Randolph Waite recovered a fumbled punt on the SMS 4-yard line in the second quarter to spark five straight scores by Illinois State as the Birds cruised to a 30-20 Gateway Conference victory over Southwest Missouri State at Hancock Stadium.
A Homecoming crowd of 10,283 watched Quincy Washington rack up 167 yards rushing and two touchdowns on a career-high 33 carries, while Dwayne Smith turned in 64 yards and a touchdown on five receptions. Vito Golson also turned in 64 yards on the day on four grabs.
Illinois State (3-2, 1-0 GFC) jumped ahead 7-0 when Mike Souza connected with Dwayne Smith for a 7-yard touchdown pass to the right corner of the endzone. It was Smiths third touchdown reception of the season, but his first score as a Redbird at Hancock Stadium.
SMS (3-3, 0-2 GFC) answered on the ensuing possession with a 6-play, 79-yard drive that was capped by a 13-yard touchdown pass from Michael White to Jay Steinbroner to tie the game at 7. The Bears were able to get the ball back on the ISU 27 on a fumble by Redbird quarterback Mike Souza, but were unable to capitalize on the turnover when Brian Long missed a 39-yard field goal attempt keeping the score 7-7 at the end of the first quarter.
Illinois State got a nice break early in the second quarter when SMS punt returner Anthony Sullivan fumbled the punt inside the Bears 5-yard line and Waite was able to recover the turnover. The Birds needed only two plays to capitalize when Quincy Washington rushed in for the score on a 5-yard run to give ISU a 14-7 advantage with 11:56 left in the first half.
The Redbirds scored again later in the quarter when Stephen Carroll connected on a 30-yard field goal to give Illinois State a 10-point lead. Another fumble by SMS in Bears territory gave the Birds two more golden opportunities to increase their lead before the half and again ISU capitilized with two field goals, a 37-yard boot and a 26-yard kick that put the Redbirds up 23-7 at halftime.
Washington wasted no time increasing the Illinois State lead to 23 in the third quarter when he sprinted 34 yards down the left sideline to the endzone on ISUs first possession of the second half. SMSs Daryl Smith picked off a Souza pass later in the third, but the Bears could not benefit from the turnover and were forced to punt keeping the score 30-7 through three periods.
SMS was able to score two touchdowns on receptions by Mark Marcos and Tony Hill inside 3:45 remaining in the game to cut the Redbird lead to 10, but the damage had already been done as Illinois State won its second straight Homecoming game and stay undefeated (3-0) at home this season.
