on the Redbird defense after James Basinger ran the ball 66 yards downfield for the final dagger, giving SDSU a 31-7 lead with under 10 minutes left on the clock.

The run game was ISU’s biggest challenge throughout the game and one player gave the Jackrabbits their flowers.

“They got a great O-line, a great scheme and they just kind of wear you down throughout the game,” Niekamp said. “Their backs are really good, they’re really big and strong…you got to bring your feet and really want to tackle them, otherwise they’re going to run through it.”

ISU refused to call it quits in the final minutes and Kwiatkowski got his second rushing touchdown, and the game’s final one, after the Birds could not run it in from the one-yard line four times in-a-row.

The Jackrabbits had 249 rush yards compared to ISU’s 98. Victor Dawson had 22 carries but only 67 rushing yards, averaging just three yards per carry. The senior running back commented on the lack of success running the football.

“I did get a lot of carries and I’m willing to do whatever it takes to get the win, but obviously it didn’t work today.”

The running back recognizes that the loss is uncharacteristic to the culture and expectations that ISU has built.

“We just expect better from ourselves, we know the goals we set for ourselves in the beginning of the year and we’re just not executing that,” Dawson said. “I feel like that’s a little bit frustrating. We still got plenty of games left, obviously the countdown is going but we got two weeks to get it together.”

Following the loss, ISU falls to 4-2 overall and 0-2 in MVFC play.

The flock looks to meet its expectations with help from its bye-week and they return to action on Oct. 17 in Carbondale to take on Southern Illinois in a game that will be broadcasted nationally, but kick-off time in TBA.

For all things Redbird football, stay tuned on WZND.com.