Saturday, September 11
Manhattan, KS
6:00 PM
Southern Illinois University
1-1
23
at
31
Kansas St.
2-0
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Southern Illinois
0
23
0
0
23
Kansas St.
14
7
3
7
31
Football loses heartbreaker at Kansas State, 31-23
09/11/2021 | 10:18:00 | Football
MANHATTAN, Kan. — Southern Illinois gave Big 12 powerhouse Kansas State all it wanted on a muggy Saturday night in front of a boisterous but anxious crowd of 47,628.
After falling behind, 21-3, the Salukis (1-1) rallied to grab a 23-21 halftime lead. They held that advantage until 5:56 left in the third quarter when Taiten Winkel made a 34-yard field goal to put the Wildcats (2-0) up, 24-23.
Kansas State jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter and seemed on its way to a blowout after Deuce Vaughn scored from one yard out to make it 21-3 midway through the second quarter.
Southern silenced a raucous crowd with three touchdowns in a span of less than two minutes to close out the half. It started with a 75-yard touchdown drive, capped by a Javon Williams Jr. four-yard TD run.
On KSU's next drive, Vaughn was stripped of the ball by Jordan Berner, and Gianini Belizaire recovered at the Wildcats' 9. Two players later, Williams Jr. plowed into the end zone from a yard out.
"I think we started a little slow, but we kept our composure, just fought back and got back into the game," Williams Jr. said.
On the next drive, Salukis' cornerback PJ Jules jumped a sideline pass by KSU quarterback Will Howard, picked it off and raced 41 yards for the go-ahead score. Chants of "SIU, SIU" rang out from the north end zone from a delighted Saluki contingent that saw its team overcome an 18-point deficit, on the road against a BCS opponent.
"Our guys played with a ton of passion and emotion and character," said SIU head coach Nick Hill. "They showed they really love playing this game."
Southern had a chance to regain the lead with 11:06 to go in the fourth, but Nico Gualdoni's 47-yard field goal drifted left. The Salukis had several promising drives, but couldn't put points on the board in the second half.
"I'm sick to my stomach because I felt like we should've won that football game," Hill said. "Kansas State's a good football team, they're physical. They did some things that really made it tough on us to move the football and get into a rhythm."
Trailing, 31-23, SIU had a final shot at sending the game to overtime, as quarterback Nic Baker completed five-straight passes to move the ball deep into KSU territory. On 1st-and-10 at the KSU 21, Baker was flushed from the pocket, hit from behind, and Kansas State recovered the fumble to end SIU's upset hopes.
"I feel like I could have done a better job as the offensive play caller," Hill said. "We just couldn't create that explosive play and it starts with me and putting guys in the right spot."
Against a KSU defense that held Stanford to seven points last week, Baker completed 16-of-27 passes for 176 yards. He was sacked five times.
"I think we have a lot of fighters and people that really want to do special things," Baker said. "We have a lot of confidence in ourselves."
The elusive Vaughn carried 26 times for 120 yards and three touchdowns, but never broke a run longer than 16 yards.
Not only did the Salukis' defense limit Vaughn, but it also generated four turnovers.
"Our defense really settled in and did an unbelievable job," Hill said. (Vaughn's) one of the best backs in the country and in this league will rush for a thousand yards."
"That guy is very elusive, he has great patience, is good with his jump cuts," added SIU safety Qua Brown. "We wanted to focus on limiting their explosive plays."
Kansas State coach Chris Klieman said he expects Southern to contend for an FCS championship.
"We're excited about getting the win over a really good Southern Illinois team," he said.
After falling behind, 21-3, the Salukis (1-1) rallied to grab a 23-21 halftime lead. They held that advantage until 5:56 left in the third quarter when Taiten Winkel made a 34-yard field goal to put the Wildcats (2-0) up, 24-23.
Kansas State jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter and seemed on its way to a blowout after Deuce Vaughn scored from one yard out to make it 21-3 midway through the second quarter.
Southern silenced a raucous crowd with three touchdowns in a span of less than two minutes to close out the half. It started with a 75-yard touchdown drive, capped by a Javon Williams Jr. four-yard TD run.
On KSU's next drive, Vaughn was stripped of the ball by Jordan Berner, and Gianini Belizaire recovered at the Wildcats' 9. Two players later, Williams Jr. plowed into the end zone from a yard out.
"I think we started a little slow, but we kept our composure, just fought back and got back into the game," Williams Jr. said.
On the next drive, Salukis' cornerback PJ Jules jumped a sideline pass by KSU quarterback Will Howard, picked it off and raced 41 yards for the go-ahead score. Chants of "SIU, SIU" rang out from the north end zone from a delighted Saluki contingent that saw its team overcome an 18-point deficit, on the road against a BCS opponent.
"Our guys played with a ton of passion and emotion and character," said SIU head coach Nick Hill. "They showed they really love playing this game."
Southern had a chance to regain the lead with 11:06 to go in the fourth, but Nico Gualdoni's 47-yard field goal drifted left. The Salukis had several promising drives, but couldn't put points on the board in the second half.
"I'm sick to my stomach because I felt like we should've won that football game," Hill said. "Kansas State's a good football team, they're physical. They did some things that really made it tough on us to move the football and get into a rhythm."
Trailing, 31-23, SIU had a final shot at sending the game to overtime, as quarterback Nic Baker completed five-straight passes to move the ball deep into KSU territory. On 1st-and-10 at the KSU 21, Baker was flushed from the pocket, hit from behind, and Kansas State recovered the fumble to end SIU's upset hopes.
"I feel like I could have done a better job as the offensive play caller," Hill said. "We just couldn't create that explosive play and it starts with me and putting guys in the right spot."
Against a KSU defense that held Stanford to seven points last week, Baker completed 16-of-27 passes for 176 yards. He was sacked five times.
"I think we have a lot of fighters and people that really want to do special things," Baker said. "We have a lot of confidence in ourselves."
The elusive Vaughn carried 26 times for 120 yards and three touchdowns, but never broke a run longer than 16 yards.
Not only did the Salukis' defense limit Vaughn, but it also generated four turnovers.
"Our defense really settled in and did an unbelievable job," Hill said. (Vaughn's) one of the best backs in the country and in this league will rush for a thousand yards."
"That guy is very elusive, he has great patience, is good with his jump cuts," added SIU safety Qua Brown. "We wanted to focus on limiting their explosive plays."
Kansas State coach Chris Klieman said he expects Southern to contend for an FCS championship.
"We're excited about getting the win over a really good Southern Illinois team," he said.
Team Stats
SIU
KSU
Total Yards
276
380
Pass Yards
176
172
Rushing Yards
100
208
Penalty Yards
10
40
1st Downs
17
24
3rd Downs
4
4
4th Downs
2
1
TOP
26:04
33:56
1st Quarter
SIU 0, KSU 7
KSU - Vaughn,Deuce 4 yd run (Winkel,Taiten kick), 6 plays, 75 yards, TOP 3:15
SIU 0, KSU 14
KSU - Howard,Will 1 yd run (Winkel,Taiten kick), 8 plays, 77 yards, TOP 4:08
2nd Quarter
SIU 3, KSU 14
SIU - Gualdoni, Nico 32 yd field goal 17 plays, 61 yards, TOP 6:41
SIU 3, KSU 21
KSU - Vaughn,Deuce 1 yd run (Winkel,Taiten kick), 10 plays, 55 yards, TOP 4:57
SIU 9, KSU 21
SIU - Williams Jr.,J 4 yd run (Daniel, Tyce passfailed), 9 plays, 75 yards, TOP 4:07
SIU 16, KSU 21
SIU - Williams Jr.,J 1 yd run (Gualdoni, Nico kick), 2 plays, 9 yards, TOP 0:46
SIU 23, KSU 21
SIU - Jules, PJ 41 yd interception (Gualdoni, Nico kick)
3rd Quarter
SIU 23, KSU 24
KSU - Winkel,Taiten 34 yd field goal 14 plays, 66 yards, TOP 7:38
4th Quarter
SIU 23, KSU 31
KSU - Vaughn,Deuce 4 yd run (Winkel,Taiten kick), 7 plays, 59 yards, TOP 3:19
Game Leaders
Passing Leaders
CMP
0
TD
0
YDS
0
INT
0
Players Mentioned
DT
/ Football
DE
/ Football
K
/ Football
RB
/ FootballInside Saluki Athletics - September 9th
Friday, September 12
9.10.25 | Saluki Radio Football Podcast - UT Martin
Wednesday, September 10
9.9.25 | Coach Nick Hill Weekly Press Conference
Tuesday, September 09
9.7.25 | Saluki Radio Postgame Purdue- Vinson Davis and Andrew Behm
Sunday, September 07