No. 14 Southern Illinois Defeats No. 3 Weber State In First Round of FCS Playoffs

OGDEN, Utah – The headline to the story will be the late-game heroics of quarterback Stone Labanowitz, who lofted a perfect, 4th-down spiral to the corner of the end zone, where wide receiver Branson Combs leaped high to haul it in for the game winning touchdown with 52 seconds remaining.

That sensational play helped lift No. 14-ranked Southern Illinois to a dramatic, come-from-behind win over No. 3 Weber State, 34-31, in the first round of the 2021 NCAA FCS playoffs.

Yet, that was just one of many moments in this epic playoff contest that personify the grit and determination of the Saluki Football program this season under fifth-year head coach Nick Hill.

Having already overcome — a pandemic, a mid-season blizzard, injuries to its top two quarterbacks, opponents backing out of games — another round of adversity was not going to deter the Salukis (6-3).

The Wildcats (5-1) jumped out to an early 14-0 lead. Saluki star running back Javon Williams Jr. — one of the most dangerous weapons in FCS football — was out with an injury. Playing at high altitude in a hostile environment, Southern could've packed it in. Most teams probably would have. Not this group.

There were too many heroes to list.

There was wide receiver Jerron Rollins, playing all season in the shadow of All-Conference wideout Avante Cox and all-time great Landon Lenoir, having a career day, including catches of 22, 14 and 19 yards on the game-winning drive.

There was backup tight end Cole Steward, who caught a 3-yard touchdown pass on a fake field goal attempt in the third quarter. He almost missed the game due to a false-positive COVID test and had to catch a commercial flight to barely make it to the game on time.

There was running back Justin Strong, playing with bruised shoulders, but nevertheless breaking tackles and leading the ground game with 68 yards in Williams' absence.

There was backup defensive end Raquan Lindsey sealing the win with a sack on the final play. He was playing in place of Chucky Sullivan, who hurt his knee earlier in the week.

Perhaps no one has overcome more adversity than Labanowitz, who broke his back during the 2019 season and began the 2020 campaign as the third-string QB. After walking on at SIU two years ago, the free-spirited 5-foot-9 senior has found the magic touch for winning football games. Today, he passed for 264 yards, ran for 36 more, and led an improbable comeback. The team believes in him.

Hill summed up the character of his team, saying, "It really goes against what everybody in the country is doing right now. They've stayed, they've stuck together, and they believed when it would be tough to believe. We all believed in one another. They went out and got, maybe, one of the biggest wins in Saluki football history."

Making their first playoff appearance since 2009, the Salukis are off to play No. 1-seed South Dakota State next Sunday at 8 p.m. The Jackrabbits handily beat Southern earlier this season in Carbondale. But the Salukis have overcome seemingly insurmountable odds before. They believe in each other, and that may be enough.

Postgame Quotes

Bryce Notree

"I'll say one thing: We pride ourselves on putting the ball down on any situation that we've got. If we're backed up in the red zone or we've got them backed up (in their red zone), we just play hard. If anything happens, we get over it, put it in the past and always have that 'next play' mentality. That's what the boys did."

What was it like on that last play? What does it say about the defense that you needed a stop and you got it?
"That was big. (RaQuan) Lindsey, he always plays hard. He's a big guy for us – a strong guy. He's just a pass-rush specialist. We had extreme confidence in the guys we had out there. We just know that sacks kill last-minute drives, so getting that last sack was just a big relief for everybody."

Two-part question: Thoughts on Stone's TD pass and what the win means for the program?
"It was huge. Both of those things are huge. Stone came to play, and he has all season. I'm proud of him. He's always waited his turn and when the opportunity presents himself, he's always ready. Just all those things that are happening right now are happening for a reason. It's big for us, it's big for the community of Carbondale, all of Southern Illinois and it's just a testament to everybody who's been sticking it out these past few years."

How does it feel to advance?
"It feels amazing. Coach Hill's been saying all week that we're a playoff team and we believe that. It's not just a one-time thing that we're looking at. We're trying to go all the way. We believe that we have the guys, the game plan and coaches to do so. So, it's just very exciting for us to be out there again next week and do what we just did."

What progress do you think you made as a defense today?
"I think we made a step forward. As a defense, we pride ourselves on putting the ball down and playing again. That was probably the biggest thing for us today. We just kept a level head and trusted the guys around us – and that's all we can ask for at the moment. We showed flashes of great things today, so I'm just trying to build on that."

How big were the two picks you guys had in the end zone and the missed field goal?
"Those are huge. Those are really big things. Jonathan Thompson – he played a hell of a game. Ceasar – he always plays well. That's one thing about our guys: We come week-in and week-out and we're consistent. We play hard. That's one thing that's not going to change – our effort. I just want to thank everybody on the defense and the offense. We just come out with the same attitude every week – and that's just playing hard."

Stone Labanowitz

What's going through your mind?
"I have no clue. I wanted to hug every single kid we brought on this trip and every kid we have back home that wasn't able to make it here. There are too many emotions. Waving goodbye to all of the Weber State fans – you could hear a pin drop in the stadium. That's my favorite part of the whole, entire day. Yeah, I don't know. Looking for someone to hug, man. Crazy moment."

How quickly do you celebrate this before turning your attention to next week?
"He's (Head Coach Nick Hill) going to tell us as soon as we get on the bus and on the plane that this is over. We'll watch the film one and then it's on to the next. We've got revenge coming up with South Dakota State – huge opportunity. It'll be short-lived, I guess. I don't know if we'll be able to keep the word there and keep it short-lived. We'll try our best and will get back to work tomorrow, regardless of the situation."

Talk about the fourth down call and how you guys pulled off that amazing play.
"We didn't have that play on before that timeout. Coach (Blake) Rolan offered a play call and Coach Hill looked at me and said, 'Do you like it?' I gave it a five-second vision of how it could happen and then said, 'Yeah, I like it.' He didn't think I was too confident. He asked if I was sure, and I told him I liked it. We switched Avante (Cox) – he was supposed to run another route there, but we put him in that spot to attract some of their guys. You could tell it was man coverage. I looked out there and saw the corner and the nickelback's eyes and once I saw it was man coverage and that they'd have to respect the underneath route we had, I figured I'd have to go find Branson (Combs). If I put this far enough in the back of the end zone, they might not have time to get back there. I guess it played out exactly like that. So, pretty cool."

Cole Steward

What did you see on the touchdown pass? How many times have you run that play?
"It's a play we practice a lot. I knew it was going to come out and be important somewhere down the road. It's something we practiced in fall camp, week one and we go through every single week. Coach (Jared) Petrino had the trust in us – Nico (Gualdoni) to throw it and me to catch it. We dialed it up and it worked pretty well."

Are you comfortable talking about what this weekend has been like?
"Something crazy happened the day before we were supposed to leave. One of my COVID tests came back positive and it just didn't make sense. I tested negative two other times and – I don't know. I was sitting in my truck and the team was on the plane. I was just waiting for my other results and they just told me I couldn't go. While the team's in the air, I go back to my apartment and am not really sure what's going on. I decided I'd figure it out myself. All of the trainers, doctors and coaches are on the plane flying to Salt Lake and I told myself I'd get this figured out. So, I called the State health department, I called the IDPH and about anybody I could to plead my case. Doctor Humphrey got with someone from the state, and they worked for about three hours on my case before they declared it a false-positive. Then, I just had to test negative on Friday morning, which I did. My girlfriend dropped me off in St. Louis and I took a Southwest flight to meet up with the team. So, pretty wild."

How does it feel to make a big play and walk out with a big win?
'It's really important to me. Just the way my teammates reacted for me and how happy they were for me meant more to me than just the catch. It shows that they wanted me here. They texted me non-stop and couldn't wait for me to show up. I showed up and made an impact. That's pretty much all I wanted to do."

Head Coach Nick Hill

Opening Statement: "Just an incredible football game. I'm really just proud of our guys. I've been saying it all year, but I just can't say enough about everybody involved – but first and foremost the players. They earned the right to be in this game. Ultimately, this game's about the players. I'm just proud of them. I'm proud of them committing. Just hugging Qua Brown – it's been a long five years. Sometimes, people are quick at building something that's sustainable but that takes time. It really goes against what everybody in the country is doing right now. They've stayed, they've stuck together, and they believed when it would be tough to believe. We all believed in one another. They went out and got, maybe, one of the biggest wins in Saluki football history."

Can you talk about the play to Branson Combs?
"Honestly, it was some quick decision-making in that huddle. We had another play called but time was running down. We had enough timeouts to talk about it a little bit. Coach Rolan, our offensive coordinator, suggested a play that I liked a little bit better than what we had originally thought that we might go with. Levi Mitchell was going to be the Y if we were in 11-personnel. We'd never really run that out of 10, which means there's no tight ends in the game. So, we put Branson in at Y. We were going to put Avante (Cox)– and all of this was happening over 30 seconds of conversation. So, we put Avante in motion and he drew some attention. We felt like that if it's man (coverage) with the motion, then we felt like the corner would be there. Stone made a great throw and Branson – to secure those types of balls and secure the catch, that was a big catch."

What is it about this group that allows them to do this?
"Maturity. When you think about the guys who are lining up for us and leading us, they lead the way. That's how you build a program. Adam Hundemer comes in and has a couple huge plays – he hasn't played a game for us yet this year on defense. He's been watching. Berner – man, every time he would come out, I'd give him some 'knucks. He just kept fighting. He just ran everything out on the field. Honestly, if you had asked – since we moved him inside at Missouri State, I don't know if there's a player playing harder and better than Jordan Berner."

On the fake field goal decision.
"I love our staff. This is a staff effort. Coach Jared Petrino – each week we talk about the different fakes early in the week, what's there and what's not in all of our meetings. Honestly, right there, he suggested it and I was like, 'Let's roll with it.' If they notice that he's over there, we can shift back and kick the field goal. I know that you guys know that my faith is number-one in my life. You pray and the other team wants to win too. It was just meant to be that Cole (Steward) caught that pass. He flew out here on Southwest. It's incredible. We wouldn't have ran that play. Cole's the only one we've ran it to. If that didn't happen, we maybe don't win this game without him out here. That's good faith."

On the running game and if it was "all hands on deck".
"We didn't have any running backs all week. We had Justin Strong – he battled all last week. He was a running back, but we weren't going to run him every single play. We moved Chance Bush from corner to running back and then Jeffery Wells, who plays safety for us, took four snaps at running back. He didn't get any carries but was out there in some packages. Romeir (Elliott) battelled. These guys are playing banged up. Romeir's nowhere close to being 100-percent. He did everything that he could. He was in the pool the past two days trying to get right. He just wanted to be out there for his teammates and I'm thankful for that."

What did you say to your team and what's it the raw emotion like?
"When I was with ESPN afterwards, I just couldn't get any words out. I said this to Coach (Pat) Poore, who's been around here a lot. I hate the pregame. I hate sitting around the locker room before a game. It's one of the worst things in the world as a head coach. You come off the field for like 30 minutes and just sit in a chair and wait. Coach Poore is always sitting next to me. I said to him, 'Man, SIU really turned out. We've got a couple hundred people here. If we get rolling, the crowd will start chanting and our players will feel it like they did with Indiana and Northern Illinois and some of those big ones. Our players will remember that, and I do. It's changed my life. I wouldn't be the coach if I didn't play at SIU, I get that. I'm just thankful that our players are getting to share some of the experiences that I got."

Will Nico Gualdoni have that same feeling since he's a local guy?
"If he does, you won't know it. He's about as stone-faced as it gets. If you get him to show some emotion, I want to watch that. His family's out here and have been so incredible. I'm so happy for him. When you think about it, I talked about Jordan Berner – they both played in the black diamond conference here in Southern Illinois. I'm proud that those two guys are representing true southern Illinois on this team."

Your QB has moxie. Can you talk about the ability that he has?
"That's his second one. When you look back on it, we'll have time to do that at the end. But, when you look back at it, Stone Labanowitz will be entrenched in Saluki football history in some of the biggest clutch throws. The one to Jerron (Rollins) against Northern Iowa and then that one today – I mean, wow. Jerron Rollins had some of the biggest clutch catches. He transferred here from Cincinnati, had to sit out last year and then – man, what an experience he's had here as a Saluki down the stretch."

How much more do you celebrate?
"There won't be much business on the trip home, that's for sure. We're going to enjoy it. We won't get home until like two o'clock in the morning. We've got an hour drive to Salt Lake City, a three hour flight back home and then we get into Marion, lose an hour and have to drive back. Those are miserable trips when you don't win. We'll get started on South Dakota State tomorrow."

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No. 14 Southern Illinois Defeats No. 3 Weber State In First Round of FCS Playoffs

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Team Stats

Game Leaders

Stone Labanowitz

Nico Gualdoni

Players Mentioned

Jordan Berner

Qua Brown

Chance Bush

Branson Combs

Avante Cox

Nico Gualdoni

Adam Hundemer

Stone Labanowitz

Landon Lenoir

Raquan Lindsey

Levi Mitchell

Bryce Notree

Jerron Rollins

Cole Steward

Justin Strong

Chucky Sullivan

Javon Williams Jr.

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Players Mentioned

Jordan Berner

Qua Brown

Chance Bush

Branson Combs

Avante Cox

Nico Gualdoni

Adam Hundemer

Stone Labanowitz

Landon Lenoir

Raquan Lindsey

Levi Mitchell

Bryce Notree

Jerron Rollins

Cole Steward

Justin Strong

Chucky Sullivan

Javon Williams Jr.

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