CONWAY, Ark. – Behind another dominant effort on the ground by senior All-American running back James Robinson, Illinois State (10-4) ran away with a 24-14 victory over No. 8 national seed Central Arkansas (9-4) Saturday afternoon in the second round of the FCS playoffs at Estes Stadium.
How It Happened:
•   After a scoreless first quarter by both squads, the Redbirds got on the scoreboard first as Austin Nagel took a jet sweep handoff from Bryce Jefferson and ran into the endzone nearly untouched for an 18-yard touchdown to give the Redbirds a 7-0 lead just under a minute into the second quarter.
•   On ISU's next possession, Robinson broke two tackles and rumbled 51 yards for a touchdown to widen the ISU lead to 14-0 with 10:55 left before halftime.
•   The Bears fought back and put together and 11-play, 74-yard drive that was capped off by a 2-yard run by Carlos Blackman to cut the Redbirds lead in half at 14-7 with 6:50 left on the clock before the break.
•   Just a 1:13 before half, Robinson bowled his way in from two yards out for his second score of the game to make it 21-7 as the teams headed to the locker rooms.
•   A scoreless third quarter gave way to the fourth quarter and the Redbirds got a 24-yard field goal from Sam Fenlason to make it a three-score game at 24-7 with 4:06 remaining in the contest.
•   Central Arkansas cut into the ISU lead with a 1-yard touchdown run by Luke Ross with 1:32 remaining in the contest and then recovered an on-side kick attempt, but an interception by Clayton Isbell sealed the victory for the Redbirds.
Game Notes: Â Â
•   Robinson followed up his 297-yard effort in the first round against Southeast Missouri with a 210-yard effort in Saturday's win against the Bears … combined Robinson has carried the ball 78 times for 507 yards with three touchdowns in the FCS playoffs.
•   Robinson is now the only player in Missouri Valley Football Conference history with a pair of 200-plus yard performances in the FCS playoffs.
•   Romeo McKnight led the way for the Redbird defense with 7 tackles and three sacks, which upped his season total to 12.
•   Senior Tuvone Clark also had seven tackles and Dylan Draka added six with a TFL.
•   The Redbirds finished the game with four takeaways, including three interceptions.
•   With four sacks in the game, the Redbirds upped their season total to 50 setting a school record and topping the previous high of 47 set in 1986.
Up Next:
Illinois State advances to the FCS playoff quarterfinals and will take on No. 1 national seed North Dakota State (13-0) on Saturday at 11 a.m. The game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN.Â
GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App: Â Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
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