A theme across the Midwest on Saturday was the weather. Weather delayed multiple games throughout the day including the Texas State and Illinois game. The delay allowed Illinois to regroup, as the Illini won 42-35.

Josh Ferguson ran for 190 yards and two touchdowns while Wes Lunt threw for 266 yards in the win. Tyler Jones had a lot of success against the Illini secondary by throwing for 336 yards and 4 touchdowns.

Ferguson started Illinois on the right foot with a 75 yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage. The extra point was no good so Illinois led 6-0.

Texas State would get on the board two drives later with Jones' 4 yard touchdown pass to Ben Ijah to take a 7-6 lead. Jones would throw another touchdown pass from 11 yards out to Jafus Gaines and extended their lead to 14-6.

Illinois struggled to get much going on offense after the Ferguson touchdown run. At the 13:35 mark, the weather delay caused the game to be halted for approximately two hours. After the delay, Texas State missed a field goal that would have made it a 17-6 lead.

Texas State would take a 21-6 lead late in the second quarter on a one yard touchdown run by Jones. Illinois stemmed the momentum of Texas State going into halftime by driving down the field in 63 seconds. Ferguson had his second touchdown of the day, from two yards out, to end the drive. Illinois trailed 21-13 going into the halftime break.

Illinois started the second half strongly. After forcing a three and out, V'Angelo Bentley returned the punt 40 yards to the Texas State 33 yard line. On the next play, Lunt hit Ferguson on the screen pass. Ferguson weaved his way towards the end zone and finished the run off with a dive into the end zone. The two point conversion attempt was no good and Illinois still trailed at 21-19.

Illinois finally reclaimed the lead on their next drive with Donovonn Young going in from 3 yards out. Another two point conversion attempt failed, but Illinois now lead 25-21.

Texas State was not about to quit though. Wes Lunt was picked off by Colby Targun who returned it 48 yards to the Illinois 13 yard line. Two plays later, Tyler Jones threw his third touchdown pass of the day to Ben Ijah from 12 yards out. That was Ijah's second touchdown reception up to this point. The third quarter ended with Texas State clinging to a 28-25 lead.

Illinois put a bit of distance between themselves and Texas State in a stretch of 4 minutes late in the fourth quarter. Wes Lunt hit Mike Dudek for a 7 yard score to give the Illini the lead once again at 32-28. After forcing a punt, Josh Ferguson ran for a 48 yard gain to the Texas State 16 yard line. Illinois would settle for a field goal, but still led 35-28.

One of the few mistakes Tyler Jones made on the day ended up being the deciding factor. V'Angelo Bentley stepped in front of the slant route, tipped the ball, caught it, and took it back to the house for the 45 yard interception return for a touchdown. That made it 42-28.

Jones threw his final touchdown pass of the day to Brandon Smith from 9 yards out to make it 42-35 with a little over a minute remaining in the game. However, the ensuing onside kick was recovered by Illinois and the Illini ran the clock out.

Tyler Jones had a very good day, except for the pick-six to Bentley. He accounted for all 5 of Bobcats' touchdowns. He went 29 of 43 for 336 yards with 4 touchdowns and an interception. He ran 17 times for 11 yards and the one rushing touchdown.

Robert Lowe was the Bobcats top rusher with 117 yards on 26 carries. Six different Bobcats had at least 39 yards receiving. Ben Ijah led the team with 5 catches for 65 yards and 2 touchdowns. Ryan Carden caught 4 passes for 56 yards while Lowe contributed 4 catches for 55 yards.

Wes Lunt had a solid game going 25 of 39 for 266 yards with 2 touchdowns and an interception. Josh Ferguson ran for 190 yards and 2 touchdowns on only 14 carries. Ferguson also had 4 catches for 43 yards and a touchdown.

The rushing game finally had a breakthrough this season. They had struggled to run the ball in the first three games, but Ferguson ended those troubles in emphatic fashion.

Mike Dudek led the Illini with 7 catches for 90 yards and a touchdown. Justin Hardee had 5 catches for 49 yards.

Texas State (1-2) travels to Tulsa (1-2) in a battle to see which team will reach .500. Illinois (3-1) concluded their non-conference schedule with Saturday's game and will go on the road next week to face Nebraska (4-0) in the Big Ten opener for both teams