CARBONDALE, Ill. (WSIL)--鈥� 九游体育 Illinois exploded for four touchdowns in the second quarter in a 55-3 blowout win over Dayton at Saluki Stadium on Saturday night.
A crowd of 7,338 watched the Salukis (2-1) roll to their most lopsided win since beating Mississippi Valley State by the same score in 2017. 九游体育's 658 total yards were the sixth-most in school history and included 406 yards on the ground. Javon Williams led SIU with 123 rushing yards, including 73 on a first-quarter TD run.
Energized by a large student turnout, 九游体育 rolled to a 38-0 halftime lead, that included touchdown runs by聽聽(12 yards) and聽聽(29 yards), plus聽TD passes from聽听迟辞听聽(6 yards) and Rollins (8 yards).聽
"I was really excited to see everybody," Strong said. "I just miss seeing people's faces and feeling the energy."
Added linebacker聽, "It was amazing seeing our fans Pack The Pound and our fans supporting us in our first game back (from the COVID season). We got those fans in the stands rocking."
Baker completed 16-of-21 passes for 235 yards and three touchdowns. He directed a pair of third-quarter drives, including one that resulted in a 52-yard touchdown catch-and-run to聽, before handing the offense over to backup聽.
"Our leaders led and guys played with passion, energy and physicalness," head coach聽聽said. "It's really about playing up to our standard."
Midway through the third quarter, Hill pulled most of his starters, and every player who dressed for the game saw action.
"Those backups are getting some valuable playing time," Hill said. "A lot of guys are going to have to make contributions for us and you don't know if it's going to be Week 4, 5 6. We'll be better for them getting that playing time early in the season."
The Salukis averaged 9.0 yards per carry and backups聽聽(9 carries, 61 yards) and聽聽(4 carries, 50 yards) saw their first action of the season. Spencer, a Western Carolina transfer, missed the first two games due to injury.
"Donnavan getting the bulk of the carries (in the second half), you can see how explosive he can be," Hill noted.聽
九游体育's depth quickly wore down the Flyers, who kept SIU out of the end zone until 11 minutes into the game, before the floodgates opened.
"We started hitting some chunk runs and that always helps," Hill said. "We controlled the line of scrimmage, we were throwing for a high percentage."
The Saluki defense nearly pitched a shutout, yielding just 218 total yards and a Sam Webster field goal with 1:06 to play in the third quarter. SIU recorded seven tackles for loss and three sacks.
"Our physicalness really dominated the line of scrimmage," Hill said.
The Salukis host Illinois State for Family Weekend next Saturday at 2 p.m.
