Southern Illinois University
3-4 , 2-2
Youngstown St.
3-4 , 1-3
Salukis stun No. 16 Youngstown State in overtime, 38-31
10/24/2015 | 12:00:00 | Football
By John Lock
SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Southern Illinois football team stunned No. 16 Youngstown State in overtime on Homecoming in Saluki Stadium, 38-31. SIU trailed by 11 with just over five minutes remaining but made a furious rally and forced overtime with an Austin Johnson field goal with six seconds remaining in regulation. Mark Iannotti threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Israel Lamprakes in the overtime, and the defense came up with a huge fourth-and-2 stop inside the 10-yard line to give SIU the victory.
"It's the best feeling in the world," Iannotti said. "The reason I can say that is because our four losses have been the worst feeling in the world."
SIU had four losses by a combined eight points; and for a while, it seemed like SIU might have caught another bad break. Chase Allen blocked a fourth-quarter field goal to apparently keep it a one-score game, but YSU picked it up behind the line of scrimmage and advanced it for a first down. Later in the drive, the 'Guins hit a field goal to go up 11 with 5:35 to play.
"The message I was telling the team all week was, 'It's going to happen; you have to believe,'" head coach Dale Lennon said. "You just keep repeating that to them. When we went to overtime, I pulled the whole team together: 'Guys, we got this.'"
But SIU made its own breaks to force overtime. The Salukis caught Youngstown in an all-out blitz on a screen pass to Daquan Isom, who took it 75 yards to the house. The defense responded by forcing a YSU 3-and-out, and the offense drove all the way down to the 1-yard line before settling for a game-tying field goal with six seconds remaining.
"I trusted our defense," head coach Dale Lennon said. "To go into overtime, you need some faith in your defense that they can make a stop. Offensively, we had some momentum at that point in time, so you feel good about that. You're tempted to go for it. You're a yard out; go for the win. But I just felt that fighting back the way we did, to come up short would be very demoralizing."
Youngstown won the overtime toss and elected to play defense first. It forced SIU into a 3rd-and-9 from the 24-yard line, but Mark Iannotti got a defensive end to jump and tossed up a jump ball for Lamprakes, who hauled it in for the go-ahead score.
"We knew we had a free play," Iannotti said. "Coach Hill has drilled into our heads during meetings: 'You can't have long foul balls.' If we have a free play on the field, we have to give our guy a shot."
In a battle of the MVFC's top-ranked offense, Southern Illinois (3-4, 2-2 MVFC), and top-ranked defense, Youngstown State (3-4, 1-3 MVFC), Southern Illinois' offense won out, piling up 459 yards against a Penguin defense that came into the game allowing fewer than 280 yards per game. Youngstown came in leading the nation in pass defense, allowing just 90.8 yards through the air before Mark Iannotti threw for 275 yards and three touchdowns against the 'Guins.
SIU's defense gave up a pair of touchdowns in the second quarter to Youngstown State, but Kenny James opened the second half with a pick-six to bring SIU back within 14-13. YSU's offense got rolling again, scoring on three-straight possessions overlapping the third and fourth quarters. But when it mattered the most down the stretch, SIU forced the 3-and-out that gave the offense the opportunity to force overtime and the fourth-down stop that won the game.
"Just getting Chase Allen back," Lennon said. "That in itself really gave us an emotional lift."
Allen sat the first half due to conference rules about a targeting penalty he was called for last week in the second half at Indiana State. In the second half and overtime alone, Allen had 10 tackles, a tackle for loss and two blocked kicks.
SIU evened its conference record at 2-2 and improved to 3-0 at Saluki Stadium this year. SIU hosts four-time defending national champ North Dakota State next week. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. CT.
"To come back the way we did, hopefully that gives our guys a taste of good things happening," Lennon said. "We need that type of momentum going into next week."
Team Stats
YSU 7, SIU 0
YSU - Williams,Andrew 1 yd pass from Wells, Hunter (Kennedy, Zak kick) 6 plays, 66 yards, TOP 2:39
YSU 7, SIU 7
SIU - Reed, Billy 63 yd pass from Iannotti, Mark (Johnson, Austin kick) 3 plays, 64 yards, TOP 0:41
YSU 14, SIU 7
YSU - Davis, Ricky 5 yd run (Kennedy, Zak kick), 12 plays, 81 yards, TOP 4:36
YSU 14, SIU 13
SIU - James, Kenny 41 yd interception (Johnson, Austin kickblocked)
YSU 14, SIU 20
SIU - Iannotti, Mark 2 yd run (Johnson, Austin kick), 9 plays, 55 yards, TOP 2:46
YSU 21, SIU 20
YSU - Harvin, I. 7 yd pass from Wells, Hunter (Kennedy, Zak kick) 10 plays, 75 yards, TOP 4:39
YSU 28, SIU 20
YSU - Williams,Andrew 85 yd pass from Wells, Hunter (Kennedy, Zak kick) 2 plays, 89 yards, TOP 0:48
YSU 31, SIU 20
YSU - Kennedy, Zak 23 yd field goal 13 plays, 67 yards, TOP 6:32
YSU 31, SIU 28
SIU - Isom, Daquan 75 yd pass from Iannotti, Mark (Findlater, Shaq pass) 3 plays, 75 yards, TOP 0:25
YSU 31, SIU 31
SIU - Johnson, Austin 18 yd field goal 13 plays, 46 yards, TOP 3:11
YSU 31, SIU 38
SIU - Lamprakes, Isra 24 yd pass from Iannotti, Mark (Johnson, Austin kick) 3 plays, 25 yards, TOP 0:00
