TERRE HAUTE — The nation’s longest losing streak. Strike that!
The phrase has been synonymous with Indiana State’s football program for over a year, but on Saturday, ISU players, coaches, fans and students celebrated its death.
A four-yard touchdown run by ISU quarterback Ryan Roberts with 4:12 left in the game put the Sycamores in front of Western Illinois, and then the ISU defense held off the Leathernecks twice down the stretch to earn a 17-14 Missouri Valley Football Conference victory at Memorial Stadium.
Andrew Blackmon’s interception with no time on the clock sealed ISU’s first victory since a 28-22 win over Missouri State on Oct. 21, 2006. The triumph ended a 33-game losing streak, the fourth-longest in Division I history. Only Prairie View A&M; (80 straight), Columbia (44) and Northwestern (34) had longer droughts.
“Now you won’t hear that we won’t have the longest losing streak in the nation. That part of it feels great,” Roberts said.
It was also Homecoming — ISU’s last victory came on Homecoming 2006. Many of the 6,028 in attendance jubilantly rushed the field … some before Blackmon had completed his game-clinching interception return.
ISU players led the charge, slapping each other on their helmets and shoulder pads as they scrummed for a midfield party most of them have waited their whole careers for. ISU coach Trent Miles got the obligatory Gatorade bath before he tracked his family down for a long-delayed hug that celebrated his first win as head coach.
Students and alumni body-surfed and happily stomped up and down on the field, as if to kill off the last vestiges of one of the darkest periods in ISU’s athletic history.
ISU (1-7, 1-4) was able to win thanks to a 240-yard rushing attack — spearheaded by Roberts’ 160 rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns, including the longest TD run in school history.
ISU’s defense that bent under the weight of Western Illinois running back Dre Gibbs (166 rushing yards) and unfavorable field position all game, but rarely broke. Eight Leathernecks’ series ended in ISU territory, but WIU only scored twice.
Both units were at their best when it mattered in the fourth quarter.
After WIU’s Brian Egan pulled a 37-yard field goal attempt wide right with 12:47 left in the game, ISU got the ball for the fifth time in the second half. In its previous four second-half series, ISU had not managed a single first down.
Facing 3rd-and-8, it looked like ISU’s offensive frustration would repeat itself, but Roberts completed an 8-yard pass to Bryant Kent, who just barely got the first down.
Once ISU cracked the door open for itself, it was as if it had been gaining first downs all along. The Sycamores were only forced to one more third down conversion the rest of the way on a 15-play, 80-yard scoring drive.
“Troy Walters [ISU offensive coordinator] did a great job calling the game. To have that patience to call those run plays when the game is on the line, my hats off to the offensive staff. I tried to stay the heck out of it and not mess them up,” Miles said.
The catalyst was Roberts, who rushed for 43 yards on the drive — including three 11-yard runs, one getting ISU out from under a 1st-and-15 play in scoring range. Most of Roberts’ runs were designed draws, he often ran behind fullback Brock Lough.
“They continued to run their quarterback power play and it was very successful for them. There were times we knew they’d run, but they were successful anyway because they executed it so well,” WIU interim coach Mark Hendrickson said.
Roberts finished the drive with a draw as he hauled in a high-snap and went up the middle four yards to put ISU in front 17-14 with 4:12 left.
“We were never getting into a good flow, we’d have a good play, then a bad play. Once we got into rhythm, we got going. Our line made some great blocks and following Brock [Lough] is easy, he opens up a lane for me,” Roberts said.
WIU (1-6, 0-4) had plenty of time. When big WIU receiver Lito Senatus hauled in a 21-yard catch on 4th-and-15 to put WIU in ISU territory with two minutes to go, it seemed fortune was smiling on the Leathernecks.
But ISU was putting pressure on young WIU quarterback Wil Lunt — Ben Obaseki had a sack just before the Senatus reception — and it paid off in the end. The Leathernecks were eventually forced into a 4th-and-14 conversion and defensive tackle Rod Hardy sacked Lunt at the WIU 47 with 1:18 left.
“We didn’t want to give the quarterback time to pass, so we started blitzing. He’s a young quarterback and when you put pressure on him, that’s what happens,” ISU safety Donye McCleskey said.
ISU could not kill the clock and WIU got a final chance with 16 seconds left. Lunt completed another long pass to Senatus to put the Leathernecks within spitting range of a Hail Mary attempt, but Lunt’s final heave was picked off by Blackmon at the gun.
ISU led 10-7 at halftime as all of its points were scored off of turnovers, a rarity, as the Sycamores had forced only four turnovers all season going into Saturday’s game.
After Gibbs scored a 1-yard touchdown to open scoring in the first quarter, WIU had driven to the ISU 44 on its next drive in search for more when C.J. Cook stepped in front of a Lunt pass at the ISU 31-yard line. The Sycamores eventually converted the giveaway into a 37-yard Braulio Martinez field goal.
ISU took the lead in the second quarter. McCleskey intercepted a Lunt pass at the ISU 10 with 4:49 left in the half. Two plays later, Roberts ran a draw up the middle as the Leathernecks blitzed. With only one defender to beat, Roberts juked him and took off for the end zone. Roberts was chased by one WIU defender, but he leaped at the end of the run and just grazed the pylon to put the Sycamores in front.
It was the longest touchdown run in ISU history. The previous long was an 85-yard scamper by Todd Jochem in 1989.
“It was a regular quarterback power, I cut right, and I saw a lane and before I knew it I was running down the sideline. The line did a phenomenal job of opening it up,” Roberts said.
ISU will next play host to Southern Illinois next Saturday. The Salukis defeated Youngstown State 27-8 on Saturday.
And the nation’s longest losing streak? The Division I dishonor now belongs to St. Francis of Pennsylvania. The Red Flash lost for the 18th straight time on Saturday.
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JOSEPH C. GARZA
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