Southern Illinois University
1-1
UMass
0-2
Salukis upset FBS UMass, 45-20
09/07/2019 | 5:30:00 | Football
AMHERST, Mass. — Southern Illinois reeled off 35 unanswered points to shock UMass on Saturday, 45-20, for its first win against an FBS opponent since 2007 and just the fourth FBS win in school history.
The Salukis (1-1) bounced back from a frustrating loss in Week One at SEMO with a dominating performance against the Minutemen (0-2), in which they piled up 502 yards of total offense, featuring 237 yards on the ground and 265 through the air.
"This one feels the best," said SIU head coach Nick Hill, who quarterbacked Southern Illinois to FBS wins against Indiana and Northern Illinois in 2006 and 2007. "We needed this. It's always a special feeling when you're going against somebody that's picked to win the game, that has more scholarship players than you. Winning by three scores against an FBS opponent isn't easy to do."
After a slow start, Southern made it look easy. The Salukis trailed, 6-0, early in the second quarter when Javon Williams Jr. busted off an 85-yard catch and run for the longest pass reception by a running back in school history. He caught a swing pass from Stone Labanowitz in full stride and raced untouched down the left sideline, leaving defenders in the dust.
"He's nuts. He's a freak," said Labanowitz. "He looks like he's in slow motion, but he's just pulling away from people, deceivingly fast."
It was the beginning of a monster, three-TD game for the redshirt freshman running back from Centralia, Illinois. He touched the ball nine times on offense, adding two rushing touchdowns in the third quarter from 64 and 3 yards out and finished the day with 171 yards of offense for an average of 19 yards per touch.
"Javon's a playmaker," said Hill. "I told him on Friday that we have to get him the ball more than the (two times) at SEMO. He may have the best hands on the team. He's a special athlete — catches the ball, runs the ball, and he can throw the ball — he started here at quarterback."
D.J. Davis, the team's feature back, carried the bulk of the load with 21 carries for 85 yards, plus five catches for 57 yards and a touchdown.
"Javon was my roommate (at the hotel) last night and we just talked about making big plays," Davis said. "We went out there and did it. I'm so proud of him."
A 32-yard TD catch by Davis with just eight seconds left before halftime was a key score for the Salukis, putting them ahead at the break, 17-13. Davis caught a swing pass down the right sideline and soared across the goal line to evade a tackler.
"I really felt like the play to D.J. before the half got us the momentum," Hill said. "I thought our offensive line controlled the line of scrimmage and (fullback) Jacob Garrett was huge in the run game (in the second half).
The outcome was still in doubt after Davis fumbled on Southern's opening possession of the second half, but All-American safety Jeremy Chinn bailed the offense out by stepping in front of a Randall West pass at the SIU 8 and returning the interception 33 yards. It was the 10th pick of Chinn's career and moved him into ninth place in school history in the category.
"(Defensive coordinator) Coach Petrino made a great call right there and put me in position," Chinn said. "It's actually something we talked about at halftime. I saw the ball go up and I knew I'd be able to go get it."
On the next play from scrimmage, Williams Jr. took it 64 yards to the house, and the Salukis, who were picked to finish ninth in the MVFC preseason poll, could feel the upset brewing.
"We've changed the culture," declared Labanowitz, who completed 19-of-26 passes and threw four TDs in just his second start. "Coach (Hill) did such an awesome job of making an emphasis on our culture and all 105 guys have changed their mental approach. It's starting to come to fruition."
UMass switched to Andrew Brito at quarterback on its next drive but he was picked off on the third play by Saluki corner Madre Harper. Williams Jr. scored six plays later. The Salukis added two more TDs in the fourth quarter — a 13-yard pass to Nigel Kilby and a 3-yard toss to Romeir Elliott — to seal the victory.
The game was sweet vindication for a defense that surrendered 44 points and more than 500 yards to SEMO last week. Today, the unit allowed only 321 yards and an average of 2.6 yards per rush. Defensive end Chucky Sullivan came up with a pair of huge second-quarter sacks and safety Qua Brown continued his torrid tackling pace with 14 more stops after notching 16 a week ago.
"It was a great defensive effort," Hill said. "Championship people come back to work, stay positive, you don't start pointing fingers. It's a 12-game season. I could tell. I told them before the game I expected them to come out here and play well and they did."
During last week's postgame press conference, Davis declared that this year's season would not be a repeat of last year's 2-9 record.
"We regrouped and came back together as a team and we were just focused in," Davis said. "I knew things were going to be different. There's no words for it, just a great feeling to get these guys a win and get back to our home turf next week (against UT Martin). We're going to get this thing rolling."
Team Stats
SIU 0, UMASS 6
UMASS - WEST, Randall 4 yd run (GARCIA, Cooper kickfailed), 8 plays, 25 yards, TOP 2:23
SIU 7, UMASS 6
SIU - Williams Jr., J 85 yd pass from Labanowitz, Sto (Cerra, Griffin kick) 1 plays, 85 yards, TOP 0:12
SIU 10, UMASS 6
SIU - Cerra, Griffin 39 yd field goal 7 plays, 11 yards, TOP 2:42
SIU 10, UMASS 13
UMASS - BROWN, Kevin 2 yd run (GARCIA, Cooper kick), 6 plays, 65 yards, TOP 1:53
SIU 17, UMASS 13
SIU - Davis, D.J. 32 yd pass from Labanowitz, Sto (Cerra, Griffin kick) 7 plays, 75 yards, TOP 1:18
SIU 24, UMASS 13
SIU - Williams Jr., J 64 yd run (Cerra, Griffin kick), 1 plays, 59 yards, TOP 0:14
SIU 31, UMASS 13
SIU - Williams Jr., J 3 yd run (Cerra, Griffin kick), 6 plays, 25 yards, TOP 3:02
SIU 38, UMASS 13
SIU - Kilby, Nigel 13 yd pass from Labanowitz, Sto (Cerra, Griffin kick) 5 plays, 50 yards, TOP 2:49
SIU 45, UMASS 13
SIU - Elliott, Romeir 3 yd pass from Labanowitz, Sto (Cerra, Griffin kick) 9 plays, 58 yards, TOP 5:33
SIU 45, UMASS 20
UMASS - EDWARDS, Taylor 7 yd pass from BRITO, Andrew (GARCIA, Cooper kick) 13 plays, 81 yards, TOP 4:51
