Final Stats
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Nov. 12, 2005
Final Stats
Normal, Ill. -
Sophomore quarterback Luke Drone passed for five touchdowns, including three to junior Laurént Robinson, and rushed for another to lead Illinois State to a 70-28 rout of Indiana State in a Gateway Football Conference game Saturday at Hancock Stadium.
Freshman running back Cortes Rice rushed for 121 yards and three touchdowns to help balance a Redbird attack which featured 440 yards passing by Drone and a Gateway Football Conference record 292 yards receiving by Robinson, who caught 14 passes to tie the Redbird single-game record.
The Redbirds, who piled-up 406 of their 708 yards of total offense while compiling a 42-14 halftime lead, finished the regular season 7-4, 4-3 in the Gateway Football Conference. With several games impacting other NCAA Division I-AA playoff hopefuls in the next two weeks, Illinois State is looking for its first playoff appearance since 1999. The teams combined for 1,024 total yards.
On a windy day at Hancock Stadium, the 16 Redbird senior football players and retiring head athletics trainer Kathy Schniedwind were honored before kickoff. Sycamore quarterback Blayne Baggett scrambled 54 yards on the third play of the game to highlight a five-play, 80-yard drive finished by Andre Forte's 9-yard run for the touchdown. With 12:40 left in the first half, the Sycamores had their only lead of the game, 7-0.
But Indiana State, 0-11, 0-7 and winless in a season for the first time since 1951, had just 39 more yards in the first quarter as the Redbird defense, led by Buck Buchanan Award candidate Brent Hawkins, who set the Redbird single-season record for forced fumbles with his sixth in the second quarter and added to his Gateway Conference record with his 17th sack.
On the first drive after the Sycamore touchdown, a 48-yard pass play from Drone to Robinson tied the score with 10:16 left. Drone's second touchdown pass was a 51-yarder to Pierre Jackson, who used a downfield block by Marcus Hayden to reach the end zone with 5:31 left in the first quarter. Drone's third scoring strike was an 18-yard catch-and-run by Robinson with 2:36 left in the first quarter.
Just 1:09 into the second quarter, Drone scrambled nine yards to score and put the `Birds up 28-7. Pierre Rembert's 11-yard scamper with 6:19 left in the second quarter was his 12th rushing touchdown of the season and put the `Birds ahead 35-7. After Forte scored for Indiana State with 4:07 left in the second quarter, Jason Horton caught Drone's fourth TD pass of the half, a 14-yarder with 1:33 left to put the Redbirds ahead 42-14.
Drone's 15-yard pass to Jason Horton with 1:33 left in the first half gave the sophomore four TD passes before intermission and Illinois State a 42-14 halftime lead. Rice's second touchdown of the season was a one-yard run with 7:09 left in the third quarter to put Illinois State ahead 49-14. Rice's second one-yard touchdown run of the day capped a 91-yard drive and gave the `Birds a 56-14 lead with 32 seconds left in the third quarter. A five-yard Rice run with 11:52 left put the `Birds at 63-14. Robinson's last TD was a 49-yard catch-and-sprint with 10:00 left as the Redbirds reached their third-highest game scoring total in school history, 70 points.
Illinois State 70, Indiana State 28
Game Notes
The all-time series is led by Indiana State at 28-27-2, but the Redbirds have won seven of the last eight contests between the two schools. Illinois State moves to 7-4 (4-3) while Indiana State moves to 0-11 (0-7) in 2005. Illinois State head coach Denver Johnson moves to 31-35 in his career at IIlinois State and 2-3 against the Panthers. Indiana State head coach Lou West moves to 0-10 in his first season at Indiana State and is now 0-0 against Illinois State.
Illinois State Notes:
- Stafford Davis started his 46th consecutive game in a Redbird uniform.
- Laurént Robinson's 14 receptions tied the Illinois State record for receptions in a game and are No. 2 in Gateway history for a single game.
- Laurént Robinson's 292 yards receiving broke the Illinois State and Gateway Football Conference record for receiving yards in a game are No. 2 in Division I this season.
- Luke Drone's 440 yards passing are No. 3 all-time in a Gateway Conference game and No. 3 by an Illinois State quarterback in a game.
- Luke Drone's 2,930 yards passing for the season are No. 2 in Redbird football history.
- Illinois State's 708 yards total offense in the game are No. 3 in Redbird football history.
- The 98 points by both teams set a combined two-team score in a Hancock Stadium.
- Laurént Robinson extended his streak of consecutive games with a catch to 26, the second longest streak in school history.
- Laurént Robinson broke the single-season Redbird receiving yards record previously held by Rickey Garrett (1,175 in 1999). Robinson had 292 yards against Indiana State, giving him 1,465 is No. 1 in Gateway history (previous record was 1,419 by Cornell Craig of Southern Illinois in 1999.
- Laurént Robinson became the fourth Redbird receiver to surpass 2,000 yards in his career. He has 2,289 career receiving yards are No. 3 in Redbird career history.
- Laurént Robinson's three touchdown catches tied Rickey Garrett for the Illinois State school career TD reception record with 22.
- Laurént Robinson's 86 receptions tie Mike Furrey of Northern Iowa (1998) for the Gateway Conference season record.
- Laurént Robinson's 292 yards receiving gave him his sixth 100-yard receiving game of the season, a Redbird record, and his third 200-yard receiving game at Illinois State.
- Luke Drone's five touchdown passes tied his season high and matches the second-highest single-game total in Redbird history.
- Luke Drone's 22 touchdown passes this season is No. 2 on the Redbird season list.
- Laurént Robinson is tied for No. 2 in season touchdown receptions with 11, matching Clarence Collins' mark set in 1983.
- Brent Hawkins' sixth forced fumble of the season came on a strip-and-recovery play late in the first quarter. He added his seventh early in the third quarter to add to his Illinois State season record.
- ISU's fourth rushing touchdown of the game was No. 30 of the season, tying the school season record set in 1998.
- Pierre Rembert's 11-yard run for a touchdown in the second quarter gave him 12 rushing touchdowns for the season, No. 5 in Illinois State history.
- It's the ninth time in 113 years of Redbird football that Illinois State has won seven or more games (1907, 1948, 1950, 1967, 1972, 1998, 1999 and 2000), the second time in Denver Johnson's six years.
- The Redbirds' 42 first-half points tied the Hancock Stadium record for points in a half, set by Illinois State vs. Truman State Sept. 13, 2003.
- Brent Hawkins' sack in the third quarter was his 17th of the season, which is an Illinois State and Gateway Football Conference season record.
- Luke Drone's 440 yards passing were his fifth 300-yard passing game of the season and his career high for passing yards in a game.
- With his 10 receptions, Laurént Robinson passed Clarence Collins for No. 2 on the career receptions list at ISU with 148.
- Laurént Robinson's 292 yards receiving were his second 200-yard receiving game of the season and his 14 catches were his third double-figure reception game of the season.
- Illinois State's 70 points are the third-highest game scoring total in Redbird football history and the highest since a 75-0 win over West Virginia Tech in 2000.
- Freshman running back Cortes Rice rushed for a career-high 121 yards in three scores, becoming the third Redbird back to reach 100 yards in a game this season.
Indiana State Notes:
- The Sycamores 0-11 record was Indiana State's first winless season since 1951, when the team went 0-6-1.
- Indiana State lost its 13th straight game conference game and its 17th straight loss dating back to last season.
- With 142 yards on 26 carries, Andre Forte reached 100 yards rushing for the third time this season.
