NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State football team made a statement to kick off the 2017 season, routing Butler 45-0 under the lights on Saturday at Hancock Stadium in front of 10,840 fans.
The Redbirds held the Bulldogs to just 41 yards of total offense in the game, which set a Hancock Stadium record for fewest total yards allowed to an opponent. The ISU defense also did not allow a yard rushing to Butler, which only picked up three first downs all evening. On the flip side, the ISU offense racked up 519 yards of total offense, with 320 of those yards coming on the ground.
Quarterback Jake Kolbe had a solid evening, going 18-for-29 with 194 yards and a pair of touchdown passes to Christian Gibbs who finished the night with 79 yards and the two scores on five catches. Markel Smith paced the rushing attack with 79 yards on 10 carries with a touchdown and Artiss Henderson added 56 on five carries. James Robinson (39 yards, 1 TD) and Jordan Birch (37 yards, 1 TD) rounded out the balanced running attack for the Redbirds.
Both offenses struggled to get going in the first quarter, as neither team was able to score and the Bulldogs were held to -6 yards rushing through the first 15 minutes of the game. Illinois State was able to pin the Bulldogs deep in their own end on their final possession of the quarter, forcing punter Evan Biebel to punt from his own end zone. A fair catch by Spencer Schnell at the Butler 48 yard line gave the Redbirds great field position with just 1:11 left in the quarter.
A 12-yard completion from Kolbe to Gibbs started the drive and back-to-back runs of 13 and 14 yards respectively by Smith put the ball at the Butler 9 yard line as the first quarter came to an end. On the first play from scrimmage of the second half, Robinson took the handoff off left tackle, broke an initial tackle attempt and rumbled nine yards for the first score of the game. Sean Slattery's extra point capped off the 4-play, 48-yard drive that gave ISU a 7-0 lead.
The Redbirds extended their lead later in the quarter with a methodical 9-play scoring drive that went 80 yards and took 5:03 off the clock. Starting at their own 20-yard line, Henderson broke free for a 28-yard run on the first play of the drive. From there, ISU chipped away and a personal foul penalty on a late hit on Kolbe as he was running out of bounds gave the Redbirds extended life in the drive. Three plays later, Kolbe connected with Gibbs for a 20-yard score as he dove and extended the football over the goal line for the second score of the game and Slattery's extra point made the score 14-0 with 4:02 left in the half. A 46-yard field goal by Slattery just before halftime gave the Redbirds a 17-0 advantage at the break.
Kolbe then led the Redbirds on another long scoring drive midway through the third quarter, as he found Gibbs for their second touchdown connection of the game this time for 16 yards to widen the lead to 24-0 with 5:18 left in the quarter. On the ensuing possession, Mitchell Brees picked off Will Marty's first pass attempt and returned it to the end zone 35 yards for the pick six to make the score 31-0 after Slattery's extra point make.
A 7-play, 57-yard drive capped off by a 16-yard run by Smith just before the end of the third quarter widened the Redbird advantage to 38-0. On Illinois State's first possession of the fourth quarter, the Redbirds added their third rushing touchdown of the game. Birch took the pitch from Malachi Broadnax off the left side and hurtled a would-be tackler and landed safely to carry the ball into the end zone for the touchdown. Slattery's extra point made the score 45-0 in favor of ISU and that's where it stayed until the final horn blew
The Redbirds return to act on Sept. 16 at Eastern Illinois for a 2 p.m. kickoff, following their bye-week.
GAME NOTES:
• Illinois State recorded over 500 total offense yards (519) for the first time since 2015 vs. Western Illinois.
• The Redbirds' defense held Butler to 41 total offense yards with only three first downs.
• The 41 total yards set a Hancock Stadium record, breaking the 86 yards surrendered to Eastern Illinois on Dec. 12, 1963.
• Tonight's shutout was the Redbirds' first since 2016 vs. Missouri State (W, 37-0).
• The Redbirds improved to 9-0 in home openers under head coach Brock Spack's tenure.
GoRedbirds.com: Your online source for Illinois State Athletics, tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
