Dawgs are ranked No. 8 nationally to open home season vs No. 12 Incarnate Word
By Jim Beers
CARBONDALE – The Southern Illinois University at Carbondale Football Team now sits at No. 8 nationally in the Football Championship Sub-Division (FCS) as it enters Week 3 of the 2024 football season.
SIU running back, Lashaun Lester, Jr., (28), a 5’10” 207 Lb. running back, sprints down the field in the Saluki’s 31-17 win at Austin Peay Saturday September 7. Lester Jr. accumulated 111 yards to pace the Saluki rushing game. With the win the Dawgs improved to 1-1 for the season and moved up the national FCS rankings to No. 8 in the AFCA Coaches Top-25 Poll
The Salukis lost, 41-13, in Week 1 at Provo Utah at BYU (Brigham Young University). The Cougars compete in the FBS (Football Bowl Division). The FBS is the division that has all of the bigger schools in the nation.
These schools battle to make it to a post-season bowl each season. FCS schools battle to make the annual FCS Football Championship Playoffs in hopes of becoming the National Champion. SIU was National Champion in 1983 in the NCAA I-AA Division.
BYU greeted the Dawgs with a sold-out at LaVell Edwards Stadium with 63,712 hungry fans wanting to stand tall against the much smaller FCS Salukis. In recent years SIU has had beaten FBS Power Five teams, including Northwestern and Northern Illinois.
This year’s game at BYU was quite a step up for the Dawgs who struggled with the much bigger and talent-loaded Cougars. BYU awards quite a few more scholarships as it boasts 34,000 students and is the third-largest university in the United States. Currently SIU is happy that its student population has grown to 11,000 students.
The Salukis Football Program has won six games against FBS teams in the history of the program, including 3 wins in the past 5 years. SIU Head Coach, Nick Hill, from DuQuoin, Illinois, has been a part of five of those six wins against the bigger schools either as a player or coach!
SIU did a great job of caging the Cougars throughout the first 15-minute quarter. BYU was scoreless until the 6:16 mark when the Cougars successfully ran a 13-play, 65-yard series that resulted in a Hinckley Ropati touchdown. The extra-point was successful and BYU led, 7-0. Just 4-minutes later the Cougars scored again, this time on a 57-yard touchdown pass. BYU led 14-0 after one quarter of play.
The second quarter was a huge defensive battle with neither team scoring until Saluki quarterback DJ Williams (who transferred from Murray State this season) completed a long pass with 2:24 to play in the half.
Williams then scored his own running touchdown on a 1-yard quarterback keeper with just 46-seconds left in the half. The Salukis successfully completed an 8-play, 70 yard series that burned 2:43. The extra-point kick was defended, but the Salukis pulled within eight points, 14-6.
The bigger, very talented, and player-loaded Cougars weren’t finished, however, as they used the final .46 to score again. They ran just three plays from scrimmage to position themselves for a 43-yard Will Ferrin field goal with 4-seconds on the clock. The first half ended with SIU still within striking distance, behind by only 11 points, 17-6.
The Cougars used a 2-touchdown scoring spree to open the third quarter to take a 31-6 lead at the 8:12 mark. SIU did score again at the 4:19 mark when quarterback DJ Williams orchestrated an 8-play, 75-yard drive that resulted in him rushing 38-yards for another Saluki touchdown. Paul Geelen kicked the extra point and the Dawgs trailed, 31-13 at the end of the third period.
The Cougars added a pair of TD’s in the 4th Quarter to win the game, 41.13, and start the season, 1-0. SIU, on the other hand begun 2024 with a tough loss to a loaded BYU squad and with a 0-1 record in Week 1.
Coach Nick Hill said, “This was a good environment and they played a clean game. They are a good team that is very physical. The question now is. ‘How will we respond to this loss and beginning to the season’? Our attitude has to be good and positive tomorrow. Every team in the country is either 1-0 or 0-1 at this point! How will we respond?”
Well, the Salukis apparently responded well and traveled to Clarksville, Tennessee to take on the Austin Peay Governors on Saturday September 7. The result was a 31-17 Saluki victory on the road.
The first quarter was somewhat questionable for the Salukis as the Governors held the Dawgs to “four-and-out” their first two possessions and scored against the Salukis at the 6:38 mark to take an early, 7-0 lead.
On SIU’s next possession the Salukis achieved a 13-play, 75-yard drive that featured four first downs topped-off with a Jaelin Benefield 9-yard touchdown run. Paul Geelen kicked the extra-point and the Salukis tied to game, 7-7, with 49-second left in the first quarter.
Each team scored in the second quarter. Austin Peay scored a field goal on a 9-play, 69-yard series at the 5:26 mark. The Governors led, 10-7.
With one second on the clock, the Salukis scored their second touchdown of the game with an 8-play, 71-yard effort that ended with a 4-yard touchdown pass from DJ Williams to Vinson Davis III. Paul Geelen kicked the extra-point and SIU took a 14-10 lead into the locker room at halftime.
After halftime the Dawgs picked up right where they left off with a 35-yard touchdown pass from DJ Williams to Ryan Schwendeman. Paul Geelen kicked the extra-point and the Salukis extended their lead to 21-10 at the 11:18 mark. The series took 6 plays and 59 yards in just 1:14.
Just when it looked as if the Dawgs might run away with the game, Austin Peay struck again at the 5:07 mark of the third quarter on a 19-yard pass from Austin Smith to Roman Copeland, Jr. Carson Smith kicked the extra-point and the Governors were back within four points, 21-17.
Austin Peay held the Salukis on their next possession after the Dawgs achieved three first downs. The Governors forced a Saluki punt with 1:23 remaining in the 3rd quarter. After AP ran two successful plays, the Salukis intercepted a Governor pass with .03 seconds left in the period. SIU led, 21-17 after three quarters of battle.
The Saluki defense went to work in the final quarter and held the Governors scoreless. The Saluki offense, on the other hand, added two more touchdowns to seal the win!
With 4:34 to play in the game DJ Williams scampered across the finish line on a QB Keeper to top off a 6-play, 64-yard, series that took 2:53. Geelen kicked the extra-point and SIU extended their lead to 29-17.
Still not done, SIU scored one final touchdown with 2:09 left in the game to put the Governors away. This time it was 28-yard field goal by Paul Geelen for three points. This effort ended a 1:02 drive that took just four plays. SIU won the game, 31-17.
In the win, SIU rushed for 213 yards and the tight Saluki defense sacked the AP quarterback seven times, led by Ben Bogle who earned both MVC and FCS top defensive honors for his deadly skills! Bogle had a total of 11 tackles and 5.5 tackles for a loss along with 3.5 sacks.
In the 4th quarter SIU outgained the Governors 91-8 yards with Lester Jr. gaining 46 yards on one play. Coach Hill said, “Unbelievable play! That’s what we talk about. Playing with relentless passion. Chasing the ball, punching the ball from behind. That kind of play can lead to great things in a football game!”
After starting the season on the road for two games, SIU has four of its next five games at home! SIU hosts No. 12 Incarnate Word this Saturday September 14 at Saluki Stadium at 6:00 p.m. followed by SEMO Saturday September 21 at 6 P.M.
The Dawgs then travel to South Dakota Saturday September 28, after which they return home for back-to-back games Saturday October 5 vs Illinois State and Saturday October 12 for Homecoming when the Salukis host No. 2 North Dakota State. The Salukis are currently ranked No. 8 in the nation in the American Football Conference Association Top-25 Poll for September 9, 2024.