Dawgs fall in a close one at Illinois State, 31-28

Saturday, October 15

Normal, Ill.

6:00 PM

Southern Illinois University

2-4 , 0-3

Illinois St.

3-4 , 1-3

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Southern Illinois	10	0	11	7	28
Illinois State	7	7	14	3	31

10/15/2016 | 10:15:00 | Football

Box Score

By: John Lock, SIUSalukis.com

Photos

NORMAL, Ill. - The Southern Illinois football team lost another heartbreaker on Saturday night, falling at Illinois State, 31-28. SIU (2-4, 0-3 MVFC) has now lost six-straight games decided by three points or fewer dating back to the start of the 2015 season.

"We came up short," SIU head coach Nick Hill said. "We had opportunities throughout the game to win. Coming into the game it felt like we had a good plan. I thought guys stepped up and made plays, they were just able to make a few more plays than us to come out with the win."

SIU jumped out to a 10-0 lead. Southern's defense held Illinois State (3-4, 1-3 MVFC) to four-straight 3-and-outs to start the game. At that point, Southern had held the Birds to 11 total yards in 12 plays. Southern's offense had just scored on back-to-back possessions. Cameron Walter ran over a defender on his way to a 29-yard touchdown and Austin Johnson hit a 51-yard field goal.

But Illinois State came right back with back-to-back 55- and 14-yard runs to quickly get within 10-7. SIU's true freshman safety Jeremy Chinn, making his first career start, picked off a pass in the end zone on Illinois State's next drive, but the Redbirds took a 14-10 lead after their next possession.

SIU had a chance to take the lead before halftime. In the final minute of the half, quarterback Josh Straughan hit Connor Iwema for 27 yards on 3rd-and-14. Iwema was ruled down short of the goalline; and on the next play, Walter fumbled into the end zone and Illinois State recovered with 10 seconds left before half.

The Salukis scored on their first two drives of the second half, sandwiched around another Illinois State touchdown, to tie the game at 21. That's where Illinois State took control of the game. Southern threw a pick, which was immediately followed by a 38-yard Illinois State touchdown pass. Another 3-and-out and a 23-yard punt return turned into three more Redbird points.

"You don't want them to come out and get some easy ones on you," Hill said. "Ultimately, we still had chances in the fourth quarter to win the game. I think theres always a few drives where you wish you could get something going and take the lead. We haven't been able to do what you look to. That's something we need to try to get better at."

After Illinois State took a 31-21 lead, Southern's defense forced four-straight 3-and-outs, but Southern's offense--playing shorthanded without running backs Daquan Isom and Jonathan Mixon--also went 3-and-out on three-straight possessions. Eventually, SIU broke through with a 35-yard touchdown pass from Straughan to Darrell James; but by that point, SIU needed an on-side kick to get the ball back, which was unsuccessful.

"We had a good plan coming in here," Hill said. "The guys did everything that you want them to do throughout the week as far as preparing and their attitudes. They never wavered on that. We'll come to work tomorrow as coaches and it will be same old same old as far as getting to work and preparing for another football game."

SIU hosts Indiana State next weekend in Saluki Stadium for Homecoming. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. CT.

NOTES: SIU held Illinois State to 11 first downs...Jeremy Chinn led the team in tackles and had an interception in his first career start...Cameron Walter had 72 yards rushing, the second-most in his career behind his 210-yard game at Missouri State in 2014...Austin Johnson's 51-yard field goal was his third career field goal of 50+ yards. He is the first player in program history with three career field goals of at least 50 yards...SIU has played one-possession games in 11 of its last 17 games dating back to the 2015 season. SIU is 2-9 in those 11 one-possession games.