(MSU Sports Information)
SPRINGFIELD – While Missouri State went toe to toe with No. 12 Illinois State for three periods, it would be the Redbirds’ dominant third-quarter effort that paved the way to a 34-9 victory over the Bears in the Missouri Valley Football Conference opener for both squads Saturday afternoon at Robert W. Plaster Stadium.
Illinois State (3-0, 1-0 MVFC) reeled off 34 unanswered points, including a 28-point third period in which they outgained the Bears 217-0 in total offense. After the Bears defense limited the Redbirds to 42 rushing yards in the first half, the ISU ground game powered the second-half surge with 99 yards and three rushing touchdowns on just 12 carries in the third period.
The Redbird defense put the clamps on the Bears rushing attack in the second half, allowing just 19 yards on 20 carries after the break. MSU converted just 3-of-14 third-down attempts on the afternoon, as ISU dominated the time-of-possession battle with over 33 minutes of clock time.
The duo of Jake Kolbe and Spencer Schnell proved to be a thorn in the Bears’ side all afternoon, especially in the decisive period when they teamed up on four pass plays for a total of 71 yards. Kolbe found Schnell for gains of 19 and 29 yards on the Redbirds’ opening drive of the second half to set up Markel Smith’s six-yard scoring run that put ISU on top to stay.
Kolbe connected with three different targets on ISU’s next offensive possession before James Robinson carried it over the goal line for an eight-yard TD run to make it a 20-6 game with 7:48 left in the period. Robinson led all rushers with 81 yards on 10 carries, including 44 yards in the third.
After the Redbird defense continued its second-half shutdown with a second three-and-out possession to force a Bears punt, Smith gashed the MSU defense for rushes of 22 and 11 yards. Kolbe made it a three-possession game with a seven-yard scamper, then found Anthony Fowler in the end zone for a 28-yard scoring pass to stretch the margin to 34-6 in the closing seconds of the quarter.
Missouri State (1-3, 0-1 MVFC) played the Redbirds to a 6-6 deadlock through 30 minutes by forcing a pair of turnovers deep in Bears territory. After being held to just two combined points in their last two meetings with the Redbirds, the Bears needed just three plays from scrimmage to get on the scoreboard. After Peyton Huslig turned in a 22-yard run on his first carry of the day, Deion Holliman took a pitch from the MSU quarterback and raced unmolested to the end zone for a career-long 53-yard scoring play.
The first of two blocks for the Redbird special teams thwarted the Bears’ PAT try, but the Bears stopped ISU on a three-and-out, then registered the first of two first-half takeaways on a Cameron Price fumble recovery to keep the visitors scoreless.
ISU ended its drought with a nine-play, 49-yard drive that ended in a 48-yard Sean Slattery field goal that trimmed the MSU advantage to 6-3 with 0:10 left in the opening quarter. Kolbe connected with three different receivers on gains of 11 yards or more during the drive.
The Bears offense, which matched the Redbirds’ 236 yards of total offense in the opening half, moved the ball to the ISU 8 on its initial drive of the second period, only to see another block on Zach Drake’s 26-yard field goal try prevent it from extending the lead further.
Kolbe then engineered a 12-play scoring march that started with four straight completions for the junior. He found Spencer Schnell for completions of 23 and 12 yards to set up another Slattery field goal that evened the score with 1:18 to play in the half.
MSU put together an efficient two-minute threat, using a 15-yard pass to Malik Earl and a six-yard rush on fourth down from Huslig to move into Redbird territory. A Huslig-to-Tyler Currie18-yard pass set up a 37-yard field goal attempt, but Drake’s kick was wide left as time expired to send the two clubs into intermission deadlocked at 6-6.
MSU would end its dry spell with a 20-play scoring drive late in the game, as Drake successfully kicked a 28-yard field goal to account for the final margin.
Kolbe finished his day 24-of-32 for 312 yards, all of which came in the first three quarters, and Schnell totaled 135 receiving yards on his nine catches—both game highs.
The Bears will venture to Fargo next Saturday (Sept. 30) for a 1 p.m. game against North Dakota State at Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome.
Postgame Notes: With four catches for 73 yards, Malik Earl (1,504 yards) moved past three Bears to move into MSU’s career top 10 for receiving yardage; Earl climbed to ninth on the chart, just 199 yards away from Jeff Hewitt (1,703) in the No. 8 position…Deion Holliman turned in a career-best 53-yard run for his first career rushing touchdown to open the scoring…Holliman (2,161 yards) moved to within 58 career kickoff return yards of Tony Gilbert’s Missouri State record of 2,219; he also hiked his career total for all-purpose yardage to 3,142 after topping the 130-yard mark for the second straight week…Angelo Garbutt recorded a Bears career-best eight tackles…Jared Beshore turned in a season-high eight stops, as well as his third interception of the season and his fourth as a Bear…Matt Rush matched his single-game best tackle total with five stops…MSU dropped to 14-19 in MVFC openers overall and 6-16 all-time against ranked foes in Valley openers…The Bears also saw their all-time record at Plaster Stadium dip to 211-166-12.
