Illinois State Redbirds at UC Davis Aggies

Rittenhouse, Sobkowicz help unseeded Illinois State beats UC Davis, advance to FCS semis

Illinois State (11-4), which beat top-seeded and previously unbeaten North Dakota State 29-28 to advance to the quarterfinals, plays No. 12 seed Villanova next Saturday. The Redbirds advanced to the semifinals for the third time in program history, the first since 2014.

Caden Pinnick hit Zach Jones for a 65-yard gain but Shadwel Nkuba II punched out the ball and recovered the fumble. The Redbirds followed with an 11-play, 80-yard drive that culminated with Rittenhouse throwing a 17-yard TD pass to Sobkowicz that made it 35-17 with 2:06 left in the third quarter.

Rittenhouse was 15-of-20 passing for 266 yards and threw an interception. Sobkowicz finished with 150 yards receiving, which included a 93-yard touchdown, on six catches. Seth Glatz, who went into the game with three rushing touchdowns this season, ran for TDs of 14 and 58 yards in the second half. Victor Dawson had 148 yards rushing on 29 carries.

Illinois State finished with a season-high 273 yards rushing.

Pinnick was 29-of-41 passing for 402 yards and three touchdowns for No. 8 seed UC Davis (9-4). Stacy Dobbins finished with 10 receptions for 121 yards and two TDs. Jordan Fisher had a 23-yard rushing touchdown and caught a 1-yard TD pass from Pinnick.

The Aggies drove to the Redbirds 2 before CJ Richard Jr. intercepted a pass in the end zone with 9:34 remaining.

Sobkowicz has 250 career receptions, tied with Tyrone Walker (2009-12) for most in program history.

The Aggies won the only previous matchup between the programs 42-10 in the second round of the 2024 FCS playoffs.