Southern Illinois running back Lem Wash (24) is a converted quarterback from his days at Tennessee Tech and South Dakota. (Photo by SIUSalukis.com)
By Dan Verdun
Seemingly out of football a year ago, Southern Illinois running back Lem Wash announced his return at a key moment in last weekend’s rain-soaked win at Murray State.
The senior gathered in a pop pass from quarterback D.J. Williams and raced down the sideline for a 40-yard touchdown. The score, his first receiving TD as a Saluki, proved to be the knockout punch in a 27-7 SIU win.
“We’ve had that play dialed up for a few weeks,” SIU head coach Nick Hill said afterward.
Yet, there is a much deeper story behind the play. It runs far longer than the distance Wash covered on the wet turf in Murray, Ken.
“Coming out of high school, there was COVID so I didn’t have a lot of offers at first,” Wash told Prairie State Pigskin. “There was Tennessee Tech, along with Missouri State. Those were the main two.”
Wash, who had quarterbacked his Wichita, Kan., high school to consecutive state championships, initially chose Tennessee Tech. However, things didn’t quite go as planned.
“Tennessee Tech was really far from home, so about a year and a half in, I decided it would be best if I got in the transfer portal,” he said.
Six months later, he got an offer from South Dakota. Wash spent a year with the Coyotes, but said he struggled with his mental health along with other issues.
“I had a long talk with my family. I decided it would be best for me and the team if I stepped away for a while,” he said. “At that point in time, I really thought I was done.”
Wash began working two jobs – as an assistant guidance counselor and at a Boys and Girls Club – all the while remaining in Vermillion, S.D.
“I was just working and going to school and trying to figure out the next steps in life,” he said.
Family intervention
Then came a phone call from Wash’s father suggesting he give football another go and that he should consider transferring to SIU where Lem’s younger brother, Miles, was on the roster.
“At first, I was reluctant. I thought, ‘I stopped playing ball, I’m done,’” Wash said. “But, talking to my brother a bit longer, he convinced me it was a good option.”
The next step was convincing SIU head coach Nick Hill and his staff that Wash deserved “a shot.”
Wash walked on to the team in the spring semester. He vowed to fit in “wherever the coaching staff thought best” and set out with a renewed determination.
Though the 5-foot-10, 220-pound Wash has played in all nine SIU games this fall, Saturday’s win proved to be his time to shine – even though rain fell throughout the entire afternoon.
While Wash led the Salukis with 79 receiving yards on two catches, his contributions went far beyond that.
“You can’t explain what he means to the team,” Saluki quarterback D.J. Williams said. “He doesn’t show up too much in the stat box. He comes in with a great attitude and a maturity.”
Williams shared in the joy of Wash’s catch-and-run touchdown.
“It paid off for him after he was doing all the dirty work on the QB runs,” Williams said. “He was blocking things up all day and then he gets to do the fun things and catch the ball.”
Meanwhile, Wash continued to focus on bigger outcomes.
“To be able to make big plays in a big win for our team as we go into the last three games of the year meant a whole lot to me,” he said. “There’s still work to be done.”
SIU (6-3 overall, 3-2 Missouri Valley Football Conference) plays at Youngstown State (5-4, 2-3) at 1 p.m. Saturday.
Both teams enter the game nationally ranked. SIU is 15th in the Stats Perform poll and 16th in the American Football Coaches Association ratings. YSU is 21st according to Stats and 22nd according to the AFCA.
This week’s opponent
Youngstown State is a bit of a mystery team. Are the Penguins the team that knocked off Illinois State in Normal or the team that lost badly to North Dakota?
They are 3-1 at home this season.
Youngstown State is led by junior quarterback Beau Brungard, who has produced 3,123 yards of total offense this season. He has accounted for 73% of the Penguins’ 22 touchdown runs.
Illinois native Max Tomczak leads the team with 49 receptions for 664 yards and five touchdowns. Speedster Ky “Flash” Wilson adds 34 catches for 351 yards and three TDs.
Five defenders have at least 41 tackles, led by defensive back Makai Shahid’s 52.
“They’ve got good skill players,” Hill said. “A mix of guys that have been there on defense with some new players. A lot of familiar faces from when we played a year ago.”
Kickoff: 1 p.m. TV: ESPN-Plus; Radio: CILFM.com.
Key matchup to watch
SIU defense vs. Brungard
Brungard ranks second in the FCS in total offensive yards per game (347) and has produced over a third of them on the ground (1,041) with half of his touchdowns via the run (16 of 30). Brungard became the sixth QB in MVFC history to rush for over 1,000 yards in a season in last week’s narrow loss at No. 1 North Dakota State.
“We’ve played against him for a couple of years. He’s come in and run the football. He’s always been an elite runner,” Hill said. “He’s throwing the ball accurately down the field. … The play is never dead with him. He’s a fun player to watch.”
What’s at stake
A victory would extend SIU’s winning streak to three games and mark the first triumph in Youngstown since the COVID-spring 2020 season.
Quick hits
Southern Illinois rallied for 19 fourth-quarter points to pull out a 37-33 win against Youngstown State last year in Carbondale. SIU quarterback Jake Curry fired a 20-yard TD pass to receiver Bradley Clark with 64 seconds left on the clock for the game-winner. …When the MVFC had its media day in Sioux Falls, S.D., in August, Hill found himself on a connecting flight with the Youngstown State contingent, which included Brungard. “Seeing his presence, what he’s about (impressed me),” Hill said. “He’s an elite quarterback who is doing a ton of things. The ball is in his hands a lot. He’s tough. He was on the flight, reading his Bible. I have a lot of respect for those guys.” … Brungard ranks second to South Dakota running back L.J. Phillips Jr. among MVFC rushing leaders. SIU’s Eddie Robinson, who leads the Salukis with 652 rushing yards, is fifth in the league. Williams (569) and Chandler Chapman (428) are eighth and 13th respectively, according to the MVFC. … Hill said SIU’s defense must be “great tacklers and rally to the ball” against Brungard and the Penguins.
Dan Verdun is a co-founder of Prairie State Pigskin. He has written four books: NIU Huskies Football, EIU Panthers Football, ISU Redbirds Football and SIU Salukis Football.
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