Salukis fall in five overtimes to South Dakota, 53-51

FINAL STATS

CARBONDALE, Ill. — It was the kind of awe-inspiring game that neither team deserved to lose. Unfortunately for Southern Illinois fans, it was their club that felt the sting of a five-overtime loss to South Dakota, 53-51, on Saturday.

The contest between two Top 25 teams was billed by both sides as a must-win to make the 24-team FCS Playoffs. The Coyotes (8-4, 6-2) surely punched their playoff ticket after winning for the sixth time in their last seven games. Their regular season is over, and they clinched at least a share of second place in the Missouri Valley Football Conference.

For the Salukis (6-5, 3-4), they can still get to seven wins by beating Illinois State in the season finale next Saturday, but even a victory over the Redbirds may not be enough to push Southern across the playoff finish line.

The day began with recognition for 27 seniors playing their final home game at Saluki Stadium. It ended after nearly four hours of big plays, momentum shifts, and dizzying twists and turns.

“You couldn’t ask any more from our seniors — their toughness and resolve has never wavered,” said SIU head coach Nick Hill. “That's what makes these feelings feel so much worse, because you want them to be down there celebrating right now.”

SIU quarterback DJ Williams had another masterful performance with 303 yards passing and four touchdowns, plus 89 yards rushing. With those touchdowns, he broke Mark Iannotti’s school record for points-responsible-for in a season. With one game remaining, he has 220 total points, with 36 touchdowns to his credit (22 passing, 14 rushing).

On the final series of regulation, and with no timeouts, Williams guided an eight-play, 57-yard, gut-check drive that set up Paul Geelen to kick a 36-yard field goal and send the game to overtime, 34-34.

“Everybody left it all out there,” said Williams. “It was a heartfelt game. I felt the emotion before the game, and yesterday when the seniors stood up and talked during our meeting. For Saluki fans, we tried to do it for you and came up short. It's just hard to swallow this pill, but we appreciate the people that stay with us through wins and losses.”

On the first play of overtime, Williams lobbed a 25-yard beauty to Jay Jones down the left sideline, sending a roar through the stadium and giving SIU a momentary seven-point lead. South Dakota responded in dramatic fashion, converting on 4th-and-1 when Aidan Bouman completed a 16-yard touchdown pass to L.J. Phillips Jr.

In the second overtime, Bouman converted a 3rd-and-9 by lobbing a 24-yard touchdown pass to Larenzo Fenner. On the required two-point conversion, tight end Jesse Miller fumbled the ball across the left pylon, but the ruling that he broke the plane before losing the ball was upheld. On the first play of SIU’s second overtime possession, Williams hit Vinson Davis III down the left sideline for a 25-yard TD, and tight end Ryan Schwendeman caught a game-tying conversion in the left corner of the end zone.

“I feel like our guys went out there and gave everything that we could,” said Davis III. "Knowing that we needed to win this game to get to the playoffs, just having that pressure, we have great players that live for those moments."

Neither team converted its two-point attempt in the third overtime, but in the fourth overtime, South Dakota had the first crack and appeared to be stopped when Tennel Bryant was trapped in the backfield on a reverse. He switched directions, got a couple of questionable blocks, and scampered into the end zone to put South Dakota up by two. Williams matched that effort with a two-point run of his own.

In the final overtime, SIU went first, and Williams’ pass to Fabian McCray was just beyond the wide receiver's reach. South Dakota then won it on a Bouman to Fenner pass.

There were plenty of thrilling moments in the 60-minutes of regulation play, and a few plays that will haunt Southern.

For the ninth time in 11 games, Southern scored a touchdown on its opening drive, a gorgeous 63-yard Williams to Jones TD strike. A sixth-year senior and the longest-tenured player on the team, Jones had three catches for 108 yards and two TDs.

“That's probably the proudest moment that I had in my career here,” said Davis. “Just seeing how Jay was when I first came here until today — a two-touchdown game and his first 100-yard game.”

Other incredible highlights for the Salukis — holder Jace Clark shoveled a four-yard TD pass to Schwendeman on a third-quarter fake field goal that put SIU up, 31-14. The drive was made possible by cornerback Jeremiah McClendon, who picked off Bouman at the USD 35 and returned it to the 8. It was the first turnover by the Coyotes in six games.

One play SIU will relive in its nightmares came with just over two minutes to go in the fourth quarter and the game tied, 31-31. Subbing in for Williams, backup quarterback Jake Curry hit tight end Aidan Quinn on a screen pass that went 46 yards to the USD 27. It was called back by the only holding penalty of the game. Had the play stood, Southern likely would have been in position to end the game with a winning field goal in regulation.

Injuries played a significant factor in the contest, as Southern lost three starting offensive linemen — right guard Derek Harden Jr., right tackle Cam Dye and left guard Aidan Logan.

The defense was playing without linebacker Chris Presto and safety Cejai Parson, and lost defensive tackle Peyton Reeves in the first quarter. A sixth-year senior, Reeves and his brother, Caden, have stuck with the program through the highs and lows.

“Six years of hard work has been put into this program, and it's worth every blood, sweat and tear,” Peyton Reeves said afterward. “I tweak my calf, can't play the rest of the game, but I'm there on the sideline, cheering on my brothers, wanting them to win just as bad as I would want to win out there, too. I know they put everything they had into this game, and it's a tough one to swallow.”

This one hurts, Hill said.

“We live it 24 hours a day and it consumes you, you know?” Hill said. “You always go back and wish you called a couple different plays. If they worked, you're glad you called them, and if they don't, you wish you went to something else to give your guys a shot. There were a lot of great individual plays out there, and they just had one more two-point play than us.”