By Tyler Wooten
GoSycamores.com
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The Redbirds made it interesting late, but Indiana State held on for a very impressive 34-31 upset of No. 9 Illinois State at an unseasonably warm September day at Memorial Stadium, snapping a five-game skid dating back to 2010.
The Sycamores (3-1, 1-0 MVFC) jumped out to a strong 24-7 lead by the 7:15 mark of the third quarter, but the Redbirds (2-2, 0-1 MVFC) clawed their way back behind starting QB Jake Kolbe, who threw for 258 yards and three touchdowns after not taking a snap in the first half.
Illinois State went on a 24-10 run with Kolbe under center and was replaying history in front of the eyes of Sycamore fans who have watched the Redbirds claw back for close wins in 2014 and 2015. But then, with the Redbirds driving and the Sycamores clinging to a 34-31 lead with less than two minutes to play, the Indiana State defense came through in the clutch.
On second-and-three from the Sycamore 36-yard line, redshirt freshman linebacker Jonas Griffith sacked Kolbe and jarred the ball loose, and junior defensive end Kenyota Rollins was waiting for the recovery. Rollins scooped the ball up and returned it 18 yards to seal victory for the Sycamores and get Indiana State off on the right foot in the grueling MVFC season.
“I knew we needed a stop, and I was just counting on my other teammates on the field to do their job,” Rollins said. “I did my job, I was in the right place at the right time and made the play that we needed.”
“That was a great win for us,” said Indiana State head coach Mike Sanford. “I'm proud of our team and the way we played. One of the things that we preached in our plan to win was that we wanted to win the close games and win the fourth quarter, and that was something we did today. It wasn't pretty, it was a struggle. We didn't make it easy, we didn't make it simple, but we kept fighting, we kept going and we kept finding a way to make plays.”
Today's win was even more impressive when you factor in the history. The Sycamores held leads against the highly-ranked Redbirds in both 2014 (20-18) and 2015 (27-24), but lost on late comebacks. That is where the timely play of the Sycamore defense comes into focus, as they made several key stops, racking up a whopping 10.0 tackles for loss for a negative total of 48 yards on the day – including 3.0 sacks for 19 yards, the last being the game-ending forced fumble by Griffith.
“I have to give a lot of credit to our defense,” Sanford said. “They made the plays at the critical times at the end of the game. I think it was really good timing by Coach Cabral and our defensive staff to call the right blitz at the right time. We found a way to make plays when we needed to.”
The Sycamore offense was rolling early with 216 of its 445 yards of total offense in the first half. That success continued into the third quarter, where sophomore QB Isaac Harker orchestrated a beautiful 13-play, 93-yard scoring drive that ended with a two-yard TD run by senior RB Roland Genesy with 7:15 to play in the third.
Although Harker had another fine day at 24-of-42 for 237 yards and two touchdowns (and his first-career interception), the story of the day on offense was the play of the Indiana State running backs. Genesy recorded his first-career 100-yard game with 112 yards and two scores on 16 carries – including a clutch 15-yard run right after the Rollins fumble recovery late in the game to all but seal victory for the Sycamores with a first down in Redbird territory.
Dimitri Taylor added 70 yards on the ground as well to give Indiana State 208 total rushing yards
Also having strong days were seniors Tsali Lough (11 tackles) and Jameer Thurman (10 tackles, 1.5 TFL, one forced fumble) who led a formidable front against what turned into a potent Redbird offensive attack in the back half.
“Three years ago, they beat the crap out of us,” senior safety Tsali Lough said. “Two years ago, we were up and they came back and beat us. Last year, they came back and won. When we talk about having chips on our shoulders, those are what we talk about. We were talking about it all week.”
Today's win marks the first top-25 victory for the Sycamores since Nov. 15, 2014, when they topped No. 15 Youngstown State, 27-24, at YSU in overtime. This also marks the first top-10 win for Indiana State since beating No. 10 Northern Iowa 20-19 earlier that season on Oct. 4.
“We stayed together in the midst of a lot of adversity where you could drift apart and start blaming each other and start getting frustrated, and they just kept fighting back,” Sanford said. “It was just a belief that we were finally going to find a way to win.”
The Sycamores remain at home for next weekend's Homecoming game vs. Missouri State. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. at Memorial Stadium.
“We have a very important game next week,” Sanford said. “It's Homecoming and against a much-improved Missouri State team and we've got to play at our best.”
For the latest information on the Sycamore Football team, make sure to check out GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including Facebook and Twitter.
