By Todd Golden
SPRINGFIELD, MO. — For the last six weeks, the Indiana State football team has been a picture of good health.
On Saturday, ISU’s luck ran out with a vengeance.
The parade of walking Sycamore wounded literally added injury to insult in a 31-7 Missouri Valley Football Conference loss at Missouri State.
Before the game even began, ISU lost starting linebacker Jacolby Washington due to a high ankle sprain. In the game itself, linebacker C.J. Cook, left tackle Josh Jellison, wide receiver Bryant Kent and quarterback Ryan Roberts all left the game due to injury; only Roberts (briefly) returned.
And those were just the starters. Wide receiver Koby Kraemer, also ISU’s primary kick returner, and Roberts’ replacement, Matt Seliger, also had to be helped from the field on consecutive plays. Linebacker Austen Wozniak, who replaced Cook, was also hurt, despite leading the team in tackles with 11, including 11/2 sacks.
“We had a lot of injuries and when you’re paper-thin to begin with, it magnifies things,” ISU coach Trent Miles said. “We had been fortunate not to have a rash of injuries all season, but it caught up with us today.”
Washington (ankle), Cook (broken ankle), Seliger (knee injury, ACL) and Kraemer (knee injury, ACL) are all confirmed out for the season, Miles said.
“A lot of the guys have to step up when players go down. I had to step up and take a role as a team leader when I have my teammates go down, especially when it’s C.J., one of my fellow linebackers,” said ISU linebacker Aaron Archie, who had 10 tackles and 11/2 sacks.
The injuries had an effect on the game, but so did ISU’s execution, which ran warm and cold throughout the contest.
ISU (1-9, 1-6 MVFC) amassed 308 yards of total offense, its second-best total of the season, and ISU’s 192 passing yards was its best of the year, but the numbers are a bit misleading. ISU rolled up nearly half of its yards in the fourth quarter when Missouri State (6-4, 4-3) had its second unit on the field and with the Sycamores down 24-0.
ISU’s defense forced two Missouri State turnovers and the Bears were just 3 of 11 on third down, but the Sycamores had trouble defending short fields. Of Missouri State’s four touchdown drives, the longest was 52 yards.
ISU held the Bears to a field goal on a 71-yard drive in the first quarter and the score remained 3-0 well into the second quarter when a Sycamore turnover proved costly.
After Dillon Painter intercepted a Cody Kirby pass at the ISU 3, the Sycamores were moving the ball out of the shadow of their own goalpost. Antoine Brown broke for a 10-yard gain and had already gained first-down yardage near the ISU 30 when he had the ball stripped by a Bears’ defender. Missouri State’s Michael Keck recovered the ball, and five plays later Kirby completed an 11-yard touchdown pass to Jared Emery to put Missouri State up 10-0.
The play continued an unwelcome pattern for ISU as late first-half turnovers in close games were converted into points and turned momentum against South Dakota State, Southern Illinois and now Missouri State.
“We’ve got a first down and it’s 3-0. We’re moving it out past the 30 and we put the ball on the ground. They get the ball, they go down and score,” Miles said.
The start of the second half continued the Sycamores’ woes. A pooch kick into the wind allowed Missouri State to start its opening second-half drive at the ISU 48. On first down from the ISU 38, Missouri State tried a trick play as wide receiver Cadarrius Dotson ran an end-around with the intention of passing to Kirby on the weak side. ISU snuffed it out and had Dotson on the run for a potential big loss, but ISU couldn’t wrap Dotson up, he escaped and completed a 27-yard pass to Kirby anyway. Four plays later, Kirby scored on a 2-yard run on 4th-and-1 to make it 17-0.
On ISU’s first play on its next drive, Roberts threw an interception to Cedric Alvis, who returned it to the ISU 25. Six plays later, Bears running back Chris Douglas scored from 13 yards out to make it 24-0 just seven minutes into the half.
Miles blamed himself for the second-half start.
“I’ll take responsibility for the way the second started. I pictured this being a close game to the very end and I took the wind for the fourth quarter. It started off bad for our defense with field position when we didn’t kick well and they scored. Then we throw an interception on our first play, they go down and score, game over. That’s not the way you wanted to start the second half,” Miles said.
ISU’s only touchdown came when Chris Stutzriem, who filled in for both Roberts and Seliger, plunged in from 2 yards out with 5:27 left in the game.
ISU lost its last chance to end a conference road losing streak that dates to 2002. ISU wasn’t won on the road at all since 2004. Despite the loss and despite the injuries, the Sycamores struck a confident tone after the game.
“We’re all sticking together, we’re playing hard, we have one more game to get a victory,” Roberts said.
ISU finishes its season at home next Saturday against North Dakota State. The Bison are 1-5 in the MVFC and a win by the Sycamores would likely ensure a sixth-place finish in the conference.
