SIU football traveled north to Fargo, ND for a meeting between two top-ranked FCS teams as it took on the reigning national champion North Dakota State Bison on Saturday.
The Salukis got the ball to start the first half and hit the ground running on the opening drive to strike first with a field goal off the leg of Paul Geelen, but it took NDSU all of one play to respond as Bryce Lance broke loose for a 75-yard touchdown as soon as the Bison got the ball back.
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Lance’s touchdown highlighted two major factors in SIU’s loss: their inability to stop big gains and their struggle to stop the run in general.
NDSU was able to break off seven plays where it gained more than 20 yards in the contest, one on each of the Bison’s seven scoring drives, including four of at least 40 yards. SIU was only able to create four plays that garnered 20 yards. The Salukis’ run defense as a whole ended up surrendering 264 rushing yards, and five of NDSU’s six touchdowns came via the ground game.
Following a pair of punting drives, the Dawgs found themselves back in Bison territory on a 34-yard completion to Fabian McCray, setting up a Chandler Chapman touchdown to give the lead back to SIU at 10-7.
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The Salukis were able to force a punt to hold on to the lead, but the Bison responded by forcing a punt of their own, followed up by a field goal to knot the game up at 10.
In the waning minutes of the first half, the Dawgs were on a drive deep into the NDSU half of the field before a fumble gave the ball back to the Bison and flipped the game completely in control for NDSU.
The Bison put together a late drive of their own to bring a 17-10 lead into the locker room and were able to double up after receiving the kickoff on the other side of halftime to increase the NDSU lead to 14.
Chasing two scores, the Dawgs once again found themselves in plus territory off a 40-yard completion to Vinson Davis III, but another Saluki fumble gave the ball back to the Bison two plays later.
The Bison capitalized on the turnover again, using the running game to extend their lead to 21. A stop on the ensuing Saluki drive gave the ball right back to the NDSU offense that, once again, found its way to the endzone to put the game out of reach, up 28 in the fourth.
NDSU tacked on a third touchdown off of a takeaway, this time on an interception, and the Dawgs put up a meaningless touchdown in return before the Bison ran out the last seven minutes to end the game at a score of 45-17.
The Salukis drop to 4-2 with the loss and their record against conference opponents drops to 1-1. They will be back in action next Saturday, Oct. 18, at home against the Fighting Hawks of North Dakota (4-2, 2-0).
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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