Carbondale Reporter

Southern Illinois University's football team lost to North Dakota 38-19 on Saturday during the annual Blackout Cancer game at Saluki Stadium. The Salukis, ranked No. 12, fell to a 4-3 record overall and 1-2 in Missouri Valley Football Conference play.

North Dakota, ranked No. 9/11, scored 28 unanswered points in the first half. Southern Illinois head coach Nick Hill addressed the team's performance after the game. "The first half is inexcusable," Hill said. "It starts with me. My job as the head coach, I'm in charge of the whole thing here. From coaching to playing, to the messaging and how we play, it just was not good enough."

North Dakota accumulated 384 total yards of offense, with 311 yards coming from rushing. The Fighting Hawks averaged 6.2 yards per carry and scored four rushing touchdowns. Their passing game contributed 73 yards.

Southern Illinois finished with 337 total yards, including 258 passing and 79 rushing. The Salukis turned over the ball twice—once by fumble and once by interception—which led to North Dakota touchdown drives. Hill commented, "We got out-played, and we got out-coached. That's a good football team, but we did not put our best effort out there. I did not feel like the attention to detail on the things that we need to do to be a good football team was there and that's ultimately my responsibility."

After punting on their opening drive, Southern Illinois allowed a nine-play, 64-yard North Dakota drive that ended with a touchdown run by Sawyer Seidl. Later in the second quarter, quarterback DJ Williams was sacked for an 18-yard loss while attempting a fourth-down conversion. North Dakota capitalized with another touchdown.

A fumble by running back Edward Robinson stopped another SIU drive inside North Dakota's red zone; North Dakota then drove 96 yards for another score. Just before halftime, Williams threw an interception that set up Seidl’s third touchdown run.

In the second half, Southern Illinois forced a three-and-out and responded with their first points on a four-yard run by Chandler Chapman. North Dakota answered with a long drive ending in Seidl’s fourth touchdown of the day.

Williams added his own rushing touchdown early in the fourth quarter—his eleventh this season—but SIU failed on its two-point attempt. Tae Marrero Jr. caught his first touchdown pass late in the game after a North Dakota field goal.

For SIU, Williams had 258 passing yards with one touchdown and one interception; he also rushed for one score. Chapman led Saluki rushers with 68 yards on 15 carries. Fabian McCray was top receiver with six catches for 97 yards.

Linebackers Ben Fiegel and Colin Bohanek recorded double-digit tackles—13 and 10 respectively.

Southern Illinois will host Northern Iowa next Saturday at Saluki Stadium for Homecoming.