Southern Illinois 17, UNI 16: Panthers rally, but miss last-second field goal

CARBONDALE, Ill. - Everything ... but the win.

No. 5 Northern Iowa lost to No. 10 Southern Illinois, 17-16, on Saturday in Saluki Stadium. Matthew Cook missed a 30-yard field goal in the final seconds.

'We did what we were supposed to do,” UNI Coach Mark Farley said. 'But we missed a field goal. What are you supposed to say?”

Trailing by one point, UNI (2-2) got the ball back with 1:48 left on its own 11-yard-line.

Will McElvain passed to Deion McShane for a 13-yard gain, then threw three incomplete passes.

On fourth-and-10, McElvain connected with Quan Hampton, who broke a tackle and raced 52 yards.

A pair of Tyler Hoosman rushes got UNI down to the SIU 12.

Cook had made three field goals already in the game (26, 34, and 41 yards), but had also missed from 24 in the second quarter.

Cook pushed his final try wide left.

'In the end, we were always in a position to win the game,” Farley said.

McElvain finished 10-of-22 passing for 254 yards. McShane caught four passes for 105 yards and Hampton caught four for 91. Hoosman finished with 77 rushing yards on 18 carries.

Riley Van Whye led the defense with 14 tackles. Omar Brown had an interception

'I don't know what else you could've asked this team to do,” Farley said. 'That's what we go on the bus to do.”

SIU (4-1) trailed 13-0 at halftime, but put together three scores its first three drives of the second half, including the go-ahead touchdown early in the fourth quarter.

And the Salukis did it with their third-string quarterback. Nic Baker started Saturday, but was hurt in the second quarter.

Sto Labanowitz came in and was 11-of-15 passing for 91 yards and a touchdown.

'I'm really proud of our quarterback room,” SIU Coach Nick Hill said. 'He came in the second half and played really good.”

The game was balanced. SIU had 416 yards to 405 for UNI and 23 first downs to 19. UNI used two first-half turnovers to score 10 points and led 13-0 at the half.

But UNI was 0-of-9 on third-down conversions and settled for field goal tries five times.

'Anytime you get in the red zone, you've got to get points,” Farley said.

Northern Iowa returns to the UNI-Dome to take on Missouri State (2-1) next Saturday. The Bears upset No. 21 South Dakota on Saturday, 27-24. It is a 4 p.m. kickoff.

'They are all big games,” Farley said. 'We're two plays from being undefeated. We've got to battle every week.”