Saluki Football accomplishes key objectives during Spring Game

CARBONDALE, Ill. — The two biggest objectives for the Southern Illinois football team during today’s annual Spring Game were to keep everyone healthy and to give some players further down the depth chart an opportunity to shine. By those measures, today’s 76-play scrimmage pitting the offense against the defense was a success.

When the first and second teams were on the field, quarterbacks were protected and ball carriers were not allowed to be tackled to the ground. The Salukis have lost key players to serious injuries during previous spring games, and head coach Nick Hill was determined not to let that happen today during the team’s final live session of the spring.

“Any time you can get out of spring camp and not have any significant injuries, that is a positive thing,” Hill explained. “That’s why we didn’t go live at the beginning (of the scrimmage). Two years ago, Torian Lewis tore his ACL in this game. We were able to get a lot of good work in just like we do in practice. Then we let some of the young guys there at the end of the scrimmage get some (live) work in.”

Southern has an established senior quarterback in Sam Straub and he played in four series, completing 12-of-20 passes for 104 yards. He led the offense on two scoring drives. The first drive of the scrimmage covered 16 plays and 75 yards and culminated with a Straub four-yard TD pass to tight end Jaylon Graham. On another drive, Straub showed off his powerful arm by completing a 35-yard throw down the middle of the field to running back D.J. Davis, that later led to a field goal.

The Salukis also have the luxury of a seasoned backup in senior Matt DeSomer. At this time last year, he was playing safety, but made a mid-season switch back to quarterback when Straub got hurt. Known best for his elusive running ability, DeSomer made several nice throws today, completing 6-of-8 passes for 55 yards. Defenders were not allowed to tackle him and he mostly stayed in the pocket.

“The lights need to be on, it needs to be live, for him to make plays,” Hill said. “We haven’t let him go live all spring because we need him healthy. He’s a heckuva player and will have an extended role once we get into the season.”

Redshirt freshman quarterback Brandon George saw his first extensive work of the spring and completed 8-of-11 throws for 43 yards, though he was intercepted on a great defensive play by safety Michael Elbert on one throw and was sacked for a 12-yard loss when the offense was in the red zone.

“He’ll learn,” Hill said. “He took a bad sack, but those type of things happen sometimes when you’re a freshman. Make those mistakes now and clean them up and get ready for the year.”

During the second half of the scrimmage, with the starters on the sidelines, the rules changed and ball carriers were allowed to be tackled to the ground. The Salukis know what they have in returning running backs D.J. Davis, Daquan Isom and Jonathan Mixon, so today’s scrimmage featured redshirt freshman D.J. Hampton and Missouri transfer Nate Strong. Both played well. Hampton was the leading rusher with 91 yards on 15 carries.

“We wanted to see D.J. Hampton and Nate Strong get a load of carries today,” Hill said. “You can see (Strong) can be a big, physical back where defensive backs don’t want to tackle him. He’s shown signs of that, now we have to do a good job of getting him physically in shape so he can be a 20-carry guy. D.J. Hampton has shown signs and was able to break tackles at times.”

SIU’s defense, which allowed 27 points per game last year, appears much improved in the team’s second year under coordinator Kraig Paulson. A young defensive line has an extra year of maturity, the linebacking corps looks bigger and faster, and the secondary has a couple of BCS transfers poised to make an impact.

“The defense has kind of set the tone throughout the spring,” Hill said. “This is as deep as we’ve been on defense with guys who can really run and play. It’s such a bonus to be able to redshirt some of those guys. They just come out here with so much more confidence.”

Two redshirt freshman linebackers — Bryson Strong and Bryce Notree — combined for 17 tackles. Elbert, another redshirt freshman, has impressed at safety next to veteran Jeremy Chinn.

“Mike Elbert showed up again today,” Hill said. “He picked Straub off early in camp, which was just an unbelievable play, and today seemed like a really good play. Knowing he has four years around here makes you feel really good.”

“There’s playmakers back there (at safety) in Jeremy Chinn, (James) Ceasar and Elbert,” he continued. “The guys we brought in — Madre Harper is probably the biggest corner in the country and is a high-level player, and Torian Lewis has had the best camp since he’s been here. Our linebackers are fast and can move, and it starts up front. Our defensive line is young and they’re growing and in the right spots making plays. At all three levels we’ve gotten better.”

The Salukis have one more practice with the team next week, but Hill said it would just be a light walk-through without pads or helmets.

“We always felt like we wish we had one more practice after the spring game that we could talk about what we want to work on, what we want to emphasize for the summer,” he said.

Southern opens fall camp during the first week of August and begins the regular season at Murray State on Aug. 30.


RUSHING

D.J. Hampton: 15-91
D.J. Davis, 6-30
Chris Perkins: 6-25
Nate Strong: 8-19
E’Mare Hogan: 2-15
Jonathan Mixon, 2-6
Matt DeSomer: 1-9
Sam Straub: 1-(-5)
Stone Labanowitz: 1-(-6)
Brandon George 5-(-7)

PASSING

Sam Straub: 12-20, 104 yards, 1 TD
Matt DeSomer: 6-8, 55 yards
Brandon George: 8-11, 43 yards, 1 INT
Stone Labanowitz: 3-5, 18 yards

RECEIVING

E’Mare Hogan: 7-44
Darrell James: 4-11
Landon Lenoir: 3-17
Cole Steward: 3-11
Jake Varble: 2-28
Sam Thompson: 2-27
Matt Quarells: 2-20
Raphael Leonard: 2-9
Jaylon Graham: 2-8, 1 TD
D.J. Davis: 1-9
Nate Strong: 1-7
D.J. Hampton: 1-3

DEFENSE

Bryson Strong: 9 T, 1 PBU
Bryce Notree: 8 T
Jaylen Waters: 5 T, 1/2 TFL
Withney Simon: 5 T, 1 TFL
Michael Elbert: 5 T, 1/2 TFL, 1 INT, 1 PBU
James Ceasar: 5 T, 1 PBU
Qua Brown: 5 T, 1 TFL
Anthony Knighton: 4 T
Raquan Lindsey: 4 T, 1 TFL, 1 Sack
Terrance Henley: 4 T, 1 FF
Madre Harper: 3 T
Luke Giegling: 3 T
Coleton Jeralds: 3 T, 2 PBU
Titus Booker: 3 T
Jeremy Chinn: 2 T, 2 PBU
Malik Haynes: 2 T, 2 TFL, 1 Sack
Jaylin Wilson: 2 T, 1 TFL, 1 Sack
ZeVeyon Furcron: 2 T
Joe Patterson: 2 T
Makel Calhoun: 2 T, 1 FF
Nick Raby: 1 T, 1 TFL
Jordan Berner: 1 T, 1 TFL, 1 Sack
Tory Lewis: 1 T
Devin Jones: 1 T
Oliver McDowell: 1 T
Chucky Sullivan: 1 T