NORMAL — In the Illinois State football team’s encouraging 3-1 start, the Redbirds defense was young.
During a 1-3 October, the ISU defenders have been too young.
Northern Iowa converted 10 of 16 third downs to keep the Redbirds at arm’s length and earned a 24-21 Missouri Valley Football Conference victory Saturday at Hancock Stadium.
ISU’s second straight three-point loss dropped the Redbirds to 4-4 and 2-3 in the Valley. No. 23-ranked UNI is 5-3 and 4-1 in conference play.
“Our young crew played at times pretty well and at times not good enough,” ISU coach Brock Spack said.