Epic game, brutal defeat: Making sense of Illinois State’s FCS title loss

This was both a nightmarish loss, and everything that's great about football.

Of course, we're referring to Monday's FCS championship, which garnered plenty of informal social media support as the best game of the college football season, at any level.

Illinois State came agonizingly close to pulling off one of the greatest underdog runs in history, but ultimately lost to Montana State 35-34 in overtime. The Redbirds' comeback was ruined by two blocked kicks — a field goal late in the fourth quarter and an extra point in overtime.

For most of the night at Vanderbilt's FirstBank Stadium in Nashville, Illinois State took some vicious body shots and struggled to stay competitive.

By the fourth quarter, the momentum changed completely. The Redbirds’ sideline was alive, the red-clad fans on their feet. Illinois State was one play away from winning an improbable first national title.

Despite the heartbreaking end, the two Illinois State players who went to the interview room seemed to appreciate being part of such a classic, dramatic event.

“To go out like this, it's pretty fun, I guess, except we're on the losing end,” said quarterback Tommy Rittenhouse, a Geneva native and St. Francis graduate. “That was a classic football game right there. I mean, I had a blast no matter win or lose.”

Rittenhouse threw for 311 yards and 4 touchdowns in his final college game. With Montana State's defense ganging up on top receiver Daniel Sobkowicz, redshirt freshman and former walk-on Dylan Lord had room to pile up 161 receiving yards on 13 catches.

“Yeah, it was an electric atmosphere for sure,” ISU linebacker Tye Niekamp said. “It's probably the most fun I've had playing in a game.”

There was also a golden opportunity to second-guess some coaching decisions. Every great sporting event needs some of those, so let's take a closer look.

The main issue was Illinois State coach Brock Spack deciding to try a 38-yard field goal with 1:03 left in a tie game. The Redbirds faced fourth-and-one at the Montana State 21-yard line. So they could have gone for it and tried to run out the remaining time on the clock.

“We went back and forth about going on fourth down, but we cut a guy loose on the play before, and we kind of got beat pretty bad on the line of scrimmage,” Spack said after the game. “So I thought, we're in field goal range. This is well into Mike (Cosentino's) range. I think we'll be fine.”

It wasn't fine. Montana State's Jhase McMillan came off the edge to block the kick, which was then picked up by the Bobcats and returned to the ISU 45-yard line.

If Montana State had gained a few yards and kicked the winning field goal at the end of regulation, then it would have been cut-and-dried — Illinois State made the wrong choice on the other end. But the Redbirds defense stood up, with help from a bad snap, and the game went to overtime.

Blame shouldn't fall on Cosentino, who is from Glenbrook North. On both blocked kicks, the snap was low, the hold wasn't perfect and the blocking, obviously, could have been better. But Cosentino attempted just 4 field goals this season, as Illinois State made a change at kicker late in the year.

“That's why we made the change, because Mike can get the ball up (into the air) pretty well,” Spack said. “I don't want to point the blame at anybody without watching tape, but it looked like there was a little bit of a ballhandling issue on both of them.”

Another reason not to kick it at the end of regulation is Rittenhouse was terrific in the second half at reading the defense and finding open spaces. The Redbirds were 2 of 2 on fourth-down conversions and 50% on third down.

Even if Illinois State had made the kick, Montana State drove 75 yards in 36 seconds to score a touchdown at the end of the first half. The Bobcats could have done that again. Or if the Redbirds got to the 1-yard line with one second on the clock, a field-goal attempt still could have been blocked.

Another frustrating moment happened in overtime. Illinois State needed just two plays to score a touchdown. Then the defense forced Montana State into fourth-and-10 at the 14-yard line. The Redbirds were one stop from victory, but gave up a touchdown pass to Taco Dowler.

Illinois State's defense turned things around in the second half by bringing more pressure. This time, maybe it was one pressure too many. Montana State expected it and ran the same play it called on second down to get Dowler open.

But in a game like that, there are dozens of plays that could have changed the outcome. Illinois State made a historic run with four straight road playoff wins, delivered an impressive comeback Monday and helped create some of the most dramatic sports television possible.

The Redbirds didn't blow it. Even in the most epic games, someone has to lose.