Southern Illinois University
2-4 , 0-2
Illinois State
4-2 , 1-1
Recap | Football falls to Illinois State
10/05/2024 | 10:36:00 | Football
Injuries continue to mount for the No. 19-ranked Salukis (2-4, 0-2), who lost quarterback Hunter Simmons in the third quarter tonight with a broken tibia, ending his season.
Southern was already without DJ Williams, the team's original starting quarterback, who broke his hand in Week 3, and quarterback ET Harris, who suffered a season-ending injury in training camp.
After starting the season 2-1, SIU has dropped its last three games, while the No. 18 Redbirds improved to 4-2 overall.
"It's frustrating, it's tough," said SIU head coach Nick Hill. "Fans should be frustrated. There's nobody more frustrated than me or the players in the locker room. It ultimately falls on my shoulders to make sure that the guys are ready to go."
On offense, Southern continues to move the ball effectively, out-gaining Illinois State, 487-407, but has difficulty scoring in the red zone, with three more empty-handed trips tonight.
Penalties were part of the problem, with Southern getting flagged 12 times for 109 yards in the game, while Illinois State was penalized just once.
Defensively, the Salukis continue to give up too many explosive plays, with all six of the Redbirds' touchdowns coming from 20+ yards out.
Throw in a couple of missed field goal attempts and it was a disheartening evening in all three phases for the Salukis.
"There's going to be no unraveling, we're going to stick together," Hill said. "That's how you dig yourself out of these holes, with a grit and a fight. Tough people persevere, and we'll find out about the toughness of this group."
Simmons' left leg appeared to get stuck in the turf just as a defender landed on the leg during a five-yard run down to the ISU 11. An air cast was applied to the leg and Simmons was carted off the field.
True freshman Jake Curry took over, and the drive ended with a 27-yard field goal by Paul Geelen to cut the deficit to 24-10 with 8:51 left in the third.
Southern's defense forced back-to-back 3-and-outs, but two promising drives by the offense ended in a missed 29 yard field goal by Geelen and a Curry interception at the ISU 16.
Hill said Curry, who is the only healthy quarterback on the roster, will make his first start next week against No. 2 North Dakota State. The rookie was 8-of-19 for 133 yards and a pair of interceptions.
"We'll rally behind Jake," Hill said. "He has a good fortitude about himself and a good demeanor. I told him to go out there and have fun — you're not coming out. He competed. He'll have a lot of learning opportunities coming up."
The Bison will be SIU's fifth-straight ranked opponent.
"We'll stick together and keep fighting and try to get this thing turned around," Hill said.
Team Stats
ISU 7, SIU 0
ISU - Rittenhouse,Tommy 36 yd run (Wagner,Ian kick), 7 plays, 62 yards, TOP 03:14
ISU 7, SIU 7
SIU - Simmons,Hunter 10 yd run (Geelen,Paul kick), 9 plays, 93 yards, TOP 03:44
ISU 14, SIU 7
ISU - Sobkowicz,Daniel 38 yd pass from Rittenhouse,Tommy (Wagner,Ian kick) 9 plays, 89 yards, TOP 04:03
ISU 17, SIU 7
ISU - Wagner,Ian 47 yd field goal 7 plays, 42 yards, TOP 00:41
ISU 24, SIU 7
ISU - Lawson,Matt 29 yd run (Wagner,Ian kick), 8 plays, 75 yards, TOP 02:39
ISU 24, SIU 10
SIU - Geelen,Paul 27 yd field goal 10 plays, 65 yards, TOP 03:30
ISU 31, SIU 10
ISU - Loyd,Xavier 28 yd pass from Sobkowicz,Daniel (Wagner,Ian kick) 4 plays, 64 yards, TOP 01:40
ISU 38, SIU 10
ISU - Contreras,Braden 20 yd pass from Rubley,Jake (Wagner,Ian kick) 2 plays, 29 yards, TOP 00:33
ISU 45, SIU 10
ISU - Glatz,Seth 26 yd run (Wagner,Ian kick), 7 plays, 60 yards, TOP 03:49
