INDIANAPOLIS – On a cold and windy Saturday afternoon at Key Stadium, the No. 8 UIndy football team ended its season with a 35-27 defeat to 21st-ranked Minnesota State. MSU advances to face top-ranked Ferris State in the Super Region 3 final next week, while the the Greyhounds finish the year with a fourth consecutive GLVC championship, a first-round playoff win, and a program-record-tying 11 victories.
 
INS & OUTS
For the first time since early September, the Greyhounds found themselves trailing at the half. But despite the 21-7 score, UIndy came out of the break with renewed purpose. The defense forced a three-and-out to start the third, and the offense took advantage. Following a big 33-yard punt return by Anthony Crowell, Colton Wilkie emerged as the featured player on the ensuing scoring drive, catching a 22-yard pass to help set up his own 13-yard TD catch and cut into the Mavericks' lead.
 
Down two scores early in the fourth quarter, the UIndy mounted a final comeback attempt and very nearly took the lead.  The spark came from the defense, which generated some much-needed momentum with its first takeaway of the afternoon. Brandon Smith punched the football loose and Julian Dandridge pounced on it, giving the ball back to the offense.
 
Senior QB Gavin Sukup led the Hounds down the field, completing 5-of-6 pass attempts on the drive, including a nine-yard TD to Kaleb Carver to cut it to seven.
 
Another Maverick three-and-out brought the UIndy offense back on the field with five minutes to go. The Hounds went back to the run game this time, with Fataki doing the heavy lifting. Out of the two-minute timeout, Sukup found Garrett Sherrell in the flat and the Brownsburg product tip-toed down the sidelines for a 34-yard touchdown. Trailing a single point, UIndy went for the win, but its fake extra-point attempt failed, keeping the score 28-27 MSU.
 
The Mavericks answered with a quick touchdown—perhaps too quick—giving Sukup and the Greyhound offense one last chance with 87 seconds left in an eight-point game. The Hounds would cross midfield before one final interception sealed the win for Minnesota State.
 
INSIDE THE BOX
- Veteran wideout Alonzo Derrick finished with four catches for 68 yards, upping his career receiving yards total to 3,011. He is just the fourth player in program history to reach the milestone.
- Fataki led all players with 122 rushing yards on just 10 carries.
- Senior linebacker Jalen Wilson racked up a game-high 13 tackles in his final game as a Greyhound. Jerrell Franklin Jr. (11) and Eli Liapis (10) also finished in double digits.
- Cornell Branch IV and Diego Piche had a sack apiece.
 
MORE NOTES
Saturday marked the first-ever second-round playoff game at Key Stadium as well as one of the coldest; kickoff temperatures came in at 31 degrees with a 14-degree wind chill … Today was also the first-ever meeting between UIndy and Minnesota State.