Turnovers plague Jacks in home loss

BROOKINGS, S.D. (GoJacks.com) — Illinois State scored on four consecutive second-half possessions and forced three turnovers in the final 17 minutes to defeat South Dakota State, 27-18, Saturday afternoon in a battle of nationally ranked Missouri Valley Football Conference teams at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium.

Both teams ended the day 7-3 overall and with 4-2 records in the MVFC.

Overall, Illinois State held a 302-260 advantage in total offense. Davis completed 11-of-17 passes for 165 yards. Tanner Taula led Redbird receivers with three catches for 47 yards. STATS FCS Walter Payton Award candidate, James Robinson finished with a game-high 98 yards on 24 rushing attempts.

For SDSU, Keaton Heide finished the day 15-of-25 passing for 171 yards. Mikey Daniel led the Jackrabbits with 40 yards on 10 carries. Cade Johnson caught a career-high 11 passes for 74 yards.

Christian Rozeboom ended the afternoon with a season-high 14 tackles. Logan Backhaus added six stops.

Ty DeForest paced the Redbird defense with nine tackles.

The Jackrabbits close out the home portion of their regular season schedule by hosting another highly ranked opponent in Northern Iowa. Kickoff for the Nov. 16 matchup is set for 2 p.m. at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium.