Rittenhouse passes, runs Illinois State football past Murray State

MURRAY, Ky.

Illinois State quarterback Tommy Rittenhouse piled up 475 yards of total offense Saturday as the No.

21-ranked Redbirds outlasted Murray State 40-32 at Roy Stewart Stadium.

Rittenhouse passed for a career-high 347 yards and rushed for a career-high 128 yards to tie the third highest total offense mark in school history.

Illinois State quarterback Tommy Rittenhouse pulls away from Murray State defender Amari Wansley (8) on Saturday in Murray, Kentucky.

It starts with the O(ffensive) line always.

They did a great job all game protecting me and run blocking, Rittenhouse said.

The running game balanced out the passing game.

Everyone did their part.

That helps me out a lot.

The Redbirds moved to 5-3 overall and 2-2 in the Missouri Valley Football Conference entering a bye week.

I knew this game would be hard.

We had a lot of adversity, said ISU coach Brock Spack.

We get a much-needed bye to hopefully get some of our guys banged up back.

Fix the things that need to be fixed and keep moving the train forward.

Holding a narrow 16-14 halftime edge, the Redbirds scored the first 14 points of the second half.

Rittenhouse scooted 26 yards for a touchdown, and after Rittenhouse needed to leave the game temporarily, Jake Rubley found Daniel Sobkowicz with a 1-yard scoring toss.

Im proud of Rubley coming off the bench and being able to complete those two passes and one was a touchdown, Spack said.

That was huge.

Murray State (1-6, 0-4 in the MVFC) pulled within 30-22 as former Redbird JKalon Carter caught a 6-yard TD pass from Jayden Johansen.

Rittenhouse connected with Sobkowicz for a 13-yard touchdown before the Racers moved back within eight on a 4-yard Javaun Northington surge with 5:29 left.

ISU was able to milk most of the remaining time off the clock before Ian Wagner nailed a 37-yard field goal with 59 seconds showing.

The Redbirds won the total offense battle 633-426.

Xavier Loyd caught five passes for a career-high 148 yards, Sobkowicz had nine receptions for 77 yards and Eddie Kasper seven for 71.

I take a lot of pride in that, said Loyd.

The team is relying on me to make plays.

If I make plays, we get closer to scoring and today it worked out like that.

Im happy for us and the team.

Wenkers Wright chipped in 79 yards rushing on 22 carries for the Redbirds.

Johansen passed for 209 yards and Northington ran for 104 for Murray State.

ISU held a 16-7 lead late in the first half before Justice Cross returned an interception of a Rittenhouse pass 36 yards to the Redbird 19-yard line.

After a false start penalty, Johansen connected with Elijah Downing for a 24-yard touchdown strike with 52 seconds left in the half.

A 38-yard Rittenhouse scamper put ISU in field goal range, but Wagner's 38-yard try was blocked by Dennard Flowers.

Rittenhouse, who rushed for 92 yards in the first half, opened the scoring with a 40-yard touchdown jaunt.

Wagner's extra point kick was no good at the 12:29 mark of the opening quarter for a 6-0 ISU edge.

After Wagner converted a 20-yard field goal, Northington broke loose for a 48-yard scoring run.

Rittenhouse completed passes of 23 yards to Loyd and 39 yards to Wright on a drive that culminated in a 1-yard Wright plunge.

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