Through four games, the No. 10 ranked Saluki football team (4-0, 1-0 MVC) remains perfect following Saturday’s 33-20 beatdown on the Missouri State Bears (1-3, 0-1 MVC). This marks Southern’s best start to a season since head coach Nick Hill’s final year at quarterback for the Dawgs, when they started 6-0 in 2007.
The Dawgs started fast; they scored twice in the first six minutes of the game, both on rushing touchdowns by Ro Elliot. However, Missouri State would crawl back to make it a three-point game late in the third.
But with a drive by quarterback Nic Baker and a strong defensive performance in the fourth, the Salukis sealed the deal for win number four on the season.
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Baker threw for 285 yards, including a passing touchdown to junior tight end Aidan Quinn, and completed more than 74% of his passes. He added 24 yards on the ground as well. Baker needs just 122 yards to cement himself in school history by breaking Joel Sambursky’s record as the all-time passing leader.
The running game combined for 122 yards on the ground, led by Elliot with 102 yards on just nine carries, two of which going for touchdowns. Justin Strong would add a score later on.
While Quinn caught the team’s lone passing touchdown, sophomore wideout Vinson Davis was Baker’s heavy target for the day, hauling in nine catches for 84 yards. Three separate Salukis had five or more receptions: Davis, Quinn and Strong.
The Saluki defense shined bright on the night as well. It combined for six total sacks, 11 tackles for loss and recovered a fumble in the fourth quarter.
It only took three plays for Elliot to find the endzone and give SIU a lead that they would never let up on the night. On the following Saluki drive, Elliot once again found paydirt for his second score of the night and the Dawgs were quickly up 14-0.
Missouri State would get the offense cooking on its next drive thanks to quarterback Jacob Clarke, getting the Bears down to the six-yard line. But the stifling Saluki defense locked Clarke up in the red zone to force a field goal.
The Bears’ next drive went a similar way: starting at midfield, Clarke went 4-for-5 for 57 yards, and capped it off with a clutch fourth-down pass to Gary Clinton for a touchdown to cut the deficit to a four-point Saluki lead.
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Suddenly in a close game, the Dawgs responded. They took more than six minutes off the clock on a 12-play, 74-yard scoring drive capped off by Strong’s five-yard touchdown run. The Dawgs were back up 20-10, and held a 23-13 lead going into halftime after the teams traded field goals to end the period.
Earlier in the half, Clarke had left the game due to injury, but the Bears would not relent. Junior backup quarterback Jordan Pachot would lead the longest scoring drive of the night in the third quarter, hitting receiver Hunter Wood in stride for a 31-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to just three points.
But Salukis didn’t bat an eye at the close score. Baker would lead a 65-yard scoring drive, going a perfect 4-for-4 for 72 yards and a touchdown to cap it off and put the Salukis back up by 10.
It was the defense’s game the rest of the way. Junior Linebacker Colin Bohanek ended what could have been a crucial drive for the Bears after he strip-sacked Pachot in SIU territory and recovered to give his team possession.
The offense would use the takeaway to grab a field goal, while the defense would force a three-and-out on the following drive thanks to a Missouri State holding penalty, a sack by senior defensive end Devin Cowan and a pass breakup by senior defensive end Tim Varga. The defensive stand would ultimately end any realistic chance of an MSU comeback.
With the win, the Dawgs also earned their first win off a bye week since the 2015 season. The Dawgs will look to make it 5-0 next Saturday on the road against No. 19 Youngstown State (2-2, 0-1 MVC). Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. in Youngstown, Ohio.
Graduate Assistant Joseph Bernard can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @Jojobernard2001.
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