DAVIS, Calif. — Tommy Rittenhouse threw two of his three touchdown passes to Daniel Sobkowicz, Chris Taylor returned a kickoff 91 yards for a score and unseeded Illinois State beat UC Davis 42-31 on Saturday in the quarterfinals of the FCS playoffs.
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 on Saturday. The Redbirds advanced to the semifinals for the third time in program history and 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 minutes, 6 seconds left in the third quarter.
Rittenhouse was 15 of 20 passing for 266 yards and threw an interception. Sobkowicz finished with 150 receiving yards, 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 on 29 carries.
Illinois State finished with a season-high 273 rushing yards.
Pinnick was 29 of 41 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 to play.
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 playoffs.
Division III: Donovan McNeal rushed for 144 yards and three touchdowns in North Central’s 35-21 victory over Bethel on Saturday in a Division III quarterfinal. Jordan Williams added 90 yards and a score as the Cardinals piled up 312 rushing yards.
The defending champion Cardinals (13-0) will face John Carroll (12-1) on Saturday with a berth in their sixth consecutive Stagg Bowl at stake.
In another quarterfinal, Wheaton lost 46-21 to Wisconsin-River Falls.
