HAMMOND, La. – Illinois State has been stellar all season on the road and was once again on Saturday against Southeastern Louisiana, as the Redbirds (9-4) won their sixth straight road game with a strong defensive effort that featured four interceptions against the Lions (9-4) in the first round of the FCS Playoffs at Strawberry Stadium.
How It Happened:
•   Illinois State wasted little time in getting on the scoreboard, as the Redbirds went 80 yards in six plays thanks to a 37-yard connection from Tommy Rittenhouse to Daniel Sobkowicz that set up a 6-yard touchdown run by Rittenhouse that made the score 7-0 with 12:46 left in the first quarter.
•   Southeastern Louisiana scored its first points of the game just five seconds into the second quarter, as a 40-yard field goal by Guillermo Garcia Rodriguez capped off a 16-play scoring drive for the Lions to cut the Redbird advantage to 7-3.
•   Following an interception by Shadwell Nkuba II, the Redbirds had the ball 1st-and-Goal, but the Southeastern Louisiana defense held strong to force a fourth-down play for the Redbirds who went deep into their bag of tricks as Wenkers Wright took the handoff, pitched to Daniel Sobkowicz who then tossed a pass to Rittenhouse who was wide open for the touchdown as the ISU lead moved to 14-3 with 8:48 left in the third quarter.
•   After Mason Kaplan's second interception of the contest, the Redbirds took a 21-3 lead with 2:30 left in the game on a Seth Glatz 1-yard touchdown run to ice the win for ISU.
Game Notes: Â Â
•   With the win, Illinois State improved to 6-0 on the season on the road against FCS opponents and extended their streak to 12-1 against FCS foes on the road over the past two seasons.
•   Rittenhouse extended his streak to six-straight games with a rushing touchdown with his score early in the first quarter and also caught his first career receiving touchdown in the contest.
•   With his 62 yards rushing, Wright moved into sixth on the ISU career rushing yards list (2,603) passing Pierre Rembert (2,544).
•   The interception by Mason Kaplan in the second quarter was the first of his career at ISU. The interception parade continued in the fourth quarter, as Kaplan picked off his second pass of the day and the Redbirds' fourth of the contest.
•   Nkuba's interception early in the third quarter was his fifth of the season and first since September 20 against North Alabama … Nkuba had an interception in each of the first four games of the season for ISU.
•   Tye Niekamp's interception in the third quarter was his first of the season and fifth of his career after leading the team with four in 2024.
•   Niekamp led the way for the Redbird defense with 13 tackles, to go along with a sack and an interception … the double-digit tackling effort was his fourth in a row and his eighth of the season.
•   The interception parade continued in the fourth quarter, as Kaplan picked off his second pass of the day and the Redbirds' fourth of the contest.
•   Linebacker Anthony Corona also had a strong day for ISU, recording a career-high eight tackles and his first career sack against the Lions.
•   ISU punter Hayden Futch was stellar in the victory for the Redbirds, averaging 45.8 yards per punt on five attempts with a long of 55 and two punts inside the 20 yard line.
Next Up:
The Redbirds will travel to Fargo, North Dakota, to play No. 1 overall seed and defending FCS National Champion North Dakota State (12-0) in the second round of the playoffs next Saturday, December 6, at Gate City Bank at the Fargodome. Kickoff is slated for Noon CT and the game will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
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