Late rally falls short against Youngstown State, 28-20

Saturday, November 11

Carbondale, Ill.

1 p.m.

Southern Illinois University

4-6 , 2-5

Youngstown State

5-5 , 3-4

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Youngstown State	0	14	7	7	28
Southern Illinois	0	7	10	3	20

11/11/2017 | 6:32:00 | Football

Box Score

By: By John Lock | SIUSalukis.com

CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Southern Illinois football team rallied in the second half against Youngstown State, but the Penguins held on for the 28-20 win on Southern's Senior Day.

Southern (4-6, 2-5 MVFC) trailed 21-10 late in the third quarter before seizing the momentum with a trick play that set up a touchdown. The defense got a turnover and another stop, setting up an SIU field goal to bring the score to 21-20. Southern got the ball back with three minutes to play, but Youngstown's Justus Reed stripped SIU quarterback Matt DeSomer and returned it for a touchdown. SIU's last-minute chance to force overtime ended with a turnover on downs.

"The preparation and the locked-in-throughout-the-week has been there, but we just have to get better as a team and as a program," SIU head coach Nick Hill said.

DeSomer, who was a backup safety this year until Sam Straub's injury, played the vast majority of the game at quarterback. Impressively, DeSomer was Southern's leading passer, rusher and receiver in the game. He ran in a 58-yard scamper for a touchdown. Two 20+ yard runs set up scores, and he caught a 34-yard pass that set up another score. He finished with 140 yards rushing -- the fourth-most for a quarterback in SIU history and the most for any SIU player since 2015.

"DeSomer is a really good football player," Hill said. "He's a heck of a football player. He's somewhat like Mark Iannotti, where he's primarily going to run the football, but he can throw it good enough to beat you. He proved that today. He gives you a lot of flexibility as an offensive play caller. You can spread him out. If you get less people, he'll run it. It's hard to prepare for. He's just a good, solid football player."

Youngstown State (5-5, 3-4 MVFC) came into the game with just five turnovers all year; the Saluki defense forced four on Saturday. Anthony Knighton showed why he was added to the watch list for the Jerry Rice Award, which is given to the top freshman in the FCS. Knighton added 1.5 tackles for loss and a sack to his season totals. Jeremy Chinn forced two fumbles, and Craig James picked off a pass on his Senior Day.

The Salukis showed resilience against a Youngstown State team that played in the national championship game last season. SIU was in its second game without starting QB Sam Straub, who suffered a season-ending injury at South Dakota, and the Salukis lost their second-straight one-possession game. Southern Illinois fell to 3-15 in one-possession games since the start of the 2015 season.

"We did some good things and we battled, but I told them we're not into moral victories," Hill said. "We have to get over that. We have to get over coming close and not making the plays that are needed to win. I sit up here every single week and there are a few plays that affect the outcome of the game."

The Salukis went 1-for-11 on third down, and Youngstown gained a 10-minute advantage in time of possession thanks in large part to 252 yards rushing. Tevin McCaster had 158 yards on 26 caries. The Salukis averaged nearly five yards per rush but went just 7-for-25 passing.

The Salukis close the season next week at Western Illinois. The Leathernecks are ranked in the top-15 of both national polls entering this weekend. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. in Macomb.