First-half wave of explosive plays lifts Illinois to 48-10 win over SIU
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Illinois unleashed a wave of explosive plays midway through the first half to quickly extinguish any thoughts of an upset during a 48-10 win over Southern Illinois.
The Salukis (2-2) had early success moving the football, with quarterback DJ Williams finding Allen Middleton for an eight-yard touchdown pass to tie the game, 7-7, with 3:46 left in the first quarter.
A large contingent of SIU fans seated behind the team’s bench erupted in response to the score. Could Southern hang around in this one, as it has done before against Power 4 opponents?
The Fighting Illini (2-1) provided an immediate and firm response. No. Running back Aidan Laughery turned the corner and sprinted 75 yards down the left sideline for a touchdown. That was followed by two more lightning strikes on Illinois’ next two drives, as quarterback Katin Houser completed touchdown passes of 45 and 27 yards to Collin Dixon to make the score 28-7 early in the second quarter.
SIU head coach Nick Hill called the defense together on the sideline.
“I kind of challenged them,” Hill said. “They hadn't really been in that position all year, as far as giving up four-straight scores, explosive plays.”
Despite giving up 503 total yards in the game, there were bright spots for the defense. After the early onslaught, the defense allowed just one more touchdown the rest of the way, and it happened midway through the fourth quarter.
“We got off to a slow start, and we got to get that together,” acknowledged safety Vinny Pierre Jr., who had five tackles. “After that, we put our head down and just played hard-nosed football.”
Houser had not been sacked this season entering the game, but Southern got him twice — one by Ibrahim Sanogo and one by Lance Bassett. That gives the Salukis 10 sacks on the season. Jake Parrella also nearly caused a turnover with a big hit on the QB.
“We have consistently been getting pressure, and there's a strain to those guys,” Hill said. “We've got to have a great D-line if we want to have a good defense.”
Southern also forced two turnovers, including an interception by Sebastian Vargas, his second in two games.
“We didn't care who we were going against or what was going on with the score,” Vargas said. We went out there and strained, gave 110 percent effort across the board from the D-line to the linebackers to the safeties and corners.”
Another positive for the defense was the return of linebacker Chris Presto, who missed last week’s game. He finished with six tackles.
“I felt great out there, had a couple of tackles in space that felt great,” Presto said. “There were some things that Illinois attacked us with that we need to clean up, technique-wise. I liked the strain of everybody on the field. It’s just a matter of enhancing everything we’re doing.”
Offensively, Southern picked up 18 first downs and had a 34:06 to 25:54 advantage in time of possessions, but the offense was only 3-of-15 on third down and totaled 257 yards.
“We moved the ball well, at times, but had a couple of mistakes that put us behind the chains a little bit and we couldn't convert,” said Williams, who was 20-of-38 passing for 182 yards, with an interception that was returned for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Southern was held to 29 yards rushing, and most of those yards came from its quarterbacks. Five running backs combined for 13 carries and only six yards.
“When we've had success against Power 4 schools, you would like to see some of those runs pop for more yards,” Hill said. “We never made them feel uncomfortable in this game. I felt like the offensive game plan was pretty good. We didn't have explosive plays.”
Midway through the fourth quarter, Hill put the entire second team offense in.
“It was the first snaps for a lot of those guys, and coming against a Big Ten school, they'll remember that and gain some confidence,” he explained. “Some of them did some good things.”
Southern’s focus now turns to conference play. The Salukis open the league season at Murray State next week, where Williams began his college career.
“The whole team is feeling this one, but we'll be back next weekend, ready to work for conference play,” he said.
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