Football comeback bid falls short in 36-28 loss to Missouri State

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CARBONDALE, Ill. — Missouri State reeled off 24-unanswered points in the first quarter and withstood a second-half comeback by Southern Illinois to win, 36-28, on Saturday afternoon at Saluki Stadium.

The loss was a blow to the playoff hopes of the Salukis (4-5, 2-4), who were trying to bounce back from last week's season-ending injury to starting quarterback Sam Straub. Today, they used a tag-team approach at QB, with sophomore Tanner Hearn making his first-career start, but wildcat-specialist Matt DeSomer taking plenty of reps as well. Often times, down-and-distance determined which quarterback was under center, with the passing reps primarily going to Hearn.

The formula was efficient and gave Southern an opportunity to win. The offense generated 496 total yards, as the quarterbacks combined for 22-of-34 passing for 257 yards and three touchdowns, plus 21 carries for 87 yards on the ground. Hearn had the bulk of the passing yards (180 and all three TDs), while DeSomer was the team's leading rusher (74).

"That's the first time we've had to do it like that, so I think we'll get better at deciding who's in a rhythm," said Saluki head coach Nick Hill. "You'd like to have one of them, but that's the way we're going to have to go the rest of the season."

Southern jumped out to a 7-0 lead two minutes into the game. A targeting penalty against Missouri State's Zack Sanders on special teams gave the Salukis great field position at MSU's 40-yard line. It took three plays for running back Cameron Walter to cross the goal line. He carried up the middle for a gain of 25 yards, setting up a six-yard TD plunge.

The rest of the first quarter was dominated by the Bears (3-6, 2-4), who produced a fistful of momentum-changing big plays. First came a 72-yard kickoff return by Matt Rush that led to a 10-yard scoring burst by Jason Randall. A short punt by SIU gave the Bears great field position at Southern's 47 on their next drive. Peyton Huslig connected with Lorenzo Thomas on a 40-yard completion that initially appeared to be intercepted by safety Jeremy Chinn, however Thomas wrestled the ball away from him as they hit the turf. MSU settled for a Zach Drake 22-yard field goal to take 10-7 lead.

On SIU's next possession, Hearn was sacked for a 17-yard loss, the ball came loose and was recovered by the Bears at the Saluki 16. It took three plays for Erik Furmanek to punch it in from eight yards out to make the score 17-7. Missouri State capped the first-quarter scoring when Huslig found Malik Earl wide open for a 57-yard scoring strike to push the Bears' lead to 24-7.

"We didn't play good, clean football," Hill said. "You score and then you give up a long return that leads to a touchdown, you punt and give them another short field, then you turn it over and give up another short field."

Southern bounced back in the second quarter when Hearn hit Connor Iwema for a six-yard scoring strike to cap a nine-play 83-yard drive. Even though it was Hearn with the TD pass, DeSomer had carries of 11 and 13 yards, plus a completion to D.J. Davis for a catch-and-run of 42 yards. Already ailing with a bruised shoulder and knee, DeSomer turned an ankle on the drive as well.

"He's such a tough kid, he battled and gave us a spark," Hill said.

Trailing, 24-14, the Salukis had a chance to swing the momentum even further in their favor heading into halftime, but with 1st-and-10 at the MSU 13 yard line, Hearn was picked off in the end zone by Darius Joseph. The Bears took full advantage of the remaining 54 seconds, getting into position for a 35-yard field goal by Drake to take a 27-14 halftime lead.

Southern rallied to take the lead in the second half, as Hearn made a perfect throw for a 29-yard TD strike to Darrell James, and then hit Davis in the flat, allowing the electric wide receiver to weave his way through defenders for a 47-yard touchdown that put the Salukis on top, 28-27 with 12:08 remaining. Davis had 130 yards receiving, 40 rushing and 55 in the return game.

"Going into the game I wanted to get D.J. the ball 25 or 30 times, whether that's in returns, receiving, running," Hill said. "If you get him the ball, good things keep happening. You just have to try to find ways, and it gets more difficult as the season goes on. Teams adjust to how you get him the ball. You just have to come up with a good plan to try to find space for him."

Missouri State regained the lead and the momentum with a 73-yard touchdown drive, capped off by a 26-yard pass from Huslig to Furmanek down the left sideline. The two-point conversion failed, leaving the score, 33-28. The drive was aided by a 15-yard targeting penalty on Cody Crider, who delivered a hit on Huslig.

Another 15-yard penalty on SIU's offense forced the unit to punt on its next possession with four minutes left in the game. The Bears' offense then delivered the game's back-breaking play with a 62-yard gallop by Randall on 3rd-and-3 that set them up at Southern's 13 yard line with under three minutes remaining. They settled for a field goal to go up by eight points, but left the Salukis with less than a minute to play and no timeouts. Southern's offense did not cross midfield before turning it over on downs.

The Salukis have two games remaining on the schedule including Senior Day next Saturday against Youngstown State.

"I believe in this program," Hill said. "I wish that we would have won this game and won the last three and gave us a shot at the playoffs, because I still know that's where this program is headed and will get there. I wish it would happen faster, but like I tell the guys all the time, there's no blaming, complaining, defending."

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