Football Dominates No. 11 Illinois State, 37-7, in Normal to Conclude Regular Season

NORMAL, Ill. - The No. 24 Southern Illinois University football team (7-5, 4-4 MVFC) finished off the regular season in dominant fashion, defeating No. 11 Illinois State, 37-7, on Saturday in Normal.

The 30-point margin of victory was the largest by SIU against a ranked opponent since Oct. 14, 2017, when it beat No. 15 Illinois State, 42-7.

"This is one of the most special games I've been apart of since I've been here as a player and a coach for 16 years," head coach Nick Hill said on Saluki Radio. "It's about a grit and a fight. For us to come back out here on the road after going five overtimes and feeling like you had your heart ripped out, I think it speaks to the character and fight in ths group. We completely dominated the game."

Southern Illinois played one of its most well-rounded games of the season in Saturday's win that included a commanding second half performance. After leading, 17-7, at the half, the Salukis out-scored the Redbirds, 20-0, in the final 30 minutes to secure the road victory. Illinois State scored on its opening drive, but did not score again on Saturday.

The Salukis compiled 455 total yards against the Redbirds with 296 coming on the ground. Southern's 296 rushing yards are its most since Oct. 4 vs. Indiana State when it had 430. Both quarterback DJ Williams (134 yards) and running back Edward Robinson (145 yards) topped the century mark against Illinois State.

Williams also rushed for four touchdowns on Saturday in Normal, which is tied for the third-most in a game in program history. With his 134 rushing yards, the senior signal caller also broke the single-season rushing yards record for a Saluki quarterback with now 847 yards on the year. Williams passed Mark Iannotti who had 716 yards in 2015.

Defensively, SIU played one of its best games of the season against No. 11 Illinois State. The Salukis held the Redbirds to 217 total yards of offense, which consisted of 144 passing and 73 rushing. Southern Illinois also had two interceptions, with cornerback Sebastian Vargas and linebacker Chris Presto both picking-off Illinois State.

Senior linebacker Colin Bohanek's 11 tackles were a team-high while defensive end Jake Parrella recorded two sacks. Cornerback Jeremiah McClendon had two pass breakups in the win, giving the senior 14 on the year. This puts McClendon in a tie with James Ceasar (2020) for the most pass breakups in a season in program history.

For the fifth-straight week, the Salukis got the ball first and found the endzone on their opening drive. SIU put together a 13-play, 85-yard drive that lasted over six minutes to begin the game. The drive was capped off by a 12-yard rushing touchdown by Williams to give the Salukis an early lead.

Illinois State responded with a touchdown drive of its own, going nine plays and 75 yards before tying the game at 7-7. The Redbirds scored via a one-yard touchdown run by quarterback Tommy Rittenhouse.

It was all Salukis after the Rittenhouse score, with the visitors out-scoring the Redbirds, 30-0, the rest of the way.

On its next possession, Southern Illinois restored its lead after Williams rushed it in from one-yard out on the first play of the second quarter. This gave SIU's quarterback his second rushing score of the game and his fifth game this season with multiple rushing touchdowns.

Both defenses traded stops on fourth down after the Williams touchdown. Southern Illinois then forced an Illinois State punt, which led to a 32-yard field goal by senior kicker/punter Paul Geelen that extended SIU's lead to 17-7 with 00:29 remaining in the quarter.

Illinois State moved the ball to the SIU 34-yard line and attempted a 51-yard field goal as the first half expired, but it was blocked by the Salukis to keep the lead at 17-7 in favor of the visitors.

Three consecutive punts, two by Illinois State and one by Southern Illinois, started off the third quarter. SIU got back on the board thanks to another Geelen field goal on its second drive of the half. This time, the senior connected from 36 yards to give Southern a 20-7 lead.

The Redbirds started their next possession with five minutes left in the quarter, but were held to a three-and-out by the Saluki defense. Southern Illinois forced a punt on all three of Illinois State's third-quarter drives.

Williams and SIU returned to the endzone to begin the fourth quarter after putting together their longest drive of the game. This one lasted 06:53 and went 90 yards on 12 plays and ended with Williams' third rushing score of the game.

After a pair of turnovers on downs by both teams, the Salukis tallied their first pick of the day after Vargas intercepted Illinois State's Rittenhouse. This was the first interception of the cornerback's career.

The turnover turned into points for the Salukis, as Geelen drilled his third field goal, this one from 48 yards. The senior from the Netherlands is now a strong 15-of-17 (88.2%) on the season and is a perfect 14-of-14 on field goals from inside 50 yards.

For the second-straight drive, the SIU defense recorded an interception as Presto picked-off Illinois State quarterback Beckham Pellant who had replaced Rittenhouse. This was the second interception of the season for the linebacker and the third of his career.

It took just two plays for Southern Illinois to take advantage of the turnover, as Williams broke free for a 42-yard score to give SIU a 37-7 lead with 04:22 left in the fourth quarter.

Illinois State's following possession ended up as the final one of the game, with SIU finishing off its dominant, 37-7 victory over an 11th-ranked Redbirds squad.

"Our four losses are to teams that will probably come out of this weekend all ranked in the top 15," Hill said. "One of them went to five overtimes. This is a really good football team and I hope that it ends in a postseason berth."

The Salukis will now wait and see what comes next, as the 2025 NCAA FCS playoff selection show will take place on Sunday, Nov. 23, at 11 a.m. CT on ESPNU.

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