NORMAL, Ill. – A balanced offensive attack for the Illinois State Redbirds (1-0) resulted in a season-opening 49-7 win over the Butler Bulldogs (0-1) Saturday night at Hancock Stadium.
How It Happened:
•   A 10-yard touchdown run by Nigel White gave the Redbirds an early 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter.
•   Early in the second quarter, running back Cole Mueller powered his way into the endzone for his first career touchdown to extend the Redbird lead to 14-0 after the extra point make by Aidan Bresnahan.
•   Butler then put together a 17-play, 75-yard drive that took nearly 10 minutes off the clock capped off by a 1-yard touchdown pass to Jared Suchevits to cut the Redbird lead in half at 14-7 with 3:40 left before halftime.
•   The Redbird offense wasted little time, scoring with 1:16 left in the half on a 44-yard touchdown pass from Bryce Jefferson to Austin Nagel to make the score 21-7 headed to the break.
•   After receiving the opening kickoff of the third quarter, Jefferson capped off a quick 5-play drive with a 5-yard touchdown run just under three minutes in to make the score 28-7.
•   Three minutes later, transfer tight end Bryson Deming caught his first pass as a Redbird in the back of the endzone for a 20-yard score from Jefferson to extend the ISU lead to 35-7.
•   Following a Braden Price interception in the endzone gave the Redbirds the ball at their own 20 yard line, Mueller took the handoff and dashed 80 yards for his second touchdown of the game to make the score 42-7.
•   Jefferson capped off a stellar performance with 14-yard touchdown run just seven seconds into the fourth quarter to make the score 49-7 which is where it would stay thanks to a strong defensive effort down the stretch by the 'Birds.
Game Notes: Â Â
•   With the win, ISU head coach Brock Spack improved to 86-53 in his career at ISU and is now tied with Edwin Struck (86) for the most wins in program history.
•   Jefferson accounted for 230 yards of total offense and four touchdowns (two passing, two rushing) in the victory for the Redbirds.
•   Mueller finished the night with career-high 111 yards rushing and scored the first two touchdowns of his young career.
•   Austin Nagel led the way in the receiving game with two catches for 69 yards, including the 44-yard touchdown.
•   Price, Kenton Wilhoit and Jacob Bellizzi paced the defense with seven tackles each … Price added the first two interceptions of his career and tallied a sack in the contest.
•   Clayton Isbell had six stops and intercepted his third career pass in the win for the Redbirds.
•   Official Attendance: 8,148
Up Next:
Illinois State will travel to Kalamazoo, Michigan, to take on the Western Michigan Broncos (0-1) next Saturday, with kickoff set for 4 p.m. CT.
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.
