Saturday, March 27
Springfield, MO
2:00 PM
Southern Illinois University
4-3 , 3-3
27
at
30
Missouri St.
4-4 , 4-1
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
SIU
2
17
0
8
27
Missouri State
7
0
7
16
30
Team Stats
SIU
MSU
Total Yards
431
377
Pass Yards
311
245
Rushing Yards
120
132
Penalty Yards
98
59
1st Downs
20
18
3rd Downs
6
7
4th Downs
1
0
TOP
33:16
26:44
1st Quarter
SIU 0, MSU 7
MSU - Celdon Manning 75 yd pass from Matt Struck (Jose Pizano kick) 1 plays, 75 yards, TOP 0:11
SIU 2, MSU 7
SIU - TEAM 1 yd safety
2nd Quarter
SIU 9, MSU 7
SIU - Combs, Branson 29 yd pass from Williams Jr., J (Gualdoni, Nico kick) 10 plays, 61 yards, TOP 3:56
SIU 16, MSU 7
SIU - Strong, Justin 28 yd pass from Labanowitz, Sto (Gualdoni, Nico kick) 3 plays, 39 yards, TOP 1:25
SIU 19, MSU 7
SIU - Gualdoni, Nico 23 yd field goal 5 plays, 25 yards, TOP 0:30
3rd Quarter
SIU 19, MSU 14
MSU - Celdon Manning 2 yd run (Jose Pizano kick), 11 plays, 80 yards, TOP 4:49
4th Quarter
SIU 19, MSU 20
MSU - Celdon Manning 3 yd run (Matt Struck passfailed), 5 plays, 51 yards, TOP 2:15
SIU 27, MSU 20
SIU - Cox, Avante 7 yd pass from Labanowitz, Sto (Labanowitz, Sto pass) 5 plays, 75 yards, TOP 1:39
SIU 27, MSU 27
MSU - Celdon Manning 23 yd run (Jose Pizano kick), 6 plays, 75 yards, TOP 2:48
SIU 27, MSU 30
MSU - Jose Pizano 33 yd field goal 6 plays, 50 yards, TOP 1:42
Game Leaders
CMP
25
TD
2
YDS
270
INT
0
CMP
2
TD
1
YDS
41
INT
0
CMP
0
TD
0
YDS
0
INT
1
Players Mentioned
DE
/ Football
WR
/ Football
WR
/ Football
WR
/ FootballQB
/ Football
ILB
/ Football
RB
/ FootballRB
/ Football
Football falls at Missouri State, 30-27, on last-second field goal
03/27/2021 | 6:56:00 | Football
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Jose Pizano slipped a 33-yard field goal just inside the right upright as time expired to lift Missouri State to a 30-27 win over No. 10 Southern Illinois on Saturday at Plaster Stadium.
The Bears (4-4, 4-1) trailed at the half, 19-7, but rallied to score three touchdowns in the game's final 20 minutes to win their third-straight game.
In the hunt for a playoff spot, the Salukis (4-3, 3-3) took command of the game after Missouri State scored a touchdown on the game's opening play. The Salukis responded with 19 unanswered points and limited the Bears to just three, first downs in the first half.
It was the defense that got Southern rolling. After Jordan Berner sacked MSU quarterback Matt Struck for an 11-yard loss back to the 1, teammate Bryce Notree dumped Tobias Little in the end zone on the next play for a safety to put SIU on the board in the first quarter.
Trailing, 7-2, Southern's offense got cranked up early in the second quarter. Javon Williams Jr. threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Branson Combs, and Justin Strong zig-zagged 28 yards for a TD on a swing pass from Stone Labanowitz.
Missouri State regained the lead in the second half on a pair of short touchdown runs by Celdon Manning to go up, 20-19, midway through the fourth quarter.
On what seemed to be a season-defining drive, Labanowitz led Southern on an exhilarating scoring drive. First, he hit Izaiah Hartrup for 67 yards, as the true freshman receiver busted a tackle near midfield and raced all the way to the MSU 8.
Three plays later, Labanowitz found Avante Cox in the left flat, and Cox dove across the pylon in the left corner of the end zone for a 7-yard touchdown catch with 5:34 remaining. SIU then converted the two-point conversion on a bit of trickery, as Labanowitz caught a pass to make it 27-20.
"You want to think that that (drive) can go win the game, but it didn't," said SIU head coach Nick Hill.
Instead, Missouri State countered with a six-play, 75-yard drive to tie the game, 27-27, on a Manning 23-yard run with 2:42 to go. Southern went 3-and-out to give the Bears their final possession with 1:42 remaining. They needed six plays to get into scoring position for the game winner.
Southern finished with a 431-377 advantage in total yards, but trailed in the running game, 132-120, a category where the Salukis dominated opponents earlier in the year.
"They were able to just line up and run the football, which has kind of been a trend (against SIU)," Hill said. "It's extremely hard in this league to get going if you can't line up and run the football. It starts and stop with us being able to run the football."
The Salukis played most of the second half with Williams Jr., who left with an injury, having already accounted for 77 yards of offense in the first half.
"Our gameplan was to get him about 30 snaps at quarterback," Hill said. "(The injury) hurt us on offense with sustaining some stuff running the football, but that's part of it."
Labanowitz completed 25-of-34 passes for 270 yards and two touchdowns and Strong had a career-high nine catches for SIU.
With three wins against ranked teams, including FCS powerhouse North Dakota State, Hill lamented his team's inconsistency in falling to 3-3 in the league standings.
"I'm disappointed in the performance," he said. "It starts with me — finding the buttons to push. We just haven't played a consistent brand of football. If we want to be the team we want to be, we have to come down here and beat this team."
"You have to be able to line up, go out and will yourself to win," he continued. "We didn't do it."
Southern has an unscheduled bye week next Saturday, after Illinois State canceled its remaining games, and will host Western Illinois on April 10.
"There will be no quit in this team," Hill declared. "We're going to line up and have a good week this week and get better at some things, put our head down to go get a win against Western Illinois."
The Bears (4-4, 4-1) trailed at the half, 19-7, but rallied to score three touchdowns in the game's final 20 minutes to win their third-straight game.
In the hunt for a playoff spot, the Salukis (4-3, 3-3) took command of the game after Missouri State scored a touchdown on the game's opening play. The Salukis responded with 19 unanswered points and limited the Bears to just three, first downs in the first half.
It was the defense that got Southern rolling. After Jordan Berner sacked MSU quarterback Matt Struck for an 11-yard loss back to the 1, teammate Bryce Notree dumped Tobias Little in the end zone on the next play for a safety to put SIU on the board in the first quarter.
Trailing, 7-2, Southern's offense got cranked up early in the second quarter. Javon Williams Jr. threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Branson Combs, and Justin Strong zig-zagged 28 yards for a TD on a swing pass from Stone Labanowitz.
Missouri State regained the lead in the second half on a pair of short touchdown runs by Celdon Manning to go up, 20-19, midway through the fourth quarter.
On what seemed to be a season-defining drive, Labanowitz led Southern on an exhilarating scoring drive. First, he hit Izaiah Hartrup for 67 yards, as the true freshman receiver busted a tackle near midfield and raced all the way to the MSU 8.
Three plays later, Labanowitz found Avante Cox in the left flat, and Cox dove across the pylon in the left corner of the end zone for a 7-yard touchdown catch with 5:34 remaining. SIU then converted the two-point conversion on a bit of trickery, as Labanowitz caught a pass to make it 27-20.
"You want to think that that (drive) can go win the game, but it didn't," said SIU head coach Nick Hill.
Instead, Missouri State countered with a six-play, 75-yard drive to tie the game, 27-27, on a Manning 23-yard run with 2:42 to go. Southern went 3-and-out to give the Bears their final possession with 1:42 remaining. They needed six plays to get into scoring position for the game winner.
Southern finished with a 431-377 advantage in total yards, but trailed in the running game, 132-120, a category where the Salukis dominated opponents earlier in the year.
"They were able to just line up and run the football, which has kind of been a trend (against SIU)," Hill said. "It's extremely hard in this league to get going if you can't line up and run the football. It starts and stop with us being able to run the football."
The Salukis played most of the second half with Williams Jr., who left with an injury, having already accounted for 77 yards of offense in the first half.
"Our gameplan was to get him about 30 snaps at quarterback," Hill said. "(The injury) hurt us on offense with sustaining some stuff running the football, but that's part of it."
Labanowitz completed 25-of-34 passes for 270 yards and two touchdowns and Strong had a career-high nine catches for SIU.
With three wins against ranked teams, including FCS powerhouse North Dakota State, Hill lamented his team's inconsistency in falling to 3-3 in the league standings.
"I'm disappointed in the performance," he said. "It starts with me — finding the buttons to push. We just haven't played a consistent brand of football. If we want to be the team we want to be, we have to come down here and beat this team."
"You have to be able to line up, go out and will yourself to win," he continued. "We didn't do it."
Southern has an unscheduled bye week next Saturday, after Illinois State canceled its remaining games, and will host Western Illinois on April 10.
"There will be no quit in this team," Hill declared. "We're going to line up and have a good week this week and get better at some things, put our head down to go get a win against Western Illinois."
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