Saturday, October 20
Carbondale, Ill.
2:00 PM
Southern Illinois University
1-6 , 0-4
21
vs
24
Indiana St.
3-4 , 1-3
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Indiana State
7
7
10
0
24
Southern Illinois
7
0
0
14
21
Late rally comes up short as Football falls to Indiana State, 24-21
10/20/2018 | 6:57:00 | Football
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Southern Illinois rallied for two touchdowns in the final eight minutes, but its last drive ended near midfield as time expired, allowing Indiana State to escape with a 24-21 win on Saturday at Saluki Stadium.
The Salukis (1-6, 0-4) have been unable to get over the hump in close games. Four of their last five losses have been decided by a touchdown or less. Today, they had no problem establishing the run, piling up 294 yards on the ground, including a game-opening 81-yard touchdown drive that featured 12-straight running plays.
Both quarterback Matt DeSomer (135 yards) and running back D.J. Davis (126 yards) topped the 100-yard plateau for Southern, becoming the first Saluki duo to accomplish the milestone since 2015. Making just his third-career start at QB, DeSomer was electric in the open field and also passed for a career-high 165 yards. He replaced senior signal caller Sam Straub in the lineup.
"I felt like Matt deserved a shot to play, to give him the keys to the team," Hill explained. "He's a leader on this team, people rally behind Matt."
Southern had a 459 to 394 advantage in total yards, but it committed the game's only two turnovers, and three times the offense came up empty in the red zone. In the second quarter, the Salukis missed a golden opportunity to score when DeSomer was intercepted at the Indiana State 6-yardline by Tyreeon Hambright. Later in the same period, DeSomer was stopped for no gain on both 3rd-and-1 and 4th-and-1 from the ISU 16. The Sycamores took advantage of the defensive uprising by driving 84 yards to grab a 14-7 lead just before halftime.
The pattern continued in the second half. A fumbled exchange between DeSomer and Davis was recovered by Indiana State at the SIU 31 and led to an Indiana State field goal that put the Sycamores ahead, 24-7. Southern again drove deep into ISU territory to start the fourth quarter, but kicker Nico Gualdoni missed a 36-yard field goal — his first career miss inside 40 yards.
The Sycamores (3-4, 1-3) also had a pair of 100-yard rushers between Ja'Quan Keys (156 yards) and quarterback Ryan Boyle (104 yards) and they mostly played error-free football with no turnovers. Southern did block a pair of field goal attempts, though, as Jeremy Chinn and Terrance Henley both came free for blocks during the second half.
The special teams plays helped ignite the offense, which mounted two long fourth-quarter TD drives to close the deficit to 24-21. DeSomer hit Darrell James for a 9-yard touchdown pass and Jonathan Mixon carried it in from 12 yards out for his 17th career rushing TD.
"You could feel the want-to and the effort," Hill said. "We got some momentum there in the last 10 minutes and started playing better, but it was just too late."
After Mixon's touchdown with 2:22 remaining, the Salukis were unsuccessful with an onside kick attempt. The defense rose up, though, stopping ISU on three-straight carries to give the offense one more chance. DeSomer drove the unit from SIU's 14 to the 49, but his Hail Mary on the final play was batted down at Indiana State's 18 yard line.
"Every loss hurts the same, it never gets better and you never want to get used to losing," said Chinn, who had seven tackles for Southern. "We're putting our foot down, we're going to come together and figure it out."
Southern has four games left on its schedule and Hill said his team will not give in to losing.
"I've never been a part of a season where you're 1-6," he admitted. "The guys that show up here on Sunday at 2, we're going to stay together and we're going to fight, and we're going to put together the best gameplan we can put together and go to Missouri State and have the passion and energy to go win a football game."
The Salukis (1-6, 0-4) have been unable to get over the hump in close games. Four of their last five losses have been decided by a touchdown or less. Today, they had no problem establishing the run, piling up 294 yards on the ground, including a game-opening 81-yard touchdown drive that featured 12-straight running plays.
Both quarterback Matt DeSomer (135 yards) and running back D.J. Davis (126 yards) topped the 100-yard plateau for Southern, becoming the first Saluki duo to accomplish the milestone since 2015. Making just his third-career start at QB, DeSomer was electric in the open field and also passed for a career-high 165 yards. He replaced senior signal caller Sam Straub in the lineup.
"I felt like Matt deserved a shot to play, to give him the keys to the team," Hill explained. "He's a leader on this team, people rally behind Matt."
Southern had a 459 to 394 advantage in total yards, but it committed the game's only two turnovers, and three times the offense came up empty in the red zone. In the second quarter, the Salukis missed a golden opportunity to score when DeSomer was intercepted at the Indiana State 6-yardline by Tyreeon Hambright. Later in the same period, DeSomer was stopped for no gain on both 3rd-and-1 and 4th-and-1 from the ISU 16. The Sycamores took advantage of the defensive uprising by driving 84 yards to grab a 14-7 lead just before halftime.
The pattern continued in the second half. A fumbled exchange between DeSomer and Davis was recovered by Indiana State at the SIU 31 and led to an Indiana State field goal that put the Sycamores ahead, 24-7. Southern again drove deep into ISU territory to start the fourth quarter, but kicker Nico Gualdoni missed a 36-yard field goal — his first career miss inside 40 yards.
The Sycamores (3-4, 1-3) also had a pair of 100-yard rushers between Ja'Quan Keys (156 yards) and quarterback Ryan Boyle (104 yards) and they mostly played error-free football with no turnovers. Southern did block a pair of field goal attempts, though, as Jeremy Chinn and Terrance Henley both came free for blocks during the second half.
The special teams plays helped ignite the offense, which mounted two long fourth-quarter TD drives to close the deficit to 24-21. DeSomer hit Darrell James for a 9-yard touchdown pass and Jonathan Mixon carried it in from 12 yards out for his 17th career rushing TD.
"You could feel the want-to and the effort," Hill said. "We got some momentum there in the last 10 minutes and started playing better, but it was just too late."
After Mixon's touchdown with 2:22 remaining, the Salukis were unsuccessful with an onside kick attempt. The defense rose up, though, stopping ISU on three-straight carries to give the offense one more chance. DeSomer drove the unit from SIU's 14 to the 49, but his Hail Mary on the final play was batted down at Indiana State's 18 yard line.
"Every loss hurts the same, it never gets better and you never want to get used to losing," said Chinn, who had seven tackles for Southern. "We're putting our foot down, we're going to come together and figure it out."
Southern has four games left on its schedule and Hill said his team will not give in to losing.
"I've never been a part of a season where you're 1-6," he admitted. "The guys that show up here on Sunday at 2, we're going to stay together and we're going to fight, and we're going to put together the best gameplan we can put together and go to Missouri State and have the passion and energy to go win a football game."
Team Stats
INS
SIU
Total Yards
394
459
Pass Yards
101
165
Rushing Yards
293
294
Penalty Yards
55
34
1st Downs
22
28
3rd Downs
3
4
4th Downs
1
0
TOP
29:43
30:17
1st Quarter
INS 0, SIU 7
SIU - DeSomer, Matt 4 yd run (Gualdoni, Nico kick), 12 plays, 81 yards, TOP 6:42
INS 7, SIU 7
INS - Keys, Ja'Quan 3 yd run (Nunez, Jerry kick), 10 plays, 71 yards, TOP 3:46
2nd Quarter
INS 14, SIU 7
INS - Keys, Ja'Quan 1 yd run (Nunez, Jerry kick), 10 plays, 84 yards, TOP 2:58
3rd Quarter
INS 21, SIU 7
INS - McCoy, Titus 7 yd run (Nunez, Jerry kick), 9 plays, 75 yards, TOP 3:40
INS 24, SIU 7
INS - Nunez, Jerry 20 yd field goal 10 plays, 29 yards, TOP 4:12
4th Quarter
INS 24, SIU 14
SIU - James, Darrell 9 yd pass from DeSomer, Matt (Gualdoni, Nico kick) 8 plays, 70 yards, TOP 2:48
INS 24, SIU 21
SIU - Mixon, Jonathan 12 yd run (Gualdoni, Nico kick), 6 plays, 59 yards, TOP 1:55
Game Leaders
Passing Leaders
CMP
16
TD
1
YDS
165
INT
1
Players Mentioned
S
/ Football
RB
/ FootballQB
/ Football
K
/ Football
CB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
RB
/ Football
QB
/ FootballInside Saluki Athletics - September 16th
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9.16.25 | Coach Nick Hill Weekly Press Conference
Tuesday, September 16
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Monday, September 15
9.15.25 | Damien Mayo Jr. with Rodney Watson
Monday, September 15