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Rapid Reaction: FCS program Southern Illinois stuns Northwestern in Week 3
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Northwestern started the year 1-0 with a dramatic come-from-behind win against Nebraska in Ireland. With an early conference win, results for the Wildcats looked promising in Week 0.
Unfortunately, things since then have not gone great for both programs. While Nebraska has fired Scott Frost amidst a 1-2 start to the season, Northwestern dropped an unthinkable result on Saturday.
Facing in-state and FCS program Southern Illinois, the Wildcats fell by a final score of 31-24. Southern Illinois was 1-7 all-time against B1G teams prior to Saturday with the lone victory coming against Indiana in 2006.
So, what went wrong in the contest? For starters, quarterback Ryan Hilinski struggled with the ball. After 4 touchdowns and an interception across his first two games of 2022, Hilinski had a lone touchdown to 2 interceptions in Week 3.
Evan Hull – Northwestern’s star running back – also produced a turnover. After a game-ending fumble in the Week 2 loss to Duke, Hull had another costly fumble against the Salukis.
In total, Northwestern gave up 4 turnovers that proved costly. The Wildcats finished -3 in the turnover differential to SIU.
On the other side of the ball, the Wildcats continue to struggle defensively. The Salukis threw for 261 yards in the air and averaged 7.1 yards per pass against a traditionally proud defense.
We’ll see where Pat Fitzgerald and his squad turn from here.
Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.