What MSU coach Ryan Beard said about the 2 controversial calls on ISU's game-winning drive

Illinois State running back Wenkers Wright had the ball in his hands and then he didn't. He put his hands on top of his helmet in horror as he dropped a go-ahead two-point conversion with 38 seconds left.

Wright thought he lost his team the game.

Minutes later, the Illinois State sideline erupted in celebration. The officials deemed that Wright had control of the ball long enough to call it a catch. A game-deciding call, for the second time that drive, went against the Bears.

Illinois State won the game 36-35 with the two-point conversion being the difference.

Missouri State head coach Ryan Beard erupted and was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. On the Bears' ensuing drive, they went nothing but backward for their second-straight defeat.

More: Missouri State football left heartbroken after Illinois State game-winning drive

"You can't ever leave the game up to the officials," Beard said in the opening statement of his postgame press conference. "You have to do what you have to do to finish the game the right way so those are non-factors."

Beard was understandably frustrated after the loss. Another review that took place earlier in the drive was overturned and gave the Redbirds a fourth-down conversion to give them a chance at the game-winner.

"There's no way, there's no way," Beard said to Missouri State Athletics Director Kyle Moats before leaving the room in which his press conference took place. "It happens to us all the time."

Missouri State scored its go-ahead touchdown with 3:03 remaining when Celdon Manning broke away for a 28-yard touchdown run to go up by seven.

The Redbirds' drive started with Zack Annexstad hitting Camo Nelson for a gain of 13 on third-and-10. They then faced a fourth-and-5 from their own 42 in which Annexstad hit Nelson behind the line of scrimmage. Nelson made a play down the sideline and reached for the first-down marker but was ruled short, giving the Bears the ball back with 1:41 left. The Redbirds had all three of their timeouts.

Instead of the Bears' offense taking the field, the refs went to the monitor to see if Nelson's reach happened before he touched the ground out of bounds. Nelson was on top of Bears corner Lemondre Joe, who was laying out of bounds, and he didn't appear to have any part of his own body down as he reached for the first.

The play was overturned, giving the Redbirds another life.

"We all saw the same thing," Beard said. "The spot on the field was the right call. The guy that's paid to do his job made the right call. He's right there and has the best view in the house."

Two plays later, Wenkers broke away for a gain of 40 to the Missouri State 4. He ran in a one-yard touchdown on third down to set up the two-point conversion for the win.

The two-point conversion saw Illinois State backup quarterback Tommy Rittenhouse roll to his right with Wenkers well-covered right in front of him. The defender covering Wenkers ran at Rittenhouse leaving the running back open for an easy toss.

Wenkers appeared to have caught the ball at the one before he broke the plane. As Wenkers unnecessarily reached for the pylon, he lost control of the ball and dropped it. He immediately put his hands on his face, thinking that he lost his team the game, as the line judge ruled the play incomplete.

After several minutes of review, referee Rick Warne announced to the crowd that Wenkers had possession of the ball and then broke the plane of the goal line — negating the drop and giving the Redbirds the game-winning points.

"I think I saw the same thing you did," Beard said flatly.

The defeat was the Bears' second straight after falling to Youngstown State a week ago. A sixth loss guarantees MSU won't reach the postseason, although it didn't have too much of a hope before the game.

Beard said the locker room was frustrated. Players refused to blame the referees as the coach did everything he could to not set himself up to get reprimanded by the Missouri Valley Football Conference.

The Bears could have had a late-season victory that showed growth under their first-year head coach. Instead, they'll try to find one over the next two weeks against ranked opponents.

"They looked hurt because they're competitors," Beard said. "When you play the game and you pour yourself out like that, it's gonna hurt. They're hurt, the staff's hurt. I'm sure a lot of people who cheer for the Bears in this room aren't feeling the best.

"That's why you play the game, man. You play for that feeling of laying it down for your team, doing the best you can and sometimes, it doesn't go your way. One thing I can promise you, if we keep playing like that, we keep fighting like that, things are gonna turn for Missouri State football."

Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist with the Springfield News-Leader. You can contact him at 417-371-6987, by email at wwheeler@news-leader.com or X at @WyattWheeler_NL. He's also the host of the weekly "Wyatt's World Podcast" on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and other podcasting platforms

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Missouri State reacts to late calls on Illinois State winning drive