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| SportsSunday, October 14, 2007 11:37 PM CDT |
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ISU turns 'D' around
NORMAL — Saturday’s first half at Hancock Stadium brought an unwanted rerun of the Illinois State defense’s forgettable performance the previous week at Missouri State. Confronted with yet another no-huddle, spread offense, the Redbirds surrendered 194 yards and 17 points to Indiana State in the opening two quarters. And while the Illinois State offense proved unstoppable all afternoon in a 69-17 trouncing of the Sycamores, the Redbird defense joined in on the domination in an distinctly different second half. “We committed some errors. But our approach was different today,” said ISU coach Denver Johnson, whose team coughed up 58 points in the Missouri State loss. “We got those things corrected at halftime, probably before halftime. We were much more assignment correct the second half and sounder in the way we were addressing their offense.” While keeping the Sycamores off the scoreboard after the 4:39 mark of the second quarter, the Redbirds allowed just 40 yards of offense after halftime. “We only ran a few defenses,” linebacker Kye Stewart said. “The coaches were making good calls and putting us in position to make plays. It’s about doing your job, and that’s what happened.” Middle linebacker Bill Hronec and end Brandon Wilson led ISU with eight tackles each. It was a career high for Wilson. Linebacker Pat Cucci added seven tackles and Stewart six. “It was a huge step for us defensively to get them playing fast again, running to the ball and playing physical,” said Johnson. “We had some big hits. That tells me we’re running fast, playing hard and playing with more confidence. It was pleasing to see. We got much better at it as we went.” Drone on target Despite 71 rushes in 81 snaps and three 100-plus yard rushers in Rafael Rice, Geno Blow and Cortes Rice, the Redbirds’ passing game also got an injection of positive reinforcement. Quarterback Luke Drone completed 8 of 9 passes for 139 yards and three touchdowns. The senior’s lone incompletion was a well-thrown pass that was dropped. “We haven’t thrown the ball down field much this year. It’s nice to know you can still do it,” Drone said. “We practice it, but it’s nice to get it out in a game and complete balls.” “That’s the Luke we know and love,” said Johnson. “When we did throw the ball, he was making good decisions and throwing the ball on time.” Drone had thrown six interceptions in his past two games. Alumni support Niall Campbell, Pierre Jackson, Justin Martindale, Janiah Downing and Alex Filin were among the seniors from ISU’s 2006 playoff team in attendance Saturday. “It helps seeing players from last year’s team that had success,” said Drone. “You get that feeling back that this is the kind of team we are. You see the team that went 9-4 last year and it starts to rub off. You kind of get your swagger back a little bit.” Walk-on captains Johnson did not stop at scholarship players when picking seniors as game captains. Joining Kye Stewart as captains for the Indiana State game were walk-ons Dan Weiner, Jared Dall and Kurt James. “I have a special place in my heart for people who are here because they want to be here and want to play and want to contribute any way they can,” said the ISU coach. “As seniors, I feel they deserve the opportunity (to be captain).” Pregame air show Approximately six minutes before kickoff Saturday, the Hancock Stadium crowd was treated to a fly by from four Air Force National Guard F-16s. The pilot of the lead jet was 1997 Normal West High School graduate Nate Sunderland. Extra points -- Redbird reserve defensive tackle Dave Rivas will have surgery today to repair a herniated disc in his neck. Rivas, who had six tackles and a sack in five games, will miss the rest of the season. -- Linebacker Mark Whitaker also did not dress for the Indiana State game because of a shoulder injury. -- The 69-point outburst was the most points the Redbirds have scored since a 70-28 win over Indiana State in 2005. Get area high school sports scores and statistics at Varsity Sports. E-mail this story | Print this story | Search archives | RSS Show comments |  Hide comments | Hide comments on all stories |
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ISUred wrote on Oct 17, 2007 10:56 AM:
Okay wrote on Oct 15, 2007 10:27 AM:
To Lets Not wrote on Oct 15, 2007 9:15 AM:
To Lets Not wrote on Oct 15, 2007 9:05 AM:
Lets Not wrote on Oct 15, 2007 6:38 AM:
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