Salukis hold Beau Brungard to a season-low performance, but Youngstown State still pulls out the win
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Youngstown State quarterback Beau Brungard, the reigning Payton award winner, was held to a season-low offensive performance on Saturday, but he provided just enough fireworks to rally his team past Southern Illinois, 28-16.
The No. 21-ranked Salukis (3-3, 1-1) intercepted Brungard twice, limited him to 219 passing yards, and less than 300 total yards for only the second time in his last 10 starts.
Southern held a 10-7 halftime lead, but didn’t score again until late in the fourth quarter.
“We didn't score enough points,” SIU head coach Nick Hill acknowledged. “The flow and rhythm of the game was not ideal. We had too many penalties and negative plays that put us in tough down and distances.”
Youngstown State also took a long time to find its rhythm. Its first six drives included two punts, two interceptions, a turnover on downs and a touchdown, as Brungard and the No. 8 Penguins (4-2, 2-1) were mostly held in check.
If you had to pick a play that changed the entire game, it came midway through the third quarter, with the Salukis still leading, 10-7. On 3rd-and-21 at the SIU 41, Brungard was flushed from the pocket, sprinted toward the left sideline, before suddenly cutting back and leaving Saluki defenders behind. He picked up 25 yards and a first down, and four plays later scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 1-yard run.
“When you're playing great opponents, those things are magnified sometimes,” Hill said. “There's going to be some plays you wish that you had back, but there's going to be things that I wish that I could have done better and across the board.”
Southern’s offense gave the ball right back to YSU when quarterback DJ Williams was sacked and lost the ball at the SIU 20. In the blink of an eye, Brungard completed his only TD pass of the night, a 20-yard toss to Austin Bray to make the score 21-10.
“Defensively, we did some good things out there,” said safety Matt McClelland, who had one of the interceptions, along with cornerback Gavin Shepard. “There were some crucial plays we missed. A couple of crucial mistakes, like the 3rd-and-long, that we gotta get off the field and give the offense another opportunity.”
Trailing, 21-10, the Salukis weren’t out of it to start the fourth quarter, thanks to a brilliant 36-yard throw-and-catch by Williams to Kyle Thomas on a 4th-and-8 play. That set the Salukis up first-and-goal at the YSU 7, but two 15-yard penalties against Southern backed the offense up to the 25.
On 3rd-and-goal at the 25, Williams layered a pass to Allen Middleton for what momentarily looked like a touchdown, but the receiver couldn’t secure the catch, it went off his hands into the arms of Youngstown’s Stanley Clyne.
It was that kind of night for the Salukis.
Total yards in the game narrowly favored Youngstown State, 403-387. SIU had a 24-23 edge in first downs. Each team committed two turnovers.
“We can be better offensively, and we will,” Hill said.
Williams completed 19-of-35 passes for 288 yards and moved into the Top 10 in school history in career passing yards with 4,409, passing Sherard Poteete and Sam Straub into ninth place. He’d gladly trade the achievement for a win.
“We put up 16 points,” Williams lamented. “The defense played a great game, and we left them out to dry. I take full responsibility for it. We gotta be better, or we're gonna continue to have this feeling.”
Other top performances for the Salukis included a career-high eight catches for 155 yards by Thomas, and 11 tackles by linebacker Ben Fiegel. Southern’s defense sacked Brungard twice, including one by defensive end Lukus McDaniels.
“I trust this defense,” McDaniels said. “I wouldn't want to play with no other defense, but we just have to get it all the way right, not just partially right. We have to put up a full four quarters and eliminate the mental errors.”
Southern’s run game was held to 99 yards, but that figure included the five times Williams was sacked for a loss of 34 yards. The Salukis have been one of the nation’s least penalized teams this year, but they were flagged 10 times tonight for 75 yards.
“It boils down to leadership,” Williams declared. “It’s gotta start with the players. The offense has gotta pick it up.”
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