No. 17 Southern Illinois outscores No. 15 Southeastern in 55-48 shootout

CARBONDALE, Ill. – In a game that featured over 1,300 yards of total offense, No. 17/18 Southern Illinois outlasted No. 15/17 Southeastern Louisiana, 55-48, in the regular season finale for both teams Saturday afternoon at Saluki Stadium.

Southeastern (4-3), playing its fourth road game versus a ranked opponent, racked up 541 total yards of offense in the wild back-and-forth contest. However, the Lions couldn’t overcome an 807-yard performance by the Salukis (5-3).

Saturday’s game was scheduled 10 days ago, as both the Lions and SIU wanted to test their mettle against another top-tier FCS program heading into the postseason.

SLU will now await the decision of the NCAA playoff selection committee. The Lions, who defeated No. 17/18 Nicholls, 51-45, on the road last Saturday, finished second place in a competitive Southland Conference that had four teams ranked in the top 25 throughout the season.

The Lions also feature one of the premier quarterbacks in the nation in Cole Kelley, who added to his FCS-leading passing total with 418 yards and two touchdowns on 34-for-42 passing, while also rushing for three scores.

Javon Conner (nine catches, 87 yards), Marcus Cooper (7-72), Austin Mitchell (5-109), Tim Wilson Jr. (5-95-1 TD) were Kelley’s top target. Taron Jones led the SLU rushing attack with 43 yards and a score.

SIU quarterback Stone Labanowitz was 20-for-24 for 328 yards and a pair of scores, finding Avante Cox (8-127-1 TD) and Landon Lenoir (7-128-1 TD) consistently throughout the game. The Salukis amassed 423 yards rushing, as Justin Strong (16-159-2 TD) and Javon Williams Jr. (24-145-2 TD).

Alexis Ramos led SLU with 16 tackles and a forced fumble. Alphonso Taylor added 10 tackles for the Lions.

Kelley came out firing on the game’s first play, connecting with Wilson Jr. for a 51-yard catch-and-run. Six plays later, Kelley powered in from a yard out to give SLU a 6-0 lead after the extra point was missed.

Southern Illinois came right back with a seven-play, 65-yard scoring march. Labanowitz swept in from four yards out to give the Salukis a 7-6 lead with 9:51 remaining in the opening quarter.

Southeastern drove deep into SIU territory on the next possession, but a bad snap resulting in a big loss ended a promising Lion drive. After a SLU punt, SIU added to its lead when Strong scored from three yards out to give the Salukis a 14-6 advantage with 4:12 left in the first period.

A 43-yard bomb to Mitchell highlighted the ensuing Lion drive that culminated with Kelley bulling in from three yards out to pull SLU within, 14-13, heading into the second quarter.

Southern Illinois countered with a nine-play, 82-yard scoring drive. Williams Jr. finished the drive with a one-yard scoring run to put the Salukis up, 21-13, less than a minute into the second quarter.

The eight-point advantage wouldn’t last long, as a 32-yard run by Jones highlighted an eight-play, 72-yard scoring march. Kelley sprinted in from 13 yards out to cut the lead back to 21-20 with 10:27 remaining in the opening half.

Back came SIU, however, with an eight-play, 75-yard drive of its own. Williams Jr. raced in from eight yards out for his second score. The Lions jumped offside on the PAT, so the Salukis went for two, but the Lions stuffed the try to keep the deficit at 27-20.

A 42-yard Kelley-to-Mitchell catch-and-run kick started the game-tying drive for the Lions. On fourth-and-two, Kelley fired a dart to Nick Kovacs for a 12-yard touchdown and a tie score.

SLU finally forced a Saluki punt on the next drive, but Southern Illinois extended the drive with a 22-yard run by Jack Colquhoun on a fake punt. The Salukis made the most of their second opportunity, as Labanowitz found Lenoir on a scoring toss from eight yards out to send SIU into the break with a 34-27 advantage.

Southern Illinois took the opening kickoff and doubled the lead two plays into the third quarter. Cox got free for a 47-yard touchdown reception and a 41-27 lead.

After the Lions were forced to punt on their opening drive of the third quarter, SIU quickly moved into SLU territory, but Nico Gualdoni missed a 39-yard field goal to keep the deficit at 41-27.

Southeastern took advantage of the miss, driving the ball 78 yards on four plays. Jones slipped in from two yards out to cut the lead to 41-34 with 8:10 remaining in the third quarter.

The Lion defense finally stopped Southern Illinois on its next drive, as Ramos stripped Cox and Justin Dumas pounced on the loose ball. A 11-yard pass from Kelley to Matt DeBlaiso set up an 11-yard touchdown run by CJ Turner on an end around to tie the score at 41-41 with 3:26 left in the third quarter.

SIU retook the lead for good on the quarter’s final drive. Williams Jr. found a wide-open Jacob Garrett for a 56-yard touchdown reception to put the Salukis up, 48-41, heading into the fourth quarter.

The Lions marched all the way to the Saluki five-yard line on the next drive, but Kelley was stripped by Anthony Knighton and Jordan Berner fell on the loose ball to quell SLU’s threat.

Southern Illinois padded the lead with a seven-play, 82-yard scoring drive off the turnover. Strong swept around the right end for a nine-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 55-41 with 7:53 left.

The Lions cut the lead in half when Kelley found Wilson Jr. for a 15-yard touchdown pass with just over five minutes left. However, SLU couldn’t come up with a stop, as SIU ran out the clock on the final possession.

Up Next
The 2020-21 NCAA FCS Playoff Selection Show will be televised on ESPNU on Sunday at 10:30 a.m.

SLU – 13 14 14 7 – 48 (4-3)
SIU – 14 20 14 7 – 55 (5-3)

Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
SLU – Kelley 1 run (Rengifo kick failed), 12:06
SIU – Labanowitz 4 run (Gualdoni kick), 9:51
SIU – Strong 5 run (Gualdoni kick), 4:12
SLU – Kelley 4 run (Rengifo kick), 2:22
2nd Quarter
SIU – Williams 1 run (Gualdoni kick), 14:09
SLU – Kelley 13 run (Rengifo kick), 10:27
SIU – Williams 8 run (Williams run failed), 7:05
SLU – Kovacs 12 pass from Kelley (Rengifo kick), 2:53
SIU – Lenoir 8 pass from Labanowitz (Gualdoni kick), 0:10
3rd Quarter
SIU – Cox 47 pass from Labanowitz (Gualdoni kick), 14:35
SLU – Jones 2 run (Rengifo kick), 8:10
SLU – Turner 11 run (Rengifo kick), 3:26
SIU – Garrett 56 yard pass from Williams Jr. (Gualdoni kick), 1:38
4th Quarter
SIU – Strong 9 run (Gualdoni kick), 7:53
SLU – Wilson Jr. 15 pass from Kelley (Rengifo kick), 5:08

SLU SIU
FIRST DOWNS 34 36
RUSHES-YARDS (NET) 33-101 51-423
PASSING YDS (NET) 440 384
Passes Att-Comp-Int 43-35-0 26-21-0
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS 76-541 77-807
Fumble Returns-Yards 0-0 1-9
Kickoff Returns-Yards 0-0 1-0
Punt Returns-Yards 0-0 1-0
Interception Returns-Yards 0-0 0-0
Punts (Number-Avg) 2-36.0 0-0.0
Fumbles-Lost 2-1 1-1
Penalties-Yards 13-90 14-175
Possession Time. 32:26 27:34
Third-Down Conversions 7-of-13 8-of-10
Fourth-Down Conversions 3-of-3 1-of-1
Red Zone Scores-Chances 7-8 6-7

RUSHING: SLU – Jones 7-43, Cooper 5-22, Conner 2-20, Johnson III 2-13, Turner 1-11, Kelley 14-8, Team 2-(-16). Totals – 33-101. SIU – Strong 16-159, Williams Jr. 24-145, Cox 3-55, Labanowitz 6-43, Colquhoun 1-22, Team 1-(-1). Totals – 51-423.

PASSING: SLU – Kelley 34-42-0-418, Johnson III 1-1-0-22. Totals – 35-43-0-440. SIU – Labanowitz 20-24-0-328, Cox 0-1-0-0, Williams Jr. 1-1-0-56. Totals – 21-26-0-384.

RECEIVING: SLU – Conner 9-87, Cooper 7-72, Mitchell 5-109, Wilson Jr. 5-95, Turner 4-28, Kovacs 3-23, Spurlock 1-15, DeBlaiso 1-11. Totals – 35-440. SIU – Cox 8-127, Lenoir 7-128, Strong 3-62, Garrett 1-56, Mitchell 1-9, Rollins 1-2. Totals – 21-384.

A – n/a.

A – 5,122.