Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
Youngstown St
Salukis Knock Off #2 Youngstown State
03/19/2001 | 12:00:00 | Football
November 11, 2000
Youngstown, Ohio -
Southern Illinois scored 21 points in the final 11:33 to overcome a 20-0 deficit and stun second-ranked Youngstown State 21-20 before a crowd of 16,549 at Stambaugh Stadium Saturday afternoon.
The Penguins, who dropped to 8-2 overall and 4-2 in the Gateway Football Conference, led 20-0 before a Scott Everhart punt hit YSU's Demetrius Rich in the head and SIU's Matt Fraze fell on the ball in the end zone. The fumble recovery cut the deficit to 20-7 with 11:33 left.
On the Salukis' (3-7, 2-4) next drive, quarterback Sherard Poteete, who did not play until the fourth quarter, connected on a nine-yard touchdown pass to Brian Hamlett. SIU took the lead when Poteete hit Kevin Gleeson on a nine-yard touchdown pass with 5:43 remaining.
YSU had a golden opportunity to rally when SIU long snapper Ryan Edwards sent the ball over Everhart's head and the Penguins took over at the Southern Illinois 30 with 2:53 left. But two Jeff Ryan incompletions and a Ryan rush for no gain led to a 47-yard field goal attempt into the wind by Jake Stewart with 1:53 left. Stewart, who missed an extra point in the second quarter, was wide on his attempt and SIU ran the clock out to beat YSU for the first time sincee 1986.
The Penguins could not move the ball against the Saluki defense, mustering just nine first downs and 89 total yards. Those totals ranked as the third lowest in school history in any game. YSU had a minus-9 yards rushing to set a school record for the lowest rushing output in the program's 60-year history. Ryan, who ran for a career-high 125 yards last week, finished with a minus-50 total on Sunday.
