Redbirds end Eagles' season, 59-46

Eastern Washington's latest journey to Frisco, Texas, was put off yet another year.

Behind the punishing and virtually unstoppable running game of Marshaun Coprich who rushed for 258 yards, the carefully executed passing game of Tre Roberson and a decided 3-0 win in the turnover battle, the Illinois State Redbirds scored a 59-46 NCAA Football Championship Subdivision playoff win over the Eagles (11-3) last Saturday at Roos Field.

And the score was not at all as close as the final 13-point margin might have indicated. Had it not been for a too-little, too-late fourth-quarter scoring binge, this was a Redbirds' rout.

The 5-foot, 9-inch, 205-pound Coprich was thrown for a loss just once for a single yard on his 30-carry afternoon, which included four touchdowns - one a deflating 74-yard ramble on a fourth down conversion after the Eagles made it a two-possession game.

"It was a huge play," Coprich said. "But those plays you just anticipate and wait - you don't rush it."

That Coprich score restored ISU's 20-point lead following two Cooper Kupp scores 36 seconds apart that made it a 52-39 game with 8 minutes, 21 seconds to play.

The fifth-seeded Redbirds (12-1) now advance to meet No. 1 seed New Hampshire, Saturday while unseeded Sam Houston State earned a semifinal berth Friday, Dec. 19 at North Dakota State.

After a coin-toss win and a rare decision to go on offense to start the game, Eastern punted. Illinois State drove to the EWU 11 where the Redbirds settled for a 31-yard Nick Aussieker field goal with 7:23 gone in the first quarter.

Two of the three Eastern turnovers led to ISU scores, the first a Kendrick Bourne fumble the Redbirds turned into a 10-0 lead on Coprich's first score with 4:57 to play in the first quarter.

Eastern got on the board on its next possession following a Quincy Forte score with 3:12 remaining, making it a 10-7 game. Brady Tibbits' 3-yard run for a score capped the Redbirds' ensuing drive 36 seconds into the second quarter and a 17-7 lead.

The Eagles took the kickoff and drove to the Redbirds' 20 before a pair of incomplete Vernon Adams' passes stalled things at the 20 where Eastern settled for a 37-yard Tyler McNanny field goal making it 17-10.

As the half wound down, the teams traded scores, ISU's coming on a 7-yard Roberson pass to Cameron Meredith with 6:35 to play in the half and Jabari Wilson scoring for EWU from a yard out with 36 seconds to play for a 24-17 Redbirds' lead at the break.

ISU took the ball 75 yards in nine plays to open the third quarter with Coprich turning his first fourth-down conversion into a 21-yard touchdown run and a 31-17 lead. However, all Eastern could answer with was a 36-yard McNanny field goal for a 31-20 score and the gap started to widen.

Coprich's burst up the middle took the ball from the EWU 45 to the 7 and a play later his 2-yard run made it 38-20 with 4:24 left in the third. Alex Donnelly picked off Adams and returned the ball to the Eagles' 23. Roberson's keeper around the right side gave his team a 45-20 lead with nine seconds to play in the third and the fans began their exit. ISU outscored Eastern 21-3 in the third quarter, a part of the game the Eagles had previously dominated with a 292-94 edge in their last 21 games.

Following the game Adams, who still completed 25 of 44 passes, for 425 yards and three touchdowns, addressed his admitted off day and inconsistency on a day when he completed 60 percent of his throws.

"I just felt a little bit different, a little bit tight," Adams said. "Me being the quarterback, it is not always on me, but I feel like I am letting the team down just a little bit."

While Adams found Nick Sblendorio for 32 yards on a crucial third and 11 - keeping alive a drive that ended in his 2-yard scoring run that cut ISU's lead to 45-27 with 12:29 to play - he misfired on five of seven passes in the drive.

Roberson on the other hand missed on just five passes all day - he was 19 for 24 for 79 percent and 206 yards - but not on his 31-yard strike to Lachein Neblett to again make it a 25-point game at 52-27 with 10:30 to play.

The Redbirds outgained the Eagles 542-520 in total offense, and 336-95 on the ground.

Eastern got those two Adams to Kupp touchdowns in the next 36 seconds, one with 8:57 to play and the second following McNanny's perfectly-placed pooch kick that landed right in the arms of Sblendorio and came with 8:21 to go.

The Adams of old returned on those drives and completed six consecutive balls for 129 yards. Kupp finished with 10 catches for 185 yards. That flurry briefly revived interest from those of the crowd of 6,239 who had not already exited.

Shaq Hill's 47-yard touchdown with 1:40 capped the scoring free-for-all.

Eastern's Ronnie Hamlin was a man possessed on defense and finished making a career-high 16 tackles. His 473 career tackles broke the previous Big Sky record of 471 set by Montana State's Kane Ioane between 2000-03.

Paul Delaney can be reached at [email protected].