Carbondale Reporter

In a showdown of Top 15 teams, No. 8 Southern Illinois scored all its points in the first half and held off a late comeback by No. 12 Incarnate Word to win, 35-28, on Saturday in its home opener at Saluki Stadium.

SIU quarterback DJ Williams put on a show for the home crowd, passing for 301 yards and rushing for 79 more before leaving the game in the fourth quarter with an injury to his throwing hand.

Williams completed 19-of-27 passes, including touchdown passes to Keontez Lewis and Ryan Schwendeman. He also scored on a dazzling 28-yard TD run in the second quarter.

"DJ was playing pretty lights out," said SIU head coach Nick Hill. "You can see all the things he can do. We're still learning what play calls DJ likes. When you're with a quarterback for an extended period of time you start to learn each other, and I felt he got in a good rhythm tonight."

Lewis and Nah'shawn Hezekiah had breakout performances at wide receiver for SIU, with 148 and 118 yards receiving, respectively. Lewis added an explosive 57-yard touchdown run on a reverse down the right sideline. Both Lewis (Wisconsin) and Hezekiah (Howard) were unknown quantities, having transferred to SIU in the offseason but both were impressive in practices leading up to the season.

"I think Saluki fans got a glimpse of those guys at work tonight," Hill said. "Big-time catches, and the reverse to KLew, I think everybody in the stands saw how fast KLew is."

Leading 35-14 at halftime, the Salukis (2-1) had opportunities to put the game away in the second half. In the third quarter, Williams had a 44-yard touchdown run called back by holding, and he later threw an interception on that drive. Southern also mishandled the snap on a 27-yard field goal attempt, coming away with no points. In the fourth quarter, SIU came up short on 4th-and-1 at UIW's 22 when freshman running back Jerrian Parker was stopped for no gain.

"Wish we would've made it a little easier on ourselves," Hill said. "We had opportunities to do that but credit to (UIW) — we knew their offense was pretty high-powered, and their quarterback showed why he's one of the best in the country."

UIW had possession deep in Saluki territory with under two minutes remaining and a chance to tie the game but sacks by Louis Wilbert and Ben Bogle placed them into a 4th-and-23 situation at SIU's 34 with just seconds remaining. Quarterback Zach Calzada tossed a desperation pass into the end zone that was picked off by safety Vinny Pierre Jr., sealing SIU's victory.

"We found a way to close it out," Hill said. "I'm super-proud of our defense. We got back on our heels a little bit; they had momentum going — finding ways to close out games is crucial."

The Salukis out-gained UIW by yardage totals of 543-437 despite playing without three of their four captains due to injuries: linebacker Colin Bohanek, defensive end Dewey Greene III., tight end Aidan Quinn as well as other key players who left early during tonight’s match-up.

"I think our depth got tested," Hill noted."Our guys are resilient; I feel like we've built some competitive depth which showed tonight."

Southern faces another tough opponent next week when SEMO comes visiting Carbondale for annual War For The Wheel clash next Saturday.

"With this schedule ahead we need blinders focusing one game each time," Hill concluded."Goal remains winning then moving onto next while growing team continuously."