Led by an Illinois State opponent record 245 rushing yards and two scores by quarterback Donte Pimpleton, Western Kentucky rushed for a Redbird opponent record 474 yards to hand the Redbirds their worst defeat ever at Hancock Stadium, a 58-14 loss on Saturday.
Pimpleton dominated the game early on as he amassed 155 of his record-setting 245 yards in the first half. The versatile quarterback averaged 27.2 yards on nine carries as he broke off scoring runs of 15 and 90 yards to lead five different Hilltoppers (7-2, 4-1 GFC) with touchdown runs.
Illinois State (1-8, 1-4 GFC) was led by Willie Watts who became only the second player to tally over 100 rushing yards against Western Kentucky this season as he carried the Redbird offensive load with 110 rushing yards and a touchdown. Mark Schaeve notched his second 100-yard game receiving of the season as he tallied 107 yards on seven receptions.
On the games opening drive, Western Kentucky needed only six plays to break into the scoring column with a 11-yard run by Keith Brooks into the left side of the endzone off a quarterback pitch. The extra-point attempt failed to give the Hilltoppers a 6-0 lead early.
The Redbirds answered as Watts, who rushed five times for 29 yards on the drive, gave the Birds a 7-6 lead with a touchdown of their own as he capped a six-play, 52-yard drive with a 2-yard run up the middle.
The Western Kentucky offense did its job again and with 8:23 left in the first quarter scored on a 15-yard quarterback keeper by Pimpleton to take back the lead 13-7.
Three plays later, Joe Jefferson picked off a Dusty Burk pass and returned it 32 yards to the Illinois State 19-yard line. The Hilltoppers scored five plays later on a 2-yard run by Jason Johnson to increase their lead to 20-7 heading into the second quarter.
A 37-yard field goal by Peter Martinez and a 5-yard touchdown run by DeWayne Gallishaw gave WKU a 23-point cushion as the Hilltoppers went into halftime with a 30-7 advantage.
The Hilltoppers put in two more scores early in the third quarter with touchdown runs again by Pimpleton and Gallishaw respectively to increase their lead to 37, 44-7.
The Redbirds put another touchdown on the board with a 33-yard touchdown pass to Vito Golson from Kevin Zouzounis with 4:17 left in the third quarter to make the score 44-14.
Western Kentucky finished off the game with a 4-yard touchdown run by Curtis Hamilton with 30 seconds remaining in the third quarter and a 95-yard punt return by Jefferson in the fourth quarter to give Western Kentucky the victory.
The 95-yard punt return was the longest in Gateway Conference history and the 58 points were the most given up by an Illinois State team at Hancock Stadium.
The Redbirds return to action November 3 at Hancock Stadium against Indiana State.
