Salukis put early scare into Purdue, before falling, 34-17

FINAL STATS

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Southern Illinois put an early scare into Purdue on Saturday, jumping out to a 14-7 lead, but the Boilermakers rallied back to claim a 34-17 win, behind a running game that eventually wore SIU down.

Ranked No. 14 in the FCS and with a history of upsetting Big Ten teams, the Salukis (1-1) stunned the crowd of 54,663 at Ross-Ade Stadium by marching down the field for a touchdown on the opening drive.

Quarterback DJ Williams guided SIU 75 yards in 10 plays, finishing the drive with a seven-yard touchdown run on a QB keeper. He completed three passes on the drive, including a 21-yard strike to Jathen Jones to convert a key third down. He also completed passes to Fabian McCray for nine yards and LaShaun Lester Jr. for 18.

“These are the games I live for,” Williams said. “We left it all out there, and I really love what I'm seeing from this group. Nobody believed in us, but the people in that locker room are all we really care about.”

Purdue tied it, 7-7, on a nine-play, 75-yard drive of its own, but SIU immediately answered on its next drive. First, Williams connected with McCray on a 63-yard crossing route down to the Purdue 12. Two plays later, he found tight end Ryan Schwendeman in the left corner of the end zone for a touchdown.

“We were very confident in the game plan that Coach Hill made for us,” Schwendeman said. “We knew that they weren't going to be ready for a lot of things that we had coming.”

On the night, Williams completed 20-of-33 passes for 202 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. He also carried the ball 17 times, having a hand in 50 of the team’s 60 plays.

“It's very impressive as a FCS quarterback to come in here and not turn the ball over,” Schwendeman said. “And DJ’s a tremendous leader for our team. He came in here at halftime and made sure everyone was up, everyone needed to stick together.”

The Boilermakers (2-0) took their first lead, 17-14, on a Spencer Porath field goal with 10:41 to go in the second. They added a late, second-quarter touchdown on a Devin Mockobee one-yard run to make it 24-14.

Southern had a chance to put points on the board just before halftime, but Paul Geelen’s 59-yard field goal attempt came up short on the half’s final play. In the fourth quarter, he connected from 53 yards out — the third-longest field goal in school history.

Purdue out-scored SIU, 10-3, in the second half behind the running of Mockobee, who’s on the Doak Walker watch list. For the game, he grinded out 126 yards on 32 carries, averaging less than four yards per carry, but was the key behind Purdue’s 36:46 to 23:14 advantage in time of possession. The Boilers had a 385-283 advantage in total yards.

“We were prepared on both sides of the football and took advantage of some things early in the game,” said SIU head coach Nick Hill. “I think our defense just steadily made them work for everything that they got, not giving up that super-explosive play or letting it be easy. They had to earn everything.”

There were a couple of late-hit penalties against SIU in the first half that helped keep Purdue’s drives alive.

“The penalties we’ll have to go back and look at,” Hill said. “We kind of let them off the hook on a couple of their scoring drives early, and those plays could really make a difference.”

Last week, Purdue shut out Ball State, 31-0, so Southern’s 17 points are a reason for optimism.

“DJ really just showed me everything that we know that he’s capable of,” said Vinson Davis III, who had five catches for 37 yards. “I feel like he's ready to make this team go to the next level.”

SIU didn’t turn the ball over and forced one turnover of their own, an interception by safety Vinny Pierre Jr. on the first drive of the third quarter.

Southern also fought for 60 minutes, as evidenced by the game’s final drive. Instead of letting Purdue run out the clock, SIU called timeouts and eventually forced a turnover on downs when Nate Tronzo dropped Christian Moore for a one-yard loss.

“That drive right there was a testament to our focus on the process and we're just going to play at one speed,” said SIU linebacker Andrew Behm, who led the team with 16 tackles, the most by a Saluki player since Royal Whitaker had 17 against Missouri State in 2002. “No matter what it is, whatever play it is, we're going to go out there and fight.”

Southern plays at UT Martin next week, followed by a road trip to SEMO to complete it’s non-conference schedule.

“We can be as good as we want to be,” Schwendeman said. “It just it comes down to us at the end of the day, how much we're willing to strain, how hard we're willing to work. And I think this group can get it done.”

Photos by Cheyenne Bruce