Tight ends come up big for the Salukis

CARBONDALE, Ill. — One of the key questions about this year’s Saluki Football team was who would step into the tight end vacancy, after Ryan Schwendeman transferred to Wisconsin and AJ Quinn graduated.

At Samford on Thursday night, Southern Illinois tight ends Karsen Konkel and Miles Marshall provided the answer, scoring two of the team’s three touchdowns. The performance came one week after no tight end caught a pass for the SIU offense.

“We have a lot of confidence in our tight end room,” said head coach and offensive coordinator Nick Hill. “They made plays throughout camp and it was good to see that carry over into a game.”

Both touchdowns came on critical 3rd-and-goal situations.

On the Salukis’ first drive, they were faced with 3rd-and-goal at the Samford 2, when quarterback Jake Curry found Konkel in the right corner of the end zone. A junior from Pinckneyville, Konkel was playing in just his fourth-career game at SIU, and the play marked his first-career catch.

Konkel celebrates his first-career TD with fellow tight end Aiden Moriarty.

“Karsen’s first catch in college is a touchdown — I mean, you can't write a better story than that,” Marshall smiled. “That was really special to celebrate with him in the end zone.”

With Southern leading, 9-7, late in the second quarter, it was Marshall’s turn. On 3rd-and-goal from the seven, Curry took a three-step drop and fired a strike to the fifth-year tight end, who caught the ball at the 6 and went untouched into the right corner of the end zone.

“We knew where the ball was going to go if they gave us the look we wanted and we just executed,” Marshall said. “Big props to Curry. He kept his composure and delivered a dot.”

Marshall has played 25 games in his Saluki career, mostly on special teams, but he’s more involved on offense this season and now has 10 career catches and three touchdowns.

Marshall scored a TD on a critical 3rd-and-7 at Samford.

“Miles has been a great leader for the tight end room and really helped us prepare for these first two games,” Konkel said. “He’s the most experienced guy in our room, a great dude, and excited to see him make that catch.”

Both players feel the tight ends, a group that also includes junior Aiden Moriarity and sophomore Patrick Carr, can be an important factor in Southern’s offense. They are more than just run-blockers.

“We’re bigger bodies, fast, athletic guys, and we're really good in the passing game,” Konkel said. “When the ball gets thrown to us, we're gonna secure it, try to get upfield and get that touchdown. Put two big ones in for the Salukis (at Samford), and we're gonna hope to continue to do so.”

With All-American quarterback DJ Williams out for the time-being, the tight ends can be a trusty asset for Curry.

“Jake’s our guy right now and we’re behind him all the way,” Marshall said. “He’s a tough kid and a gunslinger.”