Sept. 13, 2008
Final Stats | Postgame Notes
MURRAY, Ky. -
A quintet of running touchdowns highlighted a dominating running performance by the Redbirds, as the Illinois State football team (1-1) scored all of its points on the ground in a 42-23 victory over host Murray State (1-2) Saturday night at Stewart Stadium in Murray, Ky. With the win, Illinois State has now won five-straight games against Murray State and avoided its first 0-2 start since the 2001 season.
Running back Geno Blow and tailback Parrish Fisher each looked stellar on the ground for ISU. Blow ran for a game-high 98 yards and two touchdowns, while Fisher added 73 yards on the ground and a career-high two rushing touchdowns. Senior safety Tom Nelson recorded a career-high 102 punt return yards, which included an 82-yard scamper for a touchdown.
Nelson's 82-yard punt return for a touchdown came late in the second quarter, with the Redbirds up, 7-0. Nelson's return was the fourth-longest punt return in Illinois State history and the second-longest for a touchdown.
On the defensive side of the ball, defensive back Kelvyn Hemphill's career-high 17 tackles were surpassed only by Murray State's Nathan Williams, who recorded a game-high 23 tackles.
ISU punctuated its dominating running effort with three running touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Fisher and Blow both ran the ball into the end zone early in the quarter, and then senior transfer tailback Walter Mendenhall scored his first-career touchdown for the Redbirds when he took a Drew Kiel handoff 10 yards into the end zone to give ISU a 42-23 lead.
After ISU went up by 18 points (28-10) with just under nine minutes left in the game, Murray State attempted a comeback after Paul McKinnis ran the ball 54 yards down the field to the ISU 21-yard line. Two plays later, quarterback Chris Franklin cut the Redbirds' lead to 28-16 when he found Daniel Ard in the back-left corner of the end zone for a 19-yard touchdown.
With both sides trading fumbles throughout the first half, Murray State took advantage of a Kevin Brockway miscue at the Redbirds' own 7-yard line. The Racers recovered the ball in the end zone for the touchdown, and the ISU lead was cut to 14-10 with just over four minutes left in the half.
After two-straight games on the road to open the season, Illinois State will make its home debut next Saturday (Sept. 20) when it plays host to in-state rival Eastern Illinois. Kickoff is slated for 6:30 p.m. at Hancock Stadium.
