Unlike IU,
Sycamores put a Kentucky school in its place; destroy Murray 28-21
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. –
School offensive records seemed
poised to be broken for both Indiana State (2-1) and Murray State (1-2) during a
high-octane offensive first half which saw each team pile up 21 points before
the intermission. Both defenses took control in the second half as a Sycamores’
special teams score late in the third quarter proved to the be the only scoring
in the second half, and the difference in the game as ISU won for the third time
in a row versus MSU, 28-21.
With the score tied at 21, the ISU defense held
the Racers to fourth-and-four from their own 18-yard line with just over three
minutes remaining in the third quarter. Murray’s James Gaither was called on to
punt, but junior LaDrelle Bryant blocked the punt into the waiting arms of
freshman Markus Naves in the end zone to give the Sycamores a 28-21 advantage.
Murray seemed poised on their last drive of the
game to be able to move in and tie the contest when quarterback Ryne Salyer
completed a pass to Daniel Rumley at the ISU 21-yard line, but redshirt freshman
Chris Schmidt forced a fumble and fellow redshirt freshman Derrick Williams
pounced on the ball giving the Sycamores possession.
On a third-and-four from the ISU 24, senior Jake
Shields capped a solid outing with a five yard run for the first down, allowing
the Sycamores to kneel on the ball and run the clock out.
Following senior Quincy Wallace’s 22 yard punt
return on Murray’s opening possession; the Sycamores marched down the field
opening the scoring as senior Sidney Montfort rushed in from eight yards to give
ISU an early 7-0 advantage. The play capped an eight-play, 41 yard drive for the
score.
The Racers’ first special teams mistake of the
day occurred in the waning minutes of the first quarter when freshman Brandon
Anwieler’s punt was muffed by Nick Turner where sophomore Brandon Hooks made it
down the field from his long snapping position to recover the fumble. Montfort
made the mistake hurt as he rushed in from the one for his second touchdown of
the day, capping a five-play, 24 yard drive with 13:18 showing in the second
quarter.
Murray had the answer as they came right back
with a nine-play, 65 yard march of their own that was capped by a Chad Cook rush
for seven yards with 8:57 left before the break to inch the Racers back to
within a score at 14-7.
For the second straight week, the Sycamores fell
victim to an opponent’s fumble recovery for a touchdown to tie the score as
Jimmy St. Louis recovered a fumble by Turner in the end zone to even the tally
at 14.
Montfort plunged in for his career-best third
touchdown of the day from a yard out with 2:14 remaining before the break which
capped a six-play, 74 yard drive. Murray answered back as Ron Lane scampered 66
yards with 1:47 showing on the clock to even the score at 21.
Indiana State would record 230 yards of
total offense in the first half, but netted only 48 after the half. The got all
the points they would need from the special teams on the Sycamores’ first
blocked punt for a touchdown since the 1999 season.
“This was a tale of two halves,” ISU head coach
Tim McGuire said. “We came out and got the breaks, made things happen by taking
advantage of their mistakes. They came right back and we knew we would be in a
dog fight. We dug down and showed what we were made of in the second half. Both
teams made some great defensive adjustments at the half and we made the big play
on special teams that was the difference in the game.”
Montfort coupled his three scores with 70 yards
rushing to lead the ground attack. Ben Schmidt continued his impressive play in
his first collegiate start going 12 of 19 passing for 156 yards. Sophomore Sam
Logan caught a team-high six passes for 58 yards while Naves has two catches for
61 yards and the recovery of the blocked punt for the go-ahead score.
On defense, Doc Gooden paced ISU with 13 total
tackles, while senior Tom Brillhart and junior Kyle Mitchell each had a tackle
for loss and a half. Mitchell, Adam Vogel and Brillhart all recorded a sack in
the win.
Indiana State is now 4-0 all-time
against Murray at Memorial Stadium, 5-2
in the overall series following three straight wins over the Racers.
The Sycamores look for their first winning
streak of more than three games since winning five in a row in 1996, next
Saturday against Tennessee-Martin. The final of three consecutive contests
versus the Ohio Valley Conference kicks off at 1 p.m. (CDT).
