Ugly. Messy. Grinding.
Use whatever words necessary to describe Illinois State University’s 36-19 win over Western Illinois on Saturday, but the end result was the same: the Redbirds are moving on to the quarterfinals of the FCS Playoffs.
Although he struggled through the air once again, ISU quarterback Tre Roberson – 10-of-23 with 132 yards and one touchdown – led the Redbirds to a second round playoff win, putting in 111 yards on the ground while Marshaun Coprich exploded for 217 yards – his third straight 200-yard rushing game and the sixth of his career.
It was a game that crawled along with ISU taking a 7-6 lead into halftime that featured a pair of interceptions from Roberson, but the Leathernecks were only able to get three points out of the two combined turnovers.