Saturday, November 19
Youngstown, OH
11:00 AM
Southern Illinois University
5-6 , 4-4
21
at
28
Youngstown St.
7-4 , 5-3
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Southern Ill.
14
0
0
7
21
Youngstown St.
7
0
0
21
28
Penguins rally to beat Saluki Football, 28-21
11/19/2022 | 3:05:00 | Football
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — A season of hard-luck losses ended with another frustrating defeat for the Salukis on Saturday, as Youngstown State scored three, unanswered touchdowns in the fourth quarter to rally for a 28-21 win over Southern Illinois.
The Penguins (7-4, 5-3) kept their playoff hopes alive by scoring two TDs in the final 75 seconds. First, they tied the game, 21-21, on a seven-yard pass from Mitch Davidson to Bryce Oliver with 1:15 remaining.
During the extra point attempt, SIU was flagged for roughing-the-kicker, allowing Youngstown to kick off from midfield. A squib kick bounced all the way down to SIU's 3 yard line, where it was recovered by Javon Williams Jr., pinning SIU deep in its own territory.
The Salukis (5-6, 4-4) went three-and-out and barely used any clock, due to a pair of incomplete passes on first and third down. A short punt by Nathan Torney against the wind gave Youngstown great field position at the SIU 33 with 54 seconds left.
"We called a run-pass option on the first (play of the drive)," said SIU head coach Nick Hill. "I'd like to run the football right there, but he's got Jathen one-on-one. That's what (QB) Nic (Baker) saw. I felt like we needed to be aggressive on the third down, just because we're punting into a stiff wind. They're probably going to get the ball in field goal range no matter where we punted it from."
Youngstown's game-winning drive took three plays, as Jaleel McLaughlin sprinted 22 yards through a gap in Southern's defense for the go-ahead score with 35 seconds remaining. The All-American running back was bottled up by Southern's defense most of the game, but had a couple big gainers late and finished with 88 yards rushing.
Baker was intercepted at the YSU 31 on a deep pass attempt to end the game.
"Whether we got in the playoffs or not, we wanted to end (the regular season) with a win, versus the feeling we have right now, which is a tough pill to swallow," Hill said.
Five of Southern's losses this season were decided in the final minute and by a touchdown or less.
"As the head coach, when you lose a lot of one-score games, you gotta look at yourself first," Hill said. "That's really what's on my mind — what did we not do, what could we have done better, what do I have to learn to not let this feeling happen again in the future."
The Salukis jumped out to a 14-0 lead after their first two possessions, thanks to a couple of big passing plays. On SIU's first offensive play of the game, Baker hit Avante Cox in stride on a 70-yard bomb down the middle of the field for six.
On its next possession, the Salukis marched 50 yards in six plays, capped off by a 22-yard Baker to Jacob Garrett touchdown strike down the left sideline.
McLaughin put YSU's first points on the board with a two-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter. The scoring drive was extended twice by pass interference penalties against the Salukis, including one that wiped out a Clayton Bush interception.
Neither team scored during the second and third quarters, forcing the Salukis to nurse a one-touchdown lead into the final 15 minutes.
"We weren't good enough in the middle of the game to put that game away," Hill said. "It's kind of been our Achilles heel all year. We were close at times, but just to have that pure explosiveness to put teams away and put the scores into the high-30s and 40s, that just hasn't been who we are, so we have to win one-score games.
In the fourth quarter, Baker lofted a 48-yard touchdown pass to D'Ante' Cox, who beat easily beat his defender on a double move. That gave the Salukis a 21-7 advantage with 11:18 to go, but they could not hold off the Penguins, who scored three TDs in the final 8:43.
"We haven't been able to play four quarters of complementary football," Hill said. "Mistakes have hurt us a lot, at times, penalties, it proved evident there at the end of the game."
Baker passed for 320 yards and three touchdowns, but was also intercepted three times. In their final college game, the Cox brothers — Avante and D'Ante' — combined to catch nine passes for 199 yards and two touchdowns.
The Penguins (7-4, 5-3) kept their playoff hopes alive by scoring two TDs in the final 75 seconds. First, they tied the game, 21-21, on a seven-yard pass from Mitch Davidson to Bryce Oliver with 1:15 remaining.
During the extra point attempt, SIU was flagged for roughing-the-kicker, allowing Youngstown to kick off from midfield. A squib kick bounced all the way down to SIU's 3 yard line, where it was recovered by Javon Williams Jr., pinning SIU deep in its own territory.
The Salukis (5-6, 4-4) went three-and-out and barely used any clock, due to a pair of incomplete passes on first and third down. A short punt by Nathan Torney against the wind gave Youngstown great field position at the SIU 33 with 54 seconds left.
"We called a run-pass option on the first (play of the drive)," said SIU head coach Nick Hill. "I'd like to run the football right there, but he's got Jathen one-on-one. That's what (QB) Nic (Baker) saw. I felt like we needed to be aggressive on the third down, just because we're punting into a stiff wind. They're probably going to get the ball in field goal range no matter where we punted it from."
Youngstown's game-winning drive took three plays, as Jaleel McLaughlin sprinted 22 yards through a gap in Southern's defense for the go-ahead score with 35 seconds remaining. The All-American running back was bottled up by Southern's defense most of the game, but had a couple big gainers late and finished with 88 yards rushing.
Baker was intercepted at the YSU 31 on a deep pass attempt to end the game.
"Whether we got in the playoffs or not, we wanted to end (the regular season) with a win, versus the feeling we have right now, which is a tough pill to swallow," Hill said.
Five of Southern's losses this season were decided in the final minute and by a touchdown or less.
"As the head coach, when you lose a lot of one-score games, you gotta look at yourself first," Hill said. "That's really what's on my mind — what did we not do, what could we have done better, what do I have to learn to not let this feeling happen again in the future."
The Salukis jumped out to a 14-0 lead after their first two possessions, thanks to a couple of big passing plays. On SIU's first offensive play of the game, Baker hit Avante Cox in stride on a 70-yard bomb down the middle of the field for six.
On its next possession, the Salukis marched 50 yards in six plays, capped off by a 22-yard Baker to Jacob Garrett touchdown strike down the left sideline.
McLaughin put YSU's first points on the board with a two-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter. The scoring drive was extended twice by pass interference penalties against the Salukis, including one that wiped out a Clayton Bush interception.
Neither team scored during the second and third quarters, forcing the Salukis to nurse a one-touchdown lead into the final 15 minutes.
"We weren't good enough in the middle of the game to put that game away," Hill said. "It's kind of been our Achilles heel all year. We were close at times, but just to have that pure explosiveness to put teams away and put the scores into the high-30s and 40s, that just hasn't been who we are, so we have to win one-score games.
In the fourth quarter, Baker lofted a 48-yard touchdown pass to D'Ante' Cox, who beat easily beat his defender on a double move. That gave the Salukis a 21-7 advantage with 11:18 to go, but they could not hold off the Penguins, who scored three TDs in the final 8:43.
"We haven't been able to play four quarters of complementary football," Hill said. "Mistakes have hurt us a lot, at times, penalties, it proved evident there at the end of the game."
Baker passed for 320 yards and three touchdowns, but was also intercepted three times. In their final college game, the Cox brothers — Avante and D'Ante' — combined to catch nine passes for 199 yards and two touchdowns.
Team Stats
SIU
YSU
Total Yards
387
377
Pass Yards
312
268
Rushing Yards
75
109
Penalty Yards
53
41
1st Downs
17
23
3rd Downs
4
7
4th Downs
0
1
TOP
24:17
35:43
1st Quarter
SIU 7, YSU 0
SIU - Cox,Avante 70 yd pass from Baker,Nic (Baumgarte,Jake kick) 1 plays, 70 yards, TOP 00:11
SIU 14, YSU 0
SIU - Garrett,Jacob 22 yd pass from Baker,Nic (Baumgarte,Jake kick) 6 plays, 50 yards, TOP 02:37
SIU 14, YSU 7
YSU - McLaughlin,Jaleel 2 yd run (McFadden,Colt kick), 14 plays, 75 yards, TOP 07:54
4th Quarter
SIU 21, YSU 7
SIU - Cox,D'Ante' 48 yd pass from Baker,Nic (Baumgarte,Jake kick) 5 plays, 66 yards, TOP 02:40
SIU 21, YSU 14
YSU - Oliver,Bryce 48 yd pass from Davidson,Mitch (McFadden,Colt kick) 5 plays, 85 yards, TOP 02:30
SIU 21, YSU 21
YSU - Oliver,Bryce 7 yd pass from Davidson,Mitch (McFadden,Colt kick) 8 plays, 73 yards, TOP 02:30
SIU 21, YSU 28
YSU - McLaughlin,Jaleel 22 yd run (McFadden,Colt kick), 3 plays, 33 yards, TOP 00:19
Game Leaders
Passing Leaders
CMP
1
TD
0
YDS
-8
INT
0
Players Mentioned
FB
/ Football
QB
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