ISU Football Upsets Top-Seeded NDSU to Advance in FCS Playoffs

Image courtesy of Illinois State football.

NORMAL, Ill. — Illinois State football turned the horns down and defeated No. 1 ranked North Dakota State University 29-28 in the second-round of the Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs on Saturday.

The Redbirds marched into the Fargodome and ended the Bison’s 20 home-game win streak with under one minute left in the game. 

The Redbirds started with the ball but were unable to convert on their first drive. After a 4-yard catch by Eddie Kasper and a 2-yard rush by Victor Dawson, Kasper picked up another three yards to bring ISU to fourth-and-1. Hayden Futch’s punt put the Bison at their own 22-yard line.

NDSU wasted no time. Cole Payton found Bryce Lance downfield to the ISU 49-yard line and the receiver took it to the house for his eighth touchdown of the year. The Bison led 7-0 with 12:39 left in the first quarter.

The next ISU drive lasted just under four minutes with the Redbirds unable to find the endzone. 

Tommy Rittenhouse led the Redbirds 34 yards downfield to the NDSU 41-yard line. On ISU’s third second down of the drive, Victor Dawson rushed for two yards to earn another first down. Rittenhouse connected with Dylan Lord for three yards on the next play to bring up second-and-7. An incomplete pass to Lord forced a third down but Rittenhouse was intercepted by Taylen Eady.

The first interception of the game for Rittenhouse started the Bison at their own 36-yard line. Despite the turnover, the ISU defense came out aggressive and forced a third-and-out. 

With 6:20 left in the first quarter, ISU seemed like they were starting to crumble. An incomplete pass to Daniel Sobkowicz and back-to-back 1-yard gains by Seth Glatz forced a three-and-out for the Redbirds. 

Jackson Williams was too fast for the ISU special teams units. The receiver caught the punt by Futch and ran it for a 52-yard touchdown to make it a two-score game, 14-0.

Passes from Rittenhouse to Kasper brought the Redbirds to the NDSU own 47-yard line. The quarterback looked to connect with the receiver again but a misthrown pass made way for a pick by Eady and Rittenhouse’s second interception of the day with 1:08 left in the first quarter.

The ISU offense was struggling but the defense knew what their job was. The Bison could only pick up a total of 11 yards on their next drive to force a punt from Aaron Bickerton.

Down two touchdowns, Dawson made the endzone his goal. ISU faced a third-and-9 at their own 15-yard line but Rittenhouse connected with Scotty Presson Jr. for a 16-yard gain on the play. 69 yards to go, Dawson took matters into his own hands. The running back cut past the defensive line after and ran all 69 yards after the handoff to put the Redbirds on the board. Matt Maldonado secured the extra point to make it 14-7 early in the second quarter.

The Redbird defense carried the momentum back onto the field. Tye Niekamp showed why he is the MVFC Defensive Player of the Year after earning three tackles to bring NDSU to a third-and-3 scenario. Niekamp may be a senior but his brother Dexter Niekamp follows right in his brother’s footsteps. 

Dexter Niekamp forced a fumble by Barika Kpeenu on third down and it was recovered by ISU’s CJ Richard Jr. 

A false start by Logan Brasfield made the Redbirds face a first-and-15. Glatz picked up 5 yards on the next play but Rittenhouse was unable to connect again. The senior threw his third interception to Nathaniel Staehling and the linebacker took the ball 73 yards downfield to earn another touchdown for the Bison, making the score 21-7.

Down two scores, ISU was still not done fighting. An 82-yard drive that lasted just over seven minutes put the Redbirds back in the scoring column. ISU faced a fourth-and-2 after the rush game could not pick up the first down. Rittenhouse found Lord for a quick 2-yard pick up to secure the first down. The second third-down for ISU needed eight more yards to move the chains. Rittenhouse found Luke Mailander for a 10-yard catch to put the Redbirds at the NDSU 12-yard line. 

A 4-yard rush by Glatz put the Redbirds in the redzone. Rittenhouse found Sobkowicz inside the endzone for an 8-yard touchdown pass with under a minute remaining in the first half. 

The ISU defense forced another quick three-and-out to keep the score 21-14 going into the second half. 

The third quarter did not see any offensive action. Neither team was able to put up any points on the board. Garret Steffen picked up his second sack of the night on the Bison’s first drive of the half. ISU got the ball back but Rittenhouse was intercepted again off a tipped ball by Jailen Duffie. 

Patrick Bauer and Reese Edwards forced another NDSU third-and-out after sacking Cole Payton for a loss of eight yards. ISU would get the ball back with 9:39 left in the third quarter. An eight minute drive would bring ISU down to the NDSU 10-yard line but the Bison defense forced a turnover on downs with just one yard to gain.

NDSU had 1:35 left in the third but were unable to convert early into the final quarter. ISU had a third-and-11 scenario after offensive pass interference was called on Sobkowicz. The Redbirds were at their own 13-yard line when Rittenhouse looked for Lord on the sideline. Another misread by the quarterback led to his fifth interception of the game. Anthony Alfaro-Chideme was forced out of bounds at the ISU 4-yard line with just under 13 minutes left in the game.

Payton handed the ball off to Kpeenu and the senior rushed the ball in for his 20th touchdown of the season. The Bison led 28-14 with 12:38 left on the clock.

The teams battled back-and-forth on back-to-back drives. ISU went for it on another fourth down. The Redbirds needed just four yards to earn the first down but another sack by the Bison defense forced a turnover on downs. 

The ISU defense forced Bickerton to punt with less than five minutes left. The Redbirds had good field position, starting at the NDSU 41-yard line. A completed pass to Dawson picked up 15 more yards for ISU and a first down. Third-and-1 with 3:34 left on the clock, Rittenhouse found Sobkowicz for an 8-yard gain. 

A 1-yard pick up by Glatz put the Redbirds at the NDSU 8-yard line on second down. Rittenhouse lobbed it up to Sobkowicz at the edge of the endzone and the all-time receiving touchdowns leader for ISU took the ball in for a touchdown to make it 28-21 with 2:45 remaining in the game. 

NDSU got the ball back at their own 25-yard line. Two short gain rushes by Kpeenu forced the Bison to use a timeout. Cole looked to move the chains but a 6-foot-5, 295 pound lineman from Davis, Illinois had other plans. Jake Anderson sacked Cole for a loss of 8 yards and forced a fumble. The defensive lineman went on to recover the fumble and gave ISU the ball back at the NDSU 23-yard line. 

Dawson rushed for 13 yards to pick up a first down at the NDSU 10-yard line. A short pass to Sobkowicz followed by an incomplete pass to Dawson brought up fourth-and-6 for the Redbirds. After throwing five interceptions, all the pressure was on Rittenhouse to deliver the ball to the endzone. With 1:07 left on the clock, Rittenhouse scrambled and found Sobkowicz in the endzone while on the run to make the game 27-28. 

With the game on the line, the veteran quarterback called for a 2-point conversion. Rittenhouse quickly found Presson Jr. wide open in the endzone and the Redbirds took the lead 29-28 with 55 seconds left on the clock.  

NDSU had 53 seconds to move on to the FCS Playoff quarterfinals but the ISU defense was too much for them to handle. 

The Bison faced a fourth-and-1 but Nathan Hayes found RaJa Nelson for a 10-yard gain. Two incomplete passes and a small gain of 3 yards by Hayes forced the Bison to another fourth down with 12 seconds left in the game. NDSU had one last chance to find the endzone but an incomplete pass to Nelson forced another turnover on downs and Rittenhouse took a knee to finish the game.

The victory marks ISU’s first win against NDSU since Oct. 16, 2010. The Redbirds handed the Bison their first loss of the season and snapped their 20-game home win streak.

ISU moves on to the quarterfinals of the FCS Playoffs to battle the University of California, Davis in a rematch from last year’s playoffs. The Redbirds travel to Davis, California and fight for a semi-finals spot this Saturday at 4 p.m. at the UC Davis Health Stadium.

For everything Redbird football, stay tuned at wznd.com.