Aug. 6, 2007
NORMAL, Ill. -
Trailing 31-17 with nearly 26 minutes left in regulation, Illinois State rattled off 17 unanswered points to post a 34-31 victory over Missouri State at Hancock Stadium on Oct. 9, 2004. That performance has been selected as the third-most memorable Redbird football game in Redbird All-Access' countdown of the best televised games in recent history. The entire telecast of the game will be available at 1 p.m. today on Redbird All-Access.
Demetrus Johnson gave the Redbirds a 7-3 lead eight seconds into the second quarter with his 30-yard touchdown run. The two teams traded the lead throughout the second quarter with a combined 38 points scored between the Redbirds and the Bears. Missouri State took a 24-17 lead at halftime, thanks to a 100-yard kick-off return by Steven Rush, which was his second of three touchdowns on the day.
Rush added to the lead to start the third quarter with a 16-yard touchdown catch which put Missouri State ahead 31-17. ISU quarterback Yance Vaughan closed the gap to seven points with a 1-yard touchdown run at the 3:29 mark in the third quarter.
The Bears surrendered the lead with 3:13 left in the game when Vaughan found Laurént Robinson on a 9-yard touchdown pass. After forcing Missouri State to punt, the Redbirds regained possession on their own 20-yard line with 1:38 remaining. Overcoming a pair of third-and-1 situations, Vaughan drove the Redbirds 63 yards on 11 plays, including his 12-yard scramble in which he was knocked temporarily unconscious. The drive set the stage for ISU's all-time leading scorer Stephen Carroll, who belted a 35-yard game-winning field goal through the uprights with 12 seconds on the clock.
The Redbirds had a pair of 100-yard rushers as Brian Thompson rushed for 151 yards on 22 carries and Johnson added 129 yards on 23 attempts. Vaughan passed for 171 yards on 22-for-36 passing, and Robinson was the leading receiver with nine catches for 66 yards. Cameron Siskowic and Boomer Grigsby each posted 12 tackles to lead the Redbirds.
The weekly countdown of the most memorable televised games will continue each week through Aug. 20 on GoRedbirds.com. Each week's game will be announced Monday morning, with the webcast of the game available later that same day on Redbird All-Access, the premium multimedia service of Illinois State Athletics' official web site.
In conjunction with the countdown of memorable Redbird football games, a discount of 25 percent off an annual subscription to Redbird All-Access is being offered. Redbird All-Access provides ISU fans and alums with hundreds of hours of video including live webcasts of football, volleyball, soccer, men's basketball, women's basketball, baseball and softball. There is also access to game-day features, season highlights, exclusive interviews and classic games.
