CARBONDALE, Ill. – No. 10 Southern Illinois rode the arm of quarterback Nic Baker to a 33-20 win over visiting Missouri State here Saturday in a game the Bears lingered but were unable to catch the home standing Salukis. It was the Missouri Valley Football Conference opener for both teams.
Baker was 25-of-35 for 285 yards and a touchdown for SIU (4-0) with another 24 yards on the ground. The Salukis finished the day with 407 total yards and 21 first downs.
Missouri State (1-3) racked up 336 yards of total offense and 23 first downs but had to fight through a quarterback change late in the second quarter and a tenacious SIU defense that held the Bears to 31 rushing yards on 27 carries and racked up 4 sacks.
After trailing 23-13 at the intermission, the Bears closed the gap to 23-20 late in the third quarter on a pass from Jordan Pachot to Hunter Woods from 31 yards out. The six-play, 78-yard scoring drive also included a key 26-yard completion to J’mariyae Robinson on third down and 18. A Saluki personal foul extended the drive to the 31 before back-to-back passes to Wood drew the Bears within three points of the lead at the 5:45 mark of the third.
It would be as close as the Bears would get as the home club responded with a 65-yard drive of its own. Baker’s 19-yard TD pass to Aidan Quinn with 1:57 left in the third pushed the Salukis’ lead back to 10.
SIU then forced a fumble on MSU’s next drive and chewed up nearly six minutes of clock before settling for a 32-yard field goal by Thomas Burks to make it 33-20.
Missouri State was hampered by a critical holding penalty on its next drive that negated a 29-yard completion to Robinson and ultimately resulted in a Bears punt. The Salukis were unable to extend their lead before punting it back with just under four minutes to play. However, MSU’s final drive of the night stalled at the SIU 35-yard line before another holding infraction turned the ball over on downs.
Pachot, who came on in relief of starter Jacob Clark late in the second quarter, finished 14-of-21 for 176 yards and a TD. Clark was 10-of-16 for 129 yards and a touchdown. Neither Bears signal caller was intercepted.
The Bears also got 61 rushing yards from Jacardia Wright on 13 carries (4.7 yards per carry), while Robinson posted his first career 100-yard receiving game with 8 catches for 119 yards. Raylen Sharpe also contributed 5 catches for 38 yards.
MSU’s defense was paced by Jared Lloyd with 9 stops and Todric McGee with 8. MSU’s defense finished the day with 9 tackles for loss.
In an otherwise even first half, SIU struck early on a 64-yard touchdown rush by Ro Elliott 54 seconds after kickoff to snag an early 7-0 advantage. Elliott scored again on a five-yard rush on SIU’s next possession to make it 14-0 just over six minutes in.
The Bears bounced off the canvas with 10 unanswered points of their own, first on a 21-yard field goal by Owen Rozanc to cap a 12-play scoring march, and later on a 7-yard TD strike from Clark to Gary Clinton for Clinton’s first career score to make it 14-10.
Justin Strong’s 3-yard TD rush on fourth-and-goal midway through the second quarter cushioned SIU’s lead to 20-10 after the missed PAT. The Bears were able to respond with points, but not the touchdown they wanted, on MoState’s final drive of the first half. Rozanc’s 28-yard field goal with 50 seconds left made it a 20-13 contest and capped a 67-yard march.
The Salukis and QB Nic Baker engineered a last-second scoring drive of their own before the half. Baker completed two passes and tucked it for a clutch 28-yard keeper to set up a 36-yard field goal by Burks as time expired, making it 23-13.
SIU outgained the Bears 240-182 in the opening half with Elliott carrying 9 times for 102 yards and Baker completing 10-of-17 passes for 106 yards.
The Bears got 129 passing yards from Clark on 10-of-16 attempts before he exited the game after a hard hit late in the second. MSU was also 4-of-9 on third down in the first 30 minutes and finished the night 6-of-14.
The Bears return home next Saturday to entertain No. 2 North Dakota State at Plaster Stadium.
