Southern Illinois head coach Nick Hill and quarterback D.J. Williams remain positive despite the Salukis’ slim postseason chances. (Photo by SIUSalukis.com)
By Dan Verdun
During its bye this week, Southern Illinois continues to strain for improved results after the Salukis’ most exhilarating victory of the season.
“Strain” is a word head coach Nick Hill has used frequently with his team and the media this season.
SIU’s players and their coach called Saturday’s 20-17 home win against No. 21 Northern Iowa “needed.”
The victory improved SIU’s record to 4-5 overall and 2-3 in the Missouri Valley Football Conference.
“We needed it bad,” defensive end Ibrahim “Abe” Sanogo said.
Linebacker Charles Whelpley said, “It’s huge with momentum.”
Hill went even further.
“We needed a win in the worst way. We all know that. Nobody has to tell us that,” he said.
The 11th-year head coach thanked his players and staff for their continued effort as SIU snapped a three-game losing streak.
“It’s been a long three weeks,” Hill said. “I’ve been asked this last week, ‘How do you know they’re going to come back?’ I’ve been around them every day. It’s easy to see what type of effort (they exhibit). Competitive spirit is the best way to describe it.”
Williams, the quarterback who returned to SIU for his seventh college season, rushed for a team-high 89 yards and scored two touchdowns against UNI despite being hobbled by nagging injuries.
“It means a lot to a team that continues to fight,” Williams said of his efforts.
The Salukis strung together a nine-play, 52-yard drive and pulled out the win on a 31-yard field goal by freshman kicker Weston Schofield on the game’s final play.
Here’s a look at three pluses and three minuses so far:
Plus column
DJ gutting it out: It’s obvious that Williams is battling through knee issues. One ailment is from the past; the other injury came in the opener at West Florida.
“It’s no secret. Everybody’s got our tape,” Hill said.
Yes, Williams’ production is down from a season ago. Yes, he hasn’t been able to run like he would this season. Yes, he’s just one player among an entire team in a sport that functions on 11 performing tasks at a high level.
But, D.J. Williams has the ability and the drive to will SIU to wins. That was on display Saturday against Northern Iowa.
This is why Hill believes in him so much. This is why his teammates respond to his leadership.
“He played gutsy all night. That was a gutsy performance,” Hill said. “We were standing up here last week with people asking about DJ. … DJ responded today. Our team responds to DJ. They know how he’s feeling and hurting.”
“No matter how I feel, it doesn’t matter. We got the win,” Williams said, expressing his “love” for his teammates.
The promise of a win
Saturday’s last-second victory against a ranked team not only gives the Salukis some bite, it gives them momentum to build on in the off week.
Furthermore, the late bye week allows more time for Williams and other players to rest weary bodies and recalibrate for the stretch drive.
It’s a stretch that puts SIU on the road for two of the final three games. The Salukis play a pesky Indiana State team that battled Top 10-ranked Illinois State to the wire this past weekend. It’s then followed by No. 5 South Dakota State in Carbondale before closing with a trip to No. 9 North Dakota.
“I’m still a believer. We’ve got the dogs for it. We’ve got the guys for it,” said Sanogo, who was named MVFC Defensive Player of the Week on Monday. “This success is going to continue for the next three games. I promise you that.”
Whelpley registered 10 tackles and a sack against Northern Iowa.
“This bye week is going to get us healthier. We need it. Just rest, rest, rest,” he said. “The bye week is big for just working on ourselves, the fundamentals, just getting us right mentally, too.”
Schofield surprise
Since taking over kicking duties in mid-September, Schofield has made all eight of his field-goal attempts.
The freshman from Jefferson City, Mo., nailed all four kicks against Murray State earlier this month. He’s 14-for-15 on extra points.
The 5-foot-8, 155-pound Schofield capped Saturday’s win in dramatic fashion.
“I was watching them (teammates) carry Weston around, singing the fight song. That’s what you do it for,” Hill said.
Minus column
No margin for error
SIU must win out to have any shot at postseason consideration. Even if the Salukis run the table and finish with a 7-5 overall record (5-3 MVFC), their playoff position remains precarious.
“Nobody believes we can make the playoffs, but I still believe,” Williams said. “We go out here and win these last three games, against two against two Top 10 teams in the country, and then beat Indiana State on the road, I feel like we will still get in the playoffs.”
The FCS playoff committee historically has rewarded seven-win teams from the MVFC over eight- or even nine-win teams from weaker conferences because of the grueling weekly competition.
However, with perennial national champion North Dakota State having moved up to the FBS level, the league may not hold the same prestige with the playoff committee.
SIU would need bubble teams from other conferences — notably the Big Sky or the Coastal Athletic Association – to stumble down the stretch and clear more at-large spots.
The effect of Williams’ lingering injuries
SIU’s quarterback left the season-opening loss at West Florida with a first-half injury. He missed the following game at Samford before returning to contribute to SIU’s win against regional rival Southeast Missouri.
Hill has stuck with Williams no matter how hobbled his star is nor what the scoreboard reads.
The SIU head coach was asked after the recent 35-14 home loss to rival Illinois State if he considered replacing Williams with experienced backup Jake Curry.
Hill responded saying that he and the team had confidence in Curry, the Edwardsville native who started in the win at Samford.
“There are times that someone can give a spark. We chose today to go the way that we did,” Hill said after the ISU game.
When a followup question was posed, Hill said, “DJ is our quarterback. I’m in there with all those guys. At this moment right now, without being able to watch the film, I feel like it needs to be on me more than it needs to be on anybody else.”
During Saturday’s postgame press conference, Williams said that no one outside the team knows what’s going on or how he feels “for real.”
“And nobody will know because it’s (about) coming in here to continue to work for my teammates, the boys that I love, the men that I love, day in and day out,” he said.
Hill, a former Saluki quarterback himself, does understand what Williams is battling.
“I know that’s frustrating to him. He’s used to being one of the fastest guys on the field. Now it has to be grind-them-out runs or get out of bounds or get 9 (yards), get 8 (rather than longer runs),” Hill said.
Negative plays
Though the Salukis have a zero turnover margin in Missouri Valley games, the Salukis haven’t cashed in on their gains as much as opponents.
“The past couple weeks, it’s been like 14 (points) for them, zero for us,” Hill said.
In its three conference losses, SIU committed seven more penalties for 28 more yards than its foes and has allowed six more sacks.
Moreover, Southern has converted 31% of third downs compared to 48% for opponents in the three Valley losses.
SIU ranks last in fumble recoveries in league games among nine teams with only one in five conference contests
“I keep saying, it’s a simple game, (but) it’s hard to do,” Hill said. “Don’t turn the football over. When they give you extra possessions, turn them into points. Stay ahead of the chains. Don’t take negative plays. Be disruptive on defense. Do that and you end up on the winning side more than the losing.”
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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