CARBONDALE, Ill. – The Panther defense stopped the high-octane offense of No. 20 Southern Illinois one yard short of victory on Saturday, holding off the Salukis 37-36 for a critical Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) win at Saluki Stadium. UNI improves to 5-4 overall and 4-2 in league play with the victory.
Quarterback Theo Day recorded a career performance with five passing touchdowns to four different receivers with 330 passing yards. Sam Schnee led with 96 receiving yards and a touchdown with Deion McShane notching 84 yards receiving, while Desmond Hutson pulled in a pair of catches for touchdowns. Benny Sapp, Woo Governor and Spencer Cuvelier each notched 8 total tackles, as Sapp forced one fumble.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Southern Illinois’ quick paced offense rolled down the field on its opening drive, but was stuffed by the UNI defense at the two-yard line, holding the Salukis to a 20-yard field goal. The Panthers responded in kind on their opening possession on a 10 play, 75-yard drive capped by a 10-yard touchdown pass from Day to Sergio Morancy. SIU quickly found the end zone the very next drive on a 48-yard catch and run from Nic Baker to Avante Cox for the game’s first touchdown.
The Panthers retook the lead early in the second quarter as Day connected with Hutson on an eight-yard pass at the goal line. After forcing SIU to punt, UNI struck again as Day lofted a pass to Deion McShane in the corner of the end zone to give the Panthers a 21-10 lead. Southern Illinois marched 76 yards in 11 plays for a late second quarter touchdown on a shuffle pass from Baker to Jacob Garrett. Thanks to a pair of big gain receptions by Schnee to keep the Panther drive alive, UNI moved down the field to counter SIU’s touchdown with a scoring drive of its own on a quick pass from Day to Schnee for six, taking a 28-17 lead into halftime.
The Salukis jumped on an early Panther turnover with a Javon Williams rushing touchdown in the opening seconds of the second half with a failed two-point conversion attempt. UNI bounced back as Matthew Cook drilled a 26-yard field goal, but SIU continued to roll as Shaun Hill ran into the end zone for a two-yard rushing touchdown, cutting the Panther lead to 31-29.
Southern Illinois took its first lead since the early first quarter as Cox caught a bobbled pass from Baker for an early fourth quarter touchdown to give the Salukis a five-point lead with just over 11 minutes to play. With 5:55 remaining, Day found Hutson for a second time on a five-yard touchdown pass with a failed two-point conversion. SIU missed a 40-yard field goal attempt in the waning minutes, but gained one final possession after the Panthers punted. On the final play of the game, Baker’s hail mary pass to Jay Jones was caught at the one-yard line before Jones was ruled down short of the goal line, preventing the game-winning score and sealing victory for UNI.
PANTHER NOTES
Matthew Cook’s 26-yard field goal in the third quarter was the 64th of his career, tying the UNI and MVFC all-time record set by Billy Hallgren (2007-10).
Theo Day has recorded 300+ passing yards in three games this season.
Head coach Mark Farley is now 11-9 all-time against the Salukis after Saturday’s win.
UP NEXT
The Panthers return to the UNI-Dome for their final home game next Saturday, Nov. 5 against top-ranked South Dakota State. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. CT inside the UNI-Dome, where the program will honor its senior class prior to kickoff, as well as military and first responders during the game. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and the Panther Sports Radio Network.
