UNI tops SIU in MVFC opener, 24-17

From John Lock siusalukis.com

CARBONDALE, IL. – The Southern Illinois football program fought back from a 17-3 halftime deficit, but Northern Iowa hung on for a 24-17 win at Saluki Stadium on Saturday night. The Salukis twice had the ball with a chance to tie in the game’s final minutes, but interceptions ended both drives.

“That’s a tough one to lose at home,” SIU head coach Nick Hill said. “I felt like we had the opportunities to win that football game. We were battling uphill the entire night and didn’t execute a high enough level to win the football game. You have to execute consistently on a high basis, and we didn’t do that in the areas that we needed to.”

The Salukis (2-2, 0-1 MVFC) flew into UNI territory on the opening drive, but a penalty pushed SIU to the brink of field goal range. Matt Sotiropoulos’s 45-yard attempt hit the crossbar and bounced back onto the field. UNI (2-2, 1-0 MVFC) took the momentum and ran off 10 points before the Salukis gained another yard.

SIU kicked a field goal to get within a touchdown, but the Panthers immediately responded with a touchdown to take a 17-3 lead into halftime. Southern’s defense opened the third quarter strong, and the Salukis got within a touchdown after a 29-yard touchdown from Sam Straub to Darrell James on fourth-and-10. But UNI again answered with an immediate touchdown to push its lead out to two scores. That touchdown was the only second-half score Southern’s defense allowed.

“We’re four games in, so we have to take a honest evaluation and get better collectively,” Hill said. “I do think we have a good football team, and we showed that our defense is a lot better. That’s the first time we’ve held UNI under 40 points in four seasons. Our defense battled.”

Kyron Watson forced and recovered a fumble early in the fourth quarter, and the Salukis marked 54 yards in four plays to get back within seven, 24-17. After that, the defense forced three-straight punts, but the offense committed three-straight turnovers with a chance to tie the game–twice deep in Panther territory.

Jacob Varble fumbled after landing awkwardly inside the UNI 15-yard line. The Salukis got the ball back with 3:43 to play at its own 18, and SIU drove inside the UNI 10 with less than two minutes to go. Straub’s pass to Daquan Isom hit off his chest, and UNI’s Jake Hartford caught the deflection to end the threat. The Salukis got the ball back with 38 seconds and no timeouts, but Malcolm Washington ended the game with an interception on the second play of the drive.

“I was proud that we were able to make it close and have the opportunities to win the game; but to take that next step, you have to be able to go win that game,” Hill said. “That’s what the Missouri Valley is going to be like. We have to figure out how to get better from this game because it doesn’t get any easier.”

SIU fell to UNI for the fourth-straight year, the longest losing streak for either team in the series since the mid-1990s. The Salukis travel to South Dakota State for a matchup against the nationally ranked Jackrabbits next Saturday.

NOTES

The game was the annual Black Out Cancer game … This year, the jersey bidding raised more than $28,000 for the Southern Illinois Healthcare Cancer Institute … The Salukis fell to 5-2 in the seven years of the Black Out Cancer game … Darrell James surpassed 1,000 career receiving yards … Daquan Isom recorded his fourth career 100-yard rushing game … The Salukis did not allow a sack for the third-straight game and have allowed just one sack all season.