SIU football gave Carbondale fans a preview of the upcoming season in its second scrimmage of the spring season. 

DuQuoin High School hosted the first scrimmage in March, so this was the first action in front of a home crowd for the Salukis since November.

Here are the takeaways from the night:

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Quarterbacks starting to lead pack

Two quarterbacks stood out in Friday’s scrimmage.

Transfer senior Josh Straughan ran the faced-paced Saluki offense to near perfection. He finished the first half with 163 yards and two touchdowns on three drives.

In the first drive of the night, he went 7-8 for 67 yards and a touchdown to senior wide receiver Connor Iwema.

Sophomore Sam Straub also scored on his first drive, a 20-yard touchdown to sophomore wide receiver Darrell James. 

Straub was on the field for five of the 19 drives. He finished the day with 124 yards two touchdowns and an interception on the last play of the game.

Fast-paced offense improved with points on board

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In the first scrimmage, the Saluki offense didn’t put points on the board other than four field goals from senior kicker Austin Johnson. He made a 20-yard field goal and missed a 45 yarder wide right.

In Friday’s scrimmage, the offense scored on its first two drives of the night and had a total of six touchdowns, including a 97-yard drive led by Straub.

The rushing aspect of SIU’s offense was also on display Friday.

The first four touchdowns were through the air, and the last two were scored on the ground.

There were six rushes that went for more than 10 yards, including a 55-yard run by sophomore running back Daquan Isom.

Also coming out of the backfield were SIU quarterbacks. They combined for 67 yards on 18 rushes.

Wide receiver breakouts

Four of the six touchdowns were scored by wide receivers on plays over 20 yards.

Senior wide receiver Israel Lamprakes hauled in several big catches, including a 37-yard touchdown from Straub. He finished the game with four catches and 72 yards.

Iwema also had the first touchdown of the night, a 21-yard pass over the middle of the field

The biggest play of the night came after a scramble by Straughan. He was able to escape out of the backfield and connect 75 yards with James on his second touchdown.

Center to Quarterback disconnection

The amount of mistakes made in Friday’s scrimmage were minimal. 

But there were at least six snaps back to the quarterback that were either mishandled, at the quarterback’s feet or over his head.

Two of the bad snaps resulted in turnovers.

The Salukis have one center listed on the current roster, but also have six guards. 

The Spring Game for the Salukis will be held at 2 p.m. April 23 at Saluki Stadium.

Evan Jones can be reached at [email protected] or at 618-536-3304