While Southern Illinois celebrated a 17-point lead at one point, the feeling turned sour when the Salukis dropped a 53-51, 5-overtime loss to South Dakota Saturday. (Photo by SIUSalukis.com)
By Dan Verdun
The weight of Saturday’s 53-51 loss to South Dakota in five overtimes could be seen on Southern Illinois head coach Nick Hill’s face and heard in his voice during the postgame media address.
“We needed one more play. It shouldn’t have come down to that,” he said. “You’ve got to be able to put teams away, but right now my mind is just on . . . look, we live this thing seven days a week, 24 hours a day.
“There’s really not a minute that goes by in my day that you’re not thinking, ‘How can we win this football game?’”
The defeat left SIU at 6-5 overall and 3-4 in the Missouri Valley Football Conference. It likely is the death knell for a Saluki postseason berth.
SIU has lost two straight games and faces rival Illinois State (8-3, 5-2) at noon Saturday in Normal. The No. 13/14 Redbirds are playing for the outside possibility of a top eight playoff seed.
Saturday’s loss followed an unsightly pattern for SIU. The Salukis have been outscored, 92-50, in the second halves of their four MVFC losses.
“We just got bogged down. It was similar to last week,” said Hill, referencing being outscored, 34-14, in the second half of a Nov. 8 loss at Youngstown State.
There was plenty of salt in the wounds of Saturday’s loss to South Dakota. It surely didn’t start that way.
Kickoff took place with the sun shining on a 75-degree day. The Saluki seniors were honored along with members of the military.
And SIU appeared to be rolling with momentum on their side.
Leading 24-14 at halftime, SIU forced an early third quarter South Dakota turnover. Saluki linebacker Andrew Behm deflected an Aidan Bouman pass into the hands of teammate Jeremiah McClendon. The senior cornerback returned the interception to the USD 8-yard line.
The Salukis’ lead jumped to 31-14 when holder Jace Clark tossed a touchdown pass to tight end Ryan Schwendeman on a fake field goal.
Then, the tide turned.
South Dakota scored the next 20 points, including a 32-yard field goal with 1 minute, 10 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to nab a 34-31 lead.
To SIU’s credit, the Salukis put together an 8-play, 57-yard drive that culminated with Paul Geelen’s 36-yard field goal to force overtime.
Five extra sessions later — including the NCAA-mandated alternating 2-point attempts from the opposing 3-yard line when the third overtime began – South Dakota came away with the victory, one that should propel the Coyotes (8-4, 6-2) into the FCS postseason bracket.
Certainly there was euphoria and elation as the Coyotes made their way back to their Vermillion, S.D., campus.
The same can’t be said in Carbondale.
“You have to be willing to accept that feeling right there,” Hill said. “You’ve got to put your heart into it, your soul into it. You’ve got to go out there with confidence that nothing is guaranteed.
“I’ve talked to these guys about that. You’ve got to show back up. You’ve got to have some grit, high character and go back out there knowing the results are not guaranteed. That’s the tough part about this game.”
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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