Illinois State head coach Denver Johnson summed up his quarterback’s importance as simply as he could.

“He won the ball game,” Johnson said.

Illinois State’s junior signal caller, Luke Drone, was 17 of 26 for 288 yards and three touchdown passes. The most effective aspect of the Mt. Carmel native was he didn’t give up a turnover or a sack to the Panther defense.

“Some guys just got it others don’t, I don’t know if you can teach it to them,” Johnson said. “The most impressive thing he did tonight was throw a couple balls away.”

Drone’s 22 touchdowns last season ranked as the second-most in school history. He is now on pace to eclipse that with 26 touchdowns and four interceptions.

He is 10-4 as a starter, which is the most important stat to Redbird faithful.

“Ultimately, a quarterback is judged by wins and losses,” Johnson said.

Even without his main target, senior wide receiver Laurent Robinson, Drone was able to move into sixth on the all-time ISU list for career passing yardage.

“All I had to do was throw it in the area and they caught it,” Drone said.

In a matchup that involved two in-state prospects that were not given scholarships out of high school, Eastern quarterback Mike Donato was unable to avoid three interceptions that led to 16 Illinois State points.

“The three interceptions were big tonight and I know they did lead to scores,” Hutson said.

Donato began the game with confidence as the junior was three of five for 25 yards and led the Panthers to an early 10-0 lead.

“Being down 10 and winning by 14 is huge,” Johnson said. “It speaks to the character of this football team.”

The next minutes went horribly wrong for Eastern’s signal caller. In the second quarter, Donato was four of nine for 47 yards and a touchdown, but threw interceptions on the final two possessions of the half. During that second quarter, Illinois State outscored the Panthers 23-6 and had a 23-16 halftime lead.

“In any given football game, there’s a handful of plays,” Johnson said. “We call them GAP plays, game altering plays.”

After admitting that he wanted to avenge last year’s loss at O’Brien Stadium, Donato was unable to get his first victory over the Redbirds. For the second straight game against ISU, the Broadview native failed to complete half his passes and threw for under 150 yards.

“It’s a team game, the loss doesn’t go to the offense or the defense,” Hutson said. “It goes to Eastern Illinois.”