Illinois State Football Bounces Back with 21-13 Victory Over South Dakota

Image Courtesy of Redbird Athletics

NORMAL, Ill. -Illinois State football headed into a Week 9 matchup with #21 South Dakota, coming off a tough loss on homecoming against Youngstown State.

Following the loss Coach Spack said, “Just have to get back to work and get better every day.” The Redbirds were able to do that, taking down South Dakota on the road with a final score of 21-13.

The Redbird offense didn’t stack the stat sheet by any means, but they did exactly what it took to win, which was capitalizing on good field positions and big runs out of the special teams. Illinois State’s offense only combined for 300 yards of total offense, but the offense came up huge on 4th downs, going 3 for 3 on the day.

Senior quarterback Tommy Rittenhouse would finish the game with 18 completions on 27 attempts for 141 yards and 2 passing touchdowns and 1 on the ground.

The Illinois State defense was a big factor in Saturday’s 21-13 victory, only giving up points on 3 drives (2 FGs and 1 TD). With some big stops on 4th down and late in the game, the Redbirds were able to walk out of Vermillion, South Dakota, victorious.

Illinois State improves to 5-3 on the season and 2-2 in the MVFC and receives a ranking of #18 on the FCS Coaches Poll. They will travel back home this week for a matchup with the 2-6 Panthers from Northern Iowa.

The game will be broadcasted on wznd.com and the pregame show will start at 1:50 p.m.  Tune in where Liam Lyons and Noah Simon will have the call.

For all things Redbird football, be sure to tune into wznd.com