By Tyler Wooten
GoSycamores.com
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The first half saw 566 total yards of offense and a 24-24 tie, but No. 24 Indiana State was held scoreless in the second half as Missouri State pulled away for a 45-24 victory in front 6,871 for Homecoming at Memorial Stadium on Saturday.
The Sycamores (3-2, 1-1 MVFC) were looking for their first 2-0 conference start since the 2011 season, but the Bears (3-1, 1-0 MVFC) had other thoughts. MSU racked up 473 yards of total offense and, even though the Sycamores put up a season-high 344 passing yards, the Bears were able to stifle ISU to just 38 yards rushing overall and 116 total yards in the second half in the midst of a 21-0 MSU run to close the game.
“Very disappointing game,” said ISU head coach Mike Sanford. “I've got to give credit to Missouri State. They're a good football team, and I knew they were coming in. Everybody in our league is good. There is nobody in our league that's not good, and there is nobody in our league that can't beat somebody else on any given weekend.”
However, the opening minutes of the game held the exact opposite outlook for the Sycamores. Senior DB Lonnell Brown Jr. took the opening kickoff back 59 yards, and on the first offensive play of the game sophomore QB Isaac Harker (35-of-52, 344 yards, one TD, two INTs) found WR Miles Thompson (five receptions, 83 yards, one TD) on a beautiful seam fade for a 38-yard score by the 14:42 mark of the first quarter.
MSU then went on two superb scoring drives that totaled 23 plays and 152 yards to take a 10-7 lead. ISU senior RB Roland Genesy (13 carries, 54 yards, two TDs) countered with a four-yard TD run in the closing seconds of the first quarter to regain the lead at 14-10. However, that would be the last lead of the day for the Sycamores.
The MSU trio of QB Brodie Lambert (24-of-35, 279 yards, three TDs), WR Malik Earl (11 receptions, 161 yards, two TDs) and RB Calan Crowder (nine carries, 131 yards, three TDs) proved unstoppable for the Sycamore defense, and it all began with an offensive explosion in the second quarter to drain away what remained of Indiana State's first-quarter momentum.
“(Earl) is a good player,” Sanford said. “And their quarterback played well. For all the talk about what happened with the other quarterback (suspended QB Breck Ruddick), (Lambert) played really well. I've got to give them credit, and we have got to play better. We didn't play like we can play.”
Crowder started things off on the second play of the second quarter at the 14:42 mark with a 64-yard scamper, the first of his three touchdowns on the day. MSU then tacked on with a massive 69-yard connection between Lambert and Earl at 13:05 after a fourth-down stop of the Sycamore offense.
ISU was able to respond with another Genesy rushing touchdown following a forced fumble by senior LB Jameer Thurman and recovery by LB Antonio Broadus. And despite the first of two interceptions by Isaac Harker coming on the next ISU drive, the Sycamores were able to tie the game 24-24 heading into halftime courtesy of a 39-yard field goal from freshman kicker Jerry Nunez, who remains perfect in 2016 at 7-for-7.
However, that would be the final Sycamore score, as MSU went on a 21-0 run to close out the game in the second half. In addition to only putting up 116 yards of total offense in the second half, the Sycamores recorded four of their five turnovers in the fourth quarter alone.
“We didn't play well enough,” Sanford said. “They played well enough. They made the plays when they needed to make them and we didn't. We turned the ball over, we didn't run the football well enough, we gave up too many big plays on defense.”
The injury bug also finally hit the Sycamores, with several key players leaving the game to never return on Saturday. Those included Lonnell Brown Jr., starting offensive linemen Matt Byrne, James Lang and Dakota Vermillion, and WR Clayton Smith.
“We've been protected from the injury bug pretty well up until this game,” Sanford said. “And then boom-boom-boom, we lost three offensive linemen in James Lang, Matt Byrne and Dakota Vermillion in the second quarter.”
Despite all that, the Sycamore defense received a stellar performance out of Thurman, who was a one-man wrecking crew on his final Homecoming in the attempt of keeping ISU in the game. Thurman had a season-high 14 tackles (seven solo), 4.0 TFL (12 yards), 1.0 sacks (seven yards) and one forced fumble that briefly turned the tide back in the Sycamores' direction in the second quarter.
Indiana State will now look to rebound on the road next week at current national No. 8 team Western Illinois on Sat., Oct. 8.
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