Late Possession Spells Disaster for Salukis

Saturday, October 3

Carbondale, IL

4 PM

Southern Illinois University

3-3 , 1-1

Youngstown State

4-2 , 2-1

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Youngstown St.	0	7	14	7	28
Southern Ill.	3	7	0	6	16

Photo by: ashtonlane photograpy

10/03/2026 | 9:52:00 | Football, General

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Todd Hefferman, SIUSalukis.com

CARBONDALE, Ill. - Southern Illinois University's football team was in the red zone, and then it wasn't Saturday night against No. 8/10 Youngstown State.

Down 11 at home early in the fourth quarter, the No. 21/25 Salukis drove to the Penguins' 7 before disaster struck. Quarterback DJ Williams was stopped at the 6 on a short run, but SIU had to go all the way back to the YSU 21 after an unnecessary roughness penalty after the play. Williams then found Tae Marrero Jr. over the middle to reach the 10, but the Salukis got no closer.

Williams completed a short pass over the middle to Allen Middleton, who was caught at the 2, but a face mask penalty on an offensive lineman pushed the ball back to the 25. Williams' next pass went off the hands of a receiver in the end zone and was intercepted after the ricochet by Stanley Clyne.

"We went backwards way too many times. Penalties really hurt us," SIU coach Nick Hill said after the Salukis' 28-16 loss. "I think we had 10 penalties for 75 yards. they had seven for 73, but ours were critical to us going backwards. Those were offensive penalties. We gotta be better, and we'll have our opportunities to do so against good teams in this league because they keep piling up."

The Penguins (4-2, 2-1 Missouri Valley Football Conference) marched 80 yards in 14 plays to push the lead to three scores. Tailback Jaden Gilbert's 6-yard touchdown run with 3:37 left helped YSU go up 28-10.

Gilbert, YSU's third-leading rusher, had 35 yards on seven carries. Quarterback Beau Brungard, last year's Payton Award winner, pulled to within one of the school record with his 53rd career rushing touchdown in the third quarter. Brungard also threw for 219 yards and a touchdown.

Williams, a preseason All-American who is on the Payton Award watch list this year, threw for 288 yards and rushed for two touchdowns. He was sacked a season-high five times.

Chandler Chapman rushed for a team-high 49 yards on 11 carries. Eddie Robinson added 23 yards on four touches out of the backfield. SIU (3-3, 1-1) was held to 99 yards on the ground, it's second-lowest total of the season. Illinois, an FBS program, held the Salukis to 29 yards on 27 carries Sept. 19.

Wide receiver Kyle Thomas caught eight passes for a season-high 155 yards. It was the Northern Illinois transfer's second 100-yard game this season.

Linebacker Ben Fiegel led the defense with 11 stops, including 0.5 tackles for loss. Fiegel had four solo tackles and seven assisted.

SIU is back on the road next weekend at No. 13/16 South Dakota (4-2, 1-1). The Coyotes knocked off Indiana State 44-14 Saturday night in Vermillion, S.D.

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