Southern Illinois defensive end Vontrell Chairse (11) celebrates one of four sacks by the Salukis in Saturday’s 31-17 victory against Northern Iowa. (Photo by SIUSalukis.com)
By Barry Bottino
Despite two losses in a row to Top 10 teams, Nick Hill’s faith in the Southern Illinois football team was hardly shaken.
“We’ve got a good team,” Hill said. “I told them when I look around this room, it’s not just me trying to fluff them up to give them confidence. I feel like our guys had that sense of urgency all week to get some things fixed.”
On Saturday, the No. 16/18 Salukis bounced back with a 31-17 Missouri Valley Football Conference win against Northern Iowa on homecoming weekend in Carbondale.
SIU, which sputtered offensively to start last weekend’s home loss to North Dakota, was back to its old self, scoring 24 first-half points to improve to 5-3 overall, 2-2 MVFC.
“If we just stay on track and execute, we can move the football,” Hill said. “We’ve done that consistently throughout the year.”
Saturday’s game was the seventh time this season that SIU scored on its first drive of a game.
Chandler Chapman’s 32-yard touchdown run put the Salukis up 7-0 against UNI (2-6, 0-4) just over 2 minutes into the game. A Paul Geelen 40-yard field goal provided SIU with a 10-0 lead after one quarter. In the second quarter, quarterback D.J. Williams threw 38-yard scoring passes to tight end Aidan Quinn and wide receiver Jay Jones for a 24-0 advantage.
The 24 points is the most UNI has allowed in a first half this season.
Meanwhile, the SIU defense allowed only three first-half points, forced punts on eight of Northern Iowa’s first 11 drives and collected four sacks.
“If you turn on that tape for 55 minutes of the game, both sides of the football played at a high level,” said HIll, whose team allowed two late TDs. “We tackled better. Last week, we did not. The attitude’s right. The effort’s right.”
Williams was 19-for-23 passing for 190 yards and rushed for 49 yards.
“He was smart with the football and efficient. He didn’t have to go be Superman,” Hill said.
Game changers
12:44, 1st quarter: Chapman zipped through a hole on the left side of the offensive line and outran the UNI defense down the west sideline for a 7-0 lead.
13:18, 3rd quarter: Tae Marrero Jr. caught a punt and weaved through UNI’s special teams unit for an 81-yard touchdown return.
13:19, 4th quarter: Cornerback Jeremiah McClendon broke up a fourth-down pass to help SIU regain possession of the ball.
Standout Salukis
Prairie State Pigskin chooses the top three Southern Illinois players in Saturday’s game:
Williams, QB: He completed 19 of 23 passes for 190 yards and two touchdowns in the win. He also rushed for 49 yards.
Edward Robinson, RB: The Duquesne transfer led SIU – which rushed for 230 yards as a team – with 86 yards on only nine carries.
McClendon, CB: Along with five tackles, he had an interception, a sack and two pass breakups.
What it means
The Salukis bounced back from a two-game losing streak and improved to 5-3 overall, 2-2 in the MVFC, with four regular-season games to go.
What’s next
The Salukis travel 112 miles south to Murray State for a 4 p.m. MVFC game Nov. 1 against the Racers (0-8, 0-4).
Barry Bottino is a co-founder of Prairie State Pigskin and a 19-year veteran of three Illinois newspapers. He has covered college athletics since 1995.
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