Lindenwood defenders close in on an Illinois State ball carrier during Saturday’s NCAA football game. (Photo courtesy: Illinois State Athletics)
| NCAA Football – Sept. 23, 2023 | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lindenwood (2-2) | 0 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 17 |
| Illinois State (3-1) | 13 | 7 | 14 | 14 | 48 |
DeMarcus Dixon
Staff Writer
NORMAL, IL — After rallying from two touchdowns down to get back into the game, Saturday afternoon at Illinois State, the Lindenwood Lions gave up four touchdowns in the second half, which proved to be too much to overcome in a 48-17 loss to the host Redbirds.
It was Family Weekend at Hancock Stadium and a capacity crowd of 13,391 very loud fans watched the home club hand Lindenwood its second loss of the season. The Lions are now 2-2 on the year, while Illinois State lifted its record to 3-1.
The Lindenwood defense gave up 521 yards of total offense, most of which came in the second half, when Illinois State moved the ball almost at will. Lindenwood’s offense put up 314 yards of offense, but just couldn’t keep up with the Redbirds, who used a number of long drives to put the game away.
“Again, this is a game we’re gonna go back and watch film and see it’s the little things that we missed or didn’t take advantage of that contributed to a loss like this,” Lindenwood head coach Jed Stugart said. “The question is how we respond to it. This isn’t a schedule we get to look ahead and think it’s going to get easier. Adversity can produce growth if we learn from it.”
Illinois State quarterback Zack Annexstad threw for a career-high 288 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for a score to lead the Redbirds.
In contrast, Lindenwood’s Cole Dugger threw for just 192 yards and just one touchdown. Most of that went to emerging sophomore receiver Jeff Caldwell, Jr., who had five catches for 138 yards and a touchdown. The score came on another crossing pattern where Caldwell caught the ball, stiff-armed a defender and then just outran everyone else to the end zone.
That play went for 73 yards and pulled the Lions to within 20-14 midway through the second quarter. But that was as close as the Lions would get, as the Redbirds outscored them 28-3 the rest of the game.
Lindenwood running back Robert Giaimo also had a fine day. The redshirt sophomore from Bartlett, Tenn., had 112 total yards (95 rushing, 17 receiving) and scored Lindenwood’s first touchdown.
Unfortunately, it was not enough, as Illinois State controlled the ball for most of the second half.
Defensively, the Lions were led by Ethan Stuhlsatz and Brenden Dye. Stuhlsatz had a game-high 12 tackles (five solo), while Dye added 10 tackles.
Saturday’s contest was the third of three straight road games for Lindenwood, which will play its first game at home in nearly a month, next Saturday, September 30 against Austin Peay.
The game that day, which will also be Lindenwood’s last non-conference game of the season, is scheduled to kickoff at 1 p.m.
SCORING SUMMARY
| Qtr | Time | Scoring Play | LU | ISU |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 08:57 | ISU – Mueller, Cole 5 yd run (PAT no good), 10 plays, 65 yards, TOP 04:01 | 0 | 6 |
| 1st | 03:54 | ISU – Kasper, Eddie 11 yd pass from Annexstad, Zack (Wagner, Ian kick) 11 plays, 61 yards, TOP 03:38 | 0 | 13 |
| 2nd | 10:14 | LU – Giaimo, Robert 3 yd run (Seibert, Logan kick), 12 plays, 67 yards, TOP 05:29 | 7 | 13 |
| 2nd | 09:11 | ISU – Sobkowicz, Daniel 62 yd pass from Annexstad, Zack (Wagner, Ian kick) 3 plays, 75 yards, TOP 01:03 | 7 | 20 |
| 2nd | 07:33 | LU – Caldwell, Jeff 73 yd pass from Dugger, Cole (Seibert, Logan kick) 3 plays, 78 yards, TOP 01:29 | 14 | 20 |
| 3rd | 12:02 | ISU – Mueller, Cole 1 yd run (Wagner, Ian kick), 9 plays, 72 yards, TOP 02:58 | 14 | 27 |
| 3rd | 06:43 | LU – Seibert, Logan 21 yd field goal 13 plays, 71 yards, TOP 05:19 | 17 | 27 |
| 3rd | 00:39 | ISU – Robinson, Josh 2 yd run (Wagner, Ian kick), 13 plays, 84 yards, TOP 06:00 | 17 | 34 |
| 4th | 09:40 | ISU – Annexstad, Zack 2 yd run (Wagner, Ian kick), 7 plays, 66 yards, TOP 02:27 | 17 | 41 |
| 4th | 01:29 | ISU – Ziebarth, Max 7 yd pass from Rittenhouse, Tommy (Wagner, Ian kick) 12 plays, 84 yards, TOP 06:51 | 17 | 48 |
| 2023 Lindenwood Lions Football Schedule |
| Sat., September 30 — vs. Austin Peay — 1 pm |
| Sat., October 7 — vs. Tennessee Tech* — 6 pm |
| Sat., October 14 — at Charleston Southern* — 3 pm |
| Sat., October 28 — at Tennessee State* — 2 pm |
| Sat., November 4 — vs. Eastern Illinois* — 2 pm |
| Sat., November 11 — vs. Bryant* — 1 pm |
| * – denotes Big South-Ohio Valley Conference game |
| All Lindenwood home games will be played at Harlen C. Hunter Stadium |