Gameday blog: Southeast at Indiana State

Southeast Missouri State scored as time expired to cut Indiana State's lead to one on a 26-yard pass from Dante Vandeven to Paul McRoberts.

Vandeven's 2-point conversion pass to McRoberts was no good and the nationally-ranked Sycamores held on for a 29-28 win.

Vandeven, a true freshman and Jackson graduate entered the game in the third quarter, after starting quarterback Tay Bender was picked off in the end zone by Travis Starks, who returned it 100 yards for a touchdown that tied the game at 7-7.

ISU took a 14-7 lead on a 13-yard run by Marlon Fleming with 4:04 left in the third and went up 21-7 on a 9-yard run by Gary Owens in the closing seconds of the third.

Running back Tremane McCullough cut it to 21-14 with 9:29 remaining with an 18-yard run and Southeast took a 22-21 lead after a 1-yard touchdown run by Lewis Washington and a two-point conversion pass.

ISU scored with 41 seconds remaining on a 33-yard pass to Owens and the two-point conversion put the Sycamores up 29-22 before the Redhawks last-second attempt.

Vandeven completed 12 of 17 passes for 115 yards. He had one interception.

McRoberts had 100 yards receiving on seven catches.

McCullough rushed for 114 yards on 18 attempts.

The Southeast Missouri State football team leads No. 23/25 Indiana State 7-0 at halftime.

It's the first time the Sycamores have been shutout in the first half since a game against Western Illinois on Nov. 16, 2013.

The Redhawks got on the board when quarterback Tay Bender faked a handoff on the first play of a drive and ran it 80 yards for a touchdown with 2 minutes, 23 seconds left in the first quarter.

It's the longest touchdown run by a Southeast quarterback.

Southeast kicker Ryan McCrum attempted a 41-yard field goal in the closing seconds of the first half but missed wide right.

The Redhawks defense forced ISU to punt seven times. Southeast punt returner Tyler Manne fumbled two punts after calling for a fair catch and one was recovered by the Sycamores.

Southeast sacked quarterback Matt Adam five times. Adam has completed 9 of 15 passes for 70 yards. He had a pass intercepted 1:30 into the game by Eriq Moore after the pass was tipped twice.

Bender completed 9 of 15 passes for 78 yards. Receiver Paul McRoberts has three catches for 40 yards and Adrian Davis has four catches for 28 yards.

Running back DeMichael Jackson has 22 yards rushing on eight carries and needs just four more to surpass 2,000 career yards rushing.

The Southeast Missouri State football team faces nationally-ranked Indiana State on the road today.

Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. Central time in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Erin Unerstall and Rachel Crader will provide updates from the game.

You can follow along on Twitter @semoballErin or @semoballRachel for live updates throughout the game and you don't have to have a Twitter account to see their posts.

Check out a preview of the game and learn about the Sycamores, who are ranked No. 23 and No. 25 in Football Championship Subdivision polls, here.

The Redhawks (1-1) are coming off a 27-24 win against regional rival Southern Illinois.

A notebook on kicker Ryan McCrum's last-second field goal to win the game, the Redhawks defense winning the turnover battle and running back DeMichael Jackson's career night can be found here.

Erin's weekly report from Southeast's practice, including an injury update, is available here.

Also check out Rachel's column from the Redhawks' first win against SIU since 2010 here.