SIU completed the celebration of Homecoming week on Oct. 12 with a football game against No. 2 North Dakota State University (NDSU), but with a final score of 24-3, the Salukis marked their fourth straight loss of the season leaving them at 2-5.
Against the powerhouse nine-time national champion, the Salukis wanted to set the tone by scoring first. It looked like they were going to do just that as their first drive got deeper into Bison territory, but a fumble recovered by the defense ended the drive and set the tone for the rest of the game.
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“Looking back, that was a tough play,” Head Coach Nick Hill said.
The Salukis got the ball first on the sunny Saturday afternoon with true freshman Jake Curry under center. The Dawgs would work their way into Bison territory, with some help from three penalties on the defense. Curry completed a pass to Allen Middleton which was promptly fumbled and recovered by an NDSU defender.
Curry, in the first start of his career, finished with 15 completions for 152 yards. The freshman found himself starting after the Salukis lost both quarterbacks DJ Williams and Hunter Simmons to injuries earlier in the season.
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“I was proud of Jake,” Hill said, ”18 years old, making your first start against that defense, tough task.”
After a couple of short gains, NDSU quarterback Cam Miller found a wide open Joe Stoffel for a gain of 37 to get into Saluki territory. Two runs by CharMar Brown set up Barika Kpeenu to punch it in from 6 yards out.
Looking to answer, SIU was unable to get anything going and punt. The Bison responded with an unsuccessful series of their own and punted the ball right back. The Salukis were able to pick up a pair of first downs before NDSU’s defense put an end to the drive.
A well-placed punt by Paul Geelen had the Bison starting from their own five. NDSU made their way up to their own 36, but an offensive pass interference took the momentum away and forced another Bison punt.
On the next SIU possession, Curry found Middleton for a pickup of 18 and Vinson Davis for a 24-yard gain, to get into Bison territory. The drive would end with a 50-yard field goal by Geelen to get the Dawgs on the board.
“I’d say I have a pretty good connection with all the receivers,” Curry said. “It kind of shows sometimes.”
NDSU responded to the score with their running game, picking up 53 yards on nine carries before Miller connected with Chris Harris for a touchdown.
With 31 ticks before halftime, the Salukis tried to respond, but were only able to get just beyond midfield when the clock hit zero.
Out of the break, NDSU quickly made their way into SIU territory, but the Dawgs responded just as quickly, forcing three short gains to set up fourth and one. Two Saluki defenders got into the backfield, on the attempt, and made the tackle to give the ball back to their offense.
SIU couldn’t build momentum off of the stop and punted the ball back to NDSU.
The Bison got the ball downfield in small increments to get into the red zone. The Saluki defense held their own and forced a field goal to make it a 14 point game.
In contrast, the Salukis answered with big plays, picking up at least 10 on five of their first seven plays. A pass interference on the Bison would have the Dawgs knocking on the door of the end zone. NDSU’s defense stood their ground and forced a field goal attempt that missed to the left.
Following the miss, the SIU defense stood tall and forced a three and out. The Bison forced a punt to get the ball right back. A big completion to Bryce Lance got the Bison into Saluki territory. NDSU then moved the ball in small chunks before Brown scored a 9-yard touchdown.
The Bison got the ball back after Curry missed his man on the run and threw the ball right into a defender. NDSU ran out the rest of the clock to complete the 24-3 win.
The 24 points scored by the Bison is the fewest amount of points that they have scored in a game all season.
“I feel like (the defense) played good as a group,” Louis Wilbert said. “But we still got stuff to work on.”
SIU will have next Saturday off on a bye week before hitting the road to take on the Indiana State Sycamores on Oct. 26.
Sports Reporter Nick Pfannkuche can be reached at [email protected]. To stay up to date on all your southern Illinois news, be sure to follow The Daily Egyptian on Facebook and X @dailyegyptian.
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