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When the Bears met a Top 10-ranked Illinois State team last season, MSU came away with a thrilling last-second win that appeared to be one of the great victories in the program's history.
Fast forward to Saturday afternoon and the Bears had a chance at coming away with another thrilling win, but the Redbirds handed the Bears their 14th loss in the 16 games since.
FCS No. 7 Illinois State escaped with a 17-12 win over the Bears in Normal, Illinois.
Illinois State led 14-6 midway through the second quarter but ISU starting quarterback Brady Davis went out with an injury that resulted in the Redbirds being ineffective on offense for the remainder of the game.
The Bears had a chance to win the game on fourth-and-goal with 33 seconds remaining, but starting quarterback Peyton Huslig was sacked before the Redbirds ran out the clock.
Missouri State moves to 1-9 on the season and it has lost six consecutive games. The Bears will conclude their season next week in Springfield against Indiana State.
Huslig intercepted twice in first six minutes
Huslig struggled in the opening minutes of the game while turning the ball over twice.
On the Bears' second drive, Huslig's pass was batted at the line of scrimmage and intercepted by Illinois State deep in MSU territory. The Bears' offense stepped up and forced a long field goal that came up short.
Two plays later, Huslig tried forcing a pass while staring down a receiver and it was intercepted at midfield.
Illinois State took advantage this time while driving down the field in 10 plays for the first score of the game. The Redbirds converted on two third-and-longs to sustain the drive.
ISU quarterback Brady Davis hit receiver Kacper Rutkiewcz on a five-yard touchdown pass to take the 7-0 lead.
On the first play of Missouri State's next offensive drive, Huslig didn't need to try and throw. A handoff to Jeremiah Wilson up the middle went for a 74-yard touchdown.
Missouri State attempted to go for a two-point conversion following the score on a fake field goal but it failed. The six points were the Bears' first first-half points since Oct. 12 when the Bears lost 45-10 to South Dakota.
ISU gets a touchdown but loses its quarterback
The Redbirds drove down the field with ease after Wilson's long touchdown run.
Davis completed passes of 26 and 16 on an eight-play, 76-yard drive that resulted in a touchdown. Davis hit Tristan Bailey for an eight-yard score on the first play of the second quarter to take a 14-6 lead.
Missouri State looked as if it was going to respond when it drove deep into Redbird territory, but the Bears decided to go for it on fourth-and-three. Huslig's pass was incomplete as the Bears turned the ball over on downs.
Illinois State couldn't take advantage and also lost its quarterback. Davis went down with a non-contact injury after handing the ball off on the first play of the Redbirds' drive.
On backup quarterback Bryce Jefferson's first play, he was intercepted by MSU linebacker Angelo Garbutt at the ISU 27.
Missouri State couldn't move the ball any further and had to settle for a 38-yard field goal to cut ISU's lead to 14-9.
The Redbirds were ineffective on offense the remainder of the half. Illinois State ran the ball on its final eight offensive plays of the half following Jefferson's interception. Jefferson was replaced by true freshman quarterback Jack Baltz the next series.
MSU had a chance to take the lead but it did MSU things
Illinois State's Christian Uphoff returned the opening kick of the second half 59 yards to the Missouri State 37-yard line to put the Redbirds in favorable field position.
The Redbirds went backward due to a 15-yard personal foul for a block below the waist. They were forced to punt the ball away after a three-and-out.
MSU took over at its own two and went three-and-out. The Bears' punt from their own end zone was muffed by the Redbirds and MSU long-snapper Chandler Collins recovered the ball at the ISU 45.
Huslig led the Bears to the Redbirds' two-yard line with nice completions for 12, 15 and 18, and it looked like they were going to take the lead.
However, a bad snap got away from Huslig and the Redbirds recovered the ball at their own 24-yard line.
Illinois State ran the ball on nine straight plays on its ensuing drive before Baltz was sacked for a loss of 19 on third-down. The punt gave MSU the ball at its own 35.
Huslig hit Damoreia Vick for a 13-yard pass on the Bears' first play of the drive, but the drive went backward from there. The quarterback was sacked on back-to-back plays to end the drive as the third quarter expired.
Illinois State extends its lead but Bears respond
Illinois State ran the ball six times while never throwing to move the ball 58 yards down the field to set up a field goal with just over 11 minutes to go.
All-American tailback James Robinson broke away for a 33-yard run before he was hit out of bounds. The 15-yard penalty gave the Redbirds the ball in MSU territory.
Missouri State held the Redbirds to a 38-yard field goal as ISU took an eight-point lead early in the fourth.
The Bears took advantage of an Illinois State late hit out of bounds to move deep into enemy territory on their next drive.
Tailback Myron Mason had an 11-yard run to the ISU 47 but was given an extra 15 yards following the penalty. Missouri State couldn't move the ball after that and had to settle for a 36-yard field goal.
Bears stop Redbirds to get the ball back but can't do anything
Illinois State's one-dimensional offense tried to throw the ball down the field but it proved to be costly.
After picking up a first down after three straight run plays, Baltz completed an 18-yard pass off of play-action, but it was called back after a questionable holding call.
Faced with third-and-nine, Baltz overthrew his receiver and the ball was picked off by MSU safety Kam Carter — who returned the ball to ISU's 47 with 3:03 remaining.
Missouri State failed to move the ball aside from a Mason two-yard rush on first down. Huslig's two following passes were incomplete and he was sacked on fourth-and-eight.
Bears get another chance after Redbird fumble
On Illinois State's first play following the sack, Robinson was stripped by Garbutt and linebacker Tyler Lovelace recovered the ball and returned it 13 yards to the Redbirds' 32-yard line.
Huslig picked up a first down on the Bears' second play when he ran for a gain of six following a pass for six yards. Two plays later, he hit Jordan Murray for a gain of 12 for a first-and-goal at the ISU eight. The quarterback put his head down for a gain of five on the next play before two incompletions.
On fourth-and-goal from the Illinois State's three-yard line with 39 seconds remaining, Huslig rolled out to his right off play-action on a jet-sweet and was immediately met by Luther Kirk for a sack.
Illinois State went into victory formation and handed the Bears their ninth loss of the season.
Courtesy of Art Hains' postgame interview with Bears head coach Dave Steckel
"They did a really good job at stopping the run." — Steckel on the Bears' defense following Davis' injury
"It's extremely disappointing. I have a locker room with a bunch of guys who gave us everything they had today. They put their heart and soul into it but we came up short. We need to start turning these into wins." — Steckel on the loss
QB Huslig - 19-of-35, 185 yards, two interceptions
RB Wilson - 3 carries, 78 yards, one touchdown
WR Vick - 5 catches, 48 yards
QB Davis - 8-of-11, 65 yards, two touchdowns
QB Baltz - 0-of-2, 0 yards, one interception
RB Robinson - 29 carries, 155 yards
WR Rutkiewicz - 2 catches, 11 yards, 1 touchdown
Total Yards - MSU 287 ISU 238
Pass Yards - MSU 185 ISU 65
Rush Yards - MSU 102 ISU 173
3rd Downs - MSU 1-11 ISU 6-14
4th Downs - MSU 0-3 ISU 0-0
Turnovers - MSU 3 ISU 4
1Q 3:58 - Brady Davis 5-yard pass to Kacper Rutkiewicz. ISU 7-0.
1Q 3:40 - Jeremiah Wilson 74-yard run. Failed two-point conversion. ISU 7-6.
2Q 14:56 - Brady Davis 8-yard pass to Tristan Bailey. ISU 14-6.
2Q 7:57 - Parker Lacina 38-yard field goal. ISU 14-9.
4Q 11:03 - Sam Fenlason 39-yard field goal. ISU 17-9.
4Q 7:05 - Parker Lacina 36-yard field goal. ISU 17-12.
Missouri State will conclude its season next week against Indiana State at 2 p.m.
The Sycamores were 3-7 entering a Saturday noon game against Youngstown State.
Indiana State was supposed to be a playoff contender entering this season but was set back by injuries at key positions.
Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist with the Springfield News-Leader. You can contact him at 417-371-6987, by email at wwheeler@news-leader.com or join the conversation on Twitter where his handle is @WyattWheeler_NL.
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