Salukis dominate Illinois State, 37-7, in final push for playoff bid

FINAL STATS

NORMAL, Ill. — Southern Illinois sent shock waves through the FCS, stunning No. 11-ranked Illinois State on Saturday, 37-7, and raising the question — do the Salukis belong in the playoffs?

Anyone who watched the No. 24 Salukis (7-5, 4-4) completely dismantle the Redbirds (8-4, 5-3) would have no doubt in their mind. Illinois State entered the game riding a four-game winning streak and hadn’t lost a November game in two seasons.

“It wasn't like we just squeaked one out,” said SIU head coach Nick Hill. “We dominated the entire football game and every statistical category. We just got after them, and we’re on the road.”

A week after an excruciating five-overtime loss to South Dakota, some might have expected SIU to go through the motions in its season-finale.

“We could care less about all the naysayers,” said quarterback DJ Williams, who rushed for 134 yards and ran for all four of SIU’s touchdowns. “I’m just telling you right now, this team has put our all into this season. You see teams when they start losing cut corners and start doing things differently. This team hasn't done that, and that's remarkable to see.”

For the 10th time in 12 games, Southern scored a touchdown on its opening drive, marching 85 yards in 13 plays and converting three third downs along the way, before Williams ran up the middle for a 12-yard TD.

After allowing ISU a touchdown on its opening drive, SIU’s defense blanked the Redbirds’ offense the final 50 minutes of the contest. It was a remarkable feat for a much-maligned group that had given up 101 points the last two weeks.

“I think I’m most proud of just the resolve that the defense showed,” said Hill. “It just speaks to the character of the coaching staff and the players to come out here and keep believing.”

Williams said he’s never lost faith in the defense.

“They've been having it hard the last couple weeks — people have been saying the defense this, the defense that,” Williams said. “I trust those guys with my life, man, and I'm happy to see them rewarded for what they've been going through. We’re a team at the end of the day.”

Linebacker Colin Bohanek spearheaded a unit that allowed just 217 yards by recording a team-high 12 tackles.

“There's nothing scarier than a team that's got nothing to lose,” Bohanek said. “We were just playing loose out there. I thought our game plan with (defensive coordinator) Coach Pron (Pronschinske) was really good. Seemed like they didn't have a lot of answers for what we were bringing and we didn't let up. We were just out there hunting the whole game.”

The Salukis got a pair of sacks from Jake Parrella and interceptions from Chris Presto and Sebastian Vargas. Parrella also blocked a field goal. Cornerback Jeremiah McClendon got two more pass breakups to tie the school’s single-season record of 14.

“Jeremiah should be an All-American, no doubt,” Hill noted.

Southern led, 17-7, at the half and finished the job with 17 fourth-quarter points, culminating in a 42-yard Williams TD run down the right sideline with 4:22 remaining.

The offense piled up 296 rushing yards in the contest, and Eddie Robinson had a career-high 145 yards, giving the Salukis a pair of 100-yard rushers in the same game for the first time since 2021.

As he’s been all season, Williams was the engine that drove the machine. He totaled 304 yards of offense without a turnover and broke the single-season school record for rushing yards by a quarterback.

“I think you just watched maybe one of the best individual seasons at that position,” Hill said. “He has 40 touchdowns in a regular season. He leads us in rushing. He leads us in passing. He's an incredible talent. He's a better person.”

Senior center Noah Fenske echoed the sentiment.

“There's not a guy in this world that our O-line would rather fight for than DJ,” Fenske said. “How he carries himself every single day has just been incredible, and we all know he's hurting. We got a tough quarterback, and that gets your O-line going.”

Now, the question remains, have the Salukis done enough to earn a playoff berth? They have a convincing, signature win over Illinois State, plus seven wins overall, no bad losses, and play in the toughest league in the FCS.

“We showed today that we can finish a game against a Top 11 team in the country,” said defensive end Vontrell Chairse, who had four tackles and a key fourth-down stop. “We dominated them, and that's proof that we deserve to be in. I hope the committee's listening.”

Hill took it a step further, reminding the committee that Southern has won its first-round game the last three times its made the playoffs as an at-large team.

“If you put us on the road next week against a top 10 team, I think everybody in our building believes that we could go win the football game and not just win one game,” he said. “We've proved that over the years. Every time you put us in, we've won our first round game. We’re not just a team that could squeak into the playoffs and then be happy with that. This is a team that could go on a run.”

Either way, the game was a remarkable finish to a regular season filled with highs and lows, led by a senior class that never wavered.

“We stayed together because that's just the identity of these guys in this locker room and these coaches, and I'm just so proud to be a part of it,” said linebacker Shug Walker. “It's a true team, a true brotherhood. At so many points we could have turned against each other, things could have fallen apart, but these coaches and the leaders on this team did a great job keeping us together. We just continued fighting.”

The 24-team FCS Playoff bracket will be unveiled Sunday at 11 a.m. on ESPNU.