ISU Sycamores lose lead, fall 31-21 at Eastern Illinois

CHARLESTON, IL (9-09-2006) – Indiana State led by a 9-3 count at halftime of Saturday night’s collegiate football clash with Eastern Illinois, but 21 unanswered points by the Panthers in the third quarter propelled EIU to a 31-21 victory at O’Brien Stadium. ISU falls to 0-2 on the season, while Eastern improves to 1-1.

With the score tied at 3, and Eastern Illinois driving in for the go-ahead score as the clock neared four minutes left in the second quarter, junior safety Bryan Jackson made a tremendous read and picked off a Cole Stinson pass in his own end zone. Jackson then took off, and with nothing but green grass in front of him, dashed 100 yards for the touchdown and a 9-3 lead. His 100-yard interception return for a score, ties the school and NCAA record for longest interception return for a TD, and is the Sycamores’ first since 2004. In 1984, Vencie Glenn raced 100 yards on an interception for a score versus Wayne State.

After EIU took a 3-0 lead on their second possession of the game, senior kicker Nick Urankar scored his first career points on a 24-yard field goal with 12:59 left in the second quarter to knot the contest 3-3. Urankar was forced into duty after Kyle Hooper bruised his knee during practice on Wednesday afternoon.

As ISU led 9-3 in the third quarter, the Panther ground game really got rolling as Vincent Webc capped a drive that he dominated with a 15-yard score on the ground for the 10-9 EIU lead. Eastern added a seven-yard scoring rush by Norris Smith and a 62-yard pass from Mike Donato to Micah Rucker to grab a 24-9 lead.

The Sycamores got things back on track in the fourth quarter, when Tony West rushed in from 3 yards out to make the score 24-15, but EIU answered with a 60-yard bomb from Danato to Rucker for the 31-15 lead.

Indiana State kept things interesting with a one-yard scoring rush by Reilly Murphy, but the two-point conversion attempt failed and yielded the final score of 31-21.

ISU was paced in the game by senior Carl Berman, who caught eight passes for a career-high 136 yards, while Sam Logan received three passes for 52 yards. Murphy was 19-of-36 passing with an interception in defeat. West netted 79 yards on the ground with a score, while Murphy gained 39 yards rushing and the late-game TD.

Defensively, Scooter Archie paced the Sycamores with 13 total tackles while Rafael Price and Kyle James posted 10 each. Price returned an interception for 19 yards while Jackson had his 100-yard scoring return. Madison Miller forced a fumble in the contest, while Will McDonald recovered one.

EIU finished the contest with 629 yards of total offense, including 347 yards on the ground. Webb posted 179 rushing yards while Smith had 165. Donato was 12-of-18 passing for 250 yards and two TDs. Rucker caught six passes for 183 yards and a pair of scores.

Indiana State will search for its first victory of the season on September 16 when they open the home portion of the schedule against Murray State. Kickoff is set for 11:05 a.m. (CDT) and the game can be seen live locally on WFXW-TV. Live Internet Radio coverage on www.USA-365.com begins at 10:40 a.m., CDT / 11:40 a.m., EDT.

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