YSU falls to SIU in overtime

October 25, 2015 at 12:00a.m.

By STEVE WILAJ

CARBONDALE, ILL.

Nursing an 11-point lead with 5:35 left, it appeared Youngstown State was set to take home a victory it could have seized much earlier against Southern Illinois.

Then, it all went wrong.

In a crushing defeat, YSU let its late lead slip away and eventually lost in overtime, 38-31, on Saturday night at Saluki Stadium to fall to 3-4 overall and 1-3 in the Missouri Valley Football Conference. After allowing an SIU touchdown on its opening OT possession, YSU moved the ball to SIU’s 6-yard line before the game ended on a failed halfback pass by running back Jody Webb.

“Very disappointing,” Penguins head coach Bo Pelini said. “We lost because we deserved to lose.”

The Penguins took a 31-20 lead thanks to two third-quarter Hunter Wells touchdown passes — 7 yards to I’tavious Harvin and 85 yards to Andrew Williams — and a 33-yard field goal by Zak Kennedy with 5:35 remaining in the fourth.

But that’s when it turned bad.

On third-and-long, Salukis quarterback Mark Iannotti hit running back Daquan Isom for a 75-yard TD pass on a screen play to make it 31-28 with 5:10 remaining. Then — after a quick YSU punt — Iannotti led SIU (3-4, 2-2) down to the YSU 1 before settling for a game-tying 18-yard field goal with six seconds left. Moments before, the Salukis had dropped what would have been a game-winning TD pass.

In overtime, Iannotti hit Isra Lamprakes with a 24-yard touchdown pass on third-and-9 to put the pressure on YSU. That set the stage for Webb’s failed pass on a pitch right on fourth-and-2 from the 6.

“I don’t feel good about it,” Pelini said of the call.

Added Wells, who notched a career-day by going 20 of 31 for 324 yards and three TDs: “I feel comfortable with whatever [offensive coordinator Shane] Montgomery puts out there. He’s the offensive coordinator for a reason. People can say what they want to say, but that’s why he’s out there and they’re not. I back him up 100 percent on that.”

The controversial play call could have been avoided had YSU taken advantage of early opportunities.

The Penguins’ defense — which played solidly for most of the night against SIU’s top-ranked offense — helped stake YSU to a 14-7 halftime lead. But throughout the first half, the offense twice wasted good field position, fumbled away the ball deep in SIU territory and missed on a couple open big-plays.

“We didn’t play well enough to win the football game,” Pelini said. “They made more plays than we did and it’s really disappointing. I’m embarrassed.”

Wells also threw an interception that was returned 41 yards for a touchdown by Kenny James to open the second half. The turnover eventually helped SIU gain a 20-14 advantage before Wells threw his back-to-back TDs.

“We came out and finally did our thing,” Wells said. “But I made a couple mistakes and that’s on me. I have to play better, too. I’m not satisfied with the way I played. I can’t throw an interception like that and give a touchdown that easy. I’ll put that one on me.”

YSU’s defense — which played much better than the 459 yards surrendered indicates — had a chance to end the game on SIU’s final regulation drive. But in another disappointing result for the Penguins, Iannotti connected with Jimmy Jones for six yards on fourth-and-2 from the YSU 39.

“There’s not much to say after that game,” Wells said. “It pretty much explains itself. We just have to get better, obviously.”