NORMAL, Ill. – Illinois State unleashed its big-play offense and a defensive effort that held Missouri State to 193 yards of total offense in a 37-0 victory Saturday at Hancock Stadium. The Redbirds (6-5, 4-4 MVFC) rode a balanced attack that racked up 514 yards of offense in wrapping up the regular season with their third-consecutive victory and their first shutout win over the Bears (4-6, 2-5 MVFC) since 1974.
Quarterback Jake Kolbe passed for three touchdowns and a total of 246 yards, connecting with senior receiver Anthony Warrum eight times for 133 yards to lead the Redbirds’ aerial attack, while the duo of Jamal Towns (134 yards) and DeMarco Corbin (102 yards) gashed the Bears for 236 of ISU’s 268 rushing yards.
The ISU defense played an instrumental role in extending the Redbirds’ late-season surge, clamping down on the MSU passing attack to allow only 77 yards while picking off a pair of Brodie Lambert passes. In all, the Bears totaled just 12 first downs, converting only 3-of-16 combined third and fourth-down tries.
Illinois State used their explosive offensive attack to seize control of the game early in the second quarter. The Redbirds allowed just five offensive first downs by the Bears in the opening half, while the ISU offense registered eight different offensive gains of at least 10 yards in the opening 30 minutes of play. After Sean Slattery’s 42-yard field goal accounted for the only points of the opening quarter, the Redbirds found the end zone twice in the first six and a half minutes of the second period, with Kolbe beating the MSU secondary for long scoring tosses to extend the home club’s lead to 17-0.
With 11:51 to play in the half, Kolbe found a wide-open Warrum behind the Bears defense for a 38-yard touchdown that capped a 94-yard scoring drive for ISU. On the ensuing drive, the Bears rolled the dice on a fourth-and-one try at their own 37, only to be met by a wall of Redbird defenders for a two-yard loss. On ISU’s initial play following the turnover on downs, Kolbe went deep again, this time connecting with Christian Gibbs, who wrestled the ball free from the grasp of MSU safety Kam Carter for a 35-yard scoring play at the 9:35 mark.
For the half, ISU limited the Bears to just 86 yards of total offense and stopped MSU on seven of its eight combined third and fourth-down attempts.
ISU built on its first-half success with a pair of third-quarter touchdowns highlighted by another series of big gains from its offense. On the Redbirds second drive of the period, Towns broke off a 50-yard scoring run that made it a 27-point bulge, before Kolbe connected with Spencer Schnell and Warrum on pass plays of 22 and 34 yards, respectively, to move the ball deep into MSU territory on ISU’s next possession. Jake Hendershot hauled in a one-yard TD catch to stretch the margin to 34-0 with 5:22 left on the clock.
Slattery tacked on his third field goal of the day to account for the lone scoring drive of the fourth quarter.
Dylan Cole paced the MSU defense with 13 total stops, marking his 14th consecutive double-digit tackle total in MVFC play.
The Bears will conclude the regular season next Saturday (Nov. 19) with a 2 p.m. contest against Youngstown State at Robert W. Plaster Stadium.
Postgame Notes: Missouri State dropped to 16-20-1 all-time vs. Illinois State, including an 8-11 mark against the Redbirds in Normal … ISU’s shutout is the first in the series since a 28-0 win over the Bears in Normal on Sept. 28, 1974 … The Redbirds have outscored the Bears by a 96-9 margin over the last three meetings since MSU’s last win in the series in 2013 … Dylan Cole pushed his MSU career tackle total to 441 and needs just 11 more in his final game in a Bears uniform next Saturday to catch John Harvey in the No. 3 spot on the school’s all-time tackle chart … Alexz Jones turned in a career-high eight tackles for the Bears as well.
