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Western Illinois University Athletics

Knuffman FP
36
Southern Illinois SIU 1-3 , 0-1
37
Winner Western Illinois WIU 2-2 , 1-0
Southern Illinois SIU
1-3 , 0-1
36
Final
37
Western Illinois WIU
2-2 , 1-0
Winner
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
SIU Southern Illinois 0 20 7 9 36
WIU Western Illinois 7 7 14 9 37

Game Recap: Football | | WIU Athletic Communications

Nathan Knuffman’s Late FG Sends Western to Victory

Junior kicker hits 20-yard field goal in final seconds for a 37-36 victory

PHOTO GALLERY

MACOMB, Ill. – With six seconds on the clock, Nathan Knuffman lined up and kicked a 20-yard field goal, sending Western Illinois to a 37-36 Homecoming victory over Southern Illinois on Saturday afternoon (Oct. 3). It was the Missouri Valley Football Conference opener for both teams.
 
The back-and-forth went the entire game, seeing seven lead changes – including five in the second half. SIU took a 36-34 lead with 5:38 left in the game on Austin Johnson's 32-yard field goal. Western got the ball, but Trenton Norvell was picked off with 2:43 left in SIU territory.
 
Western's defense picked up a key three-and-out stop, as Brett Taylor had a quarterback hurry on third down as Mark Iannotti's pass was incomplete.
 
With 1:42 remaining and needing to cover 69 yards, Nikko Watson rattled off runs of eight and three yards. Two plays later, Norvell found Lance Lenoir, Jr. for a big 44-yard pickup, setting up 1st-and-10 at the SIU 14. Watson had a pair of 3-yard runs then Steve McShane got a first down following a 5-yard gain. Both teams called timeout (Western then Southern), setting up Knuffman's first-ever collegiate game-winner. Western, with two seconds left, had to kickoff and stopped Daquan Isom on the return to get its first Homecoming victory since 2011.

The late game heroics with the game-winning field goal was the first game-winning field goal in regulation by Western since Mike Scifres' 56-yarder at UNI in November 2000 to win the Gateway Conference title.
 
"Field goal for the game is the last thing we do in practice everyday," said head coach Bob Nielson. "Every once in a while you actually end up using it in a game."
 
Watson and the Leatherneck offense set the tone right away. Following a three-and-out by SIU, Western took the punt and covered 60 yards in just 1:15 for an early lead. The senior running back went 27 yards for the game's first touchdown.
 
SIU got a pair of field goals but Western (2-2 overall, 1-0 MVFC) extended its lead following Norvell's 2-yard touchdown pass to Taylor Hill, the first collegiate TD catch for the senior tight end.
 
The Salukis (1-3, 0-1), coming off a win last week against 10th-ranked Liberty, closed the gap on a 26-yard touchdown pass from Iannotti. SIU took the lead when Brandon Williams blocked a punt and returned it 26 yards for a 20-14 lead heading into halftime.
 
Western took the second half kickoff and marched down 54 yards to regain the lead following Watson's 1-yard run. On the ensuing SIU drive, Taylor deflected an Iannotti pass, which was intercepted by Dallas Nichols. Norvell connected with Stacey Smith, Jr. on the next play for a 54-yard touchdown and 28-20 lead.
 
Southern again closed the gap on a 25-yard scoring run from Cameron Walter. Another big play gave SIU the lead when early in the fourth Kenny James intercepted Norvell and ran it back 70 yards for a 33-28 lead.
 
Western went three-and-out again, but the defense forced another big turnover. Aaron Diggs forced a fumble on Matt McIntosh then Taylor scooped up the loose ball and scored from 21 yards out to give WIU a 34-33 lead.
 
"I thought there were two critical things in the game. One was the way we came out in the beginning of the third quarter, after giving up the blocked punt for a touchdown. They had all the momentum going in at halftime. We knew we were going to get the ball first and we made a nice drive and followed that up with a stop and scored on a one-play drive in the next possession. We took the momentum back in the second half and we really established our confidence," said Nielson. "Obviously, the other big play was after we gave up a turnover for the touchdown and didn't do anything with the football, we generated a turnover for a touchdown and it was good to see our defense make that kind of a play and get us back in the right direction. Sometimes young teams are a little bit up and down and I thought we played with a lot of confidence at the end of the game and it was a very similar situation at (#1) Coastal Carolina but this time we got the ball down the field and made the winning points."
 
Knuffman added four extra points to his game-winning field goal.
 
Taylor recorded a career-high 17 tackles (11 solos) along with his second career touchdown. Nichols added a career-high 16 tackles (11 solos) with a tackle for loss and interception. David Griffith also set a career-high making 14 tackles (10 solos) with a tackle for loss.
 
Watson rushed for a career-high 174 yards on 27 attempts and matched a personal-best with two touchdowns. It was his second consecutive 100-yard game and eighth of his career.
 
Lenoir's final catch pushed him over 100 yards in the game, and gave him sole possession of the WIU career record for most 100-yard games with nine – finishing the victory with 120 yards on four receptions.
 
Smith set a personal-best with 96 yards on three catches with his touchdown. Norvell wound up with his fifth career 300-yard passing game, ending with 333 yards on 18-of-35 passing.
 
Southern, entering the game ranked fifth nationally averaging 536 yards of total offense, was out-gained by Western as the Leathernecks held a 528-425 edge in yards.
 
Despite having the ball six minutes less than Southern (33:00-27:00), and the Salukis converting 9-of-17 on third down, Western took advantage of two missed SIU field goals (26 in the first quarter and 24 right before halftime) to secure the win.
 
Iannotti was 21-of-30 passing for 227 yards with a touchdown and interception. He rushed for a team-high 65 yards. Chase Allen led SIU with 13 tackles, including 3.0 for a loss.
 
Western stays at Hanson Field next Saturday (Oct. 10) to face South Dakota. Kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m.
 
GAME NOTES: Western ended a three-game losing streak to Southern, last defeating the Salukis in the 2011 Homecoming match-up… Attendance for Homecoming was announced at 7,125… Lenoir extended his streak to 21 straight games with a reception… Adam Hoogerwerf, who made a great diving catch for a first down, set a personal-high with 41 receiving yards on three catches… Watson now has 1,978 career rushing yards in 27 games. He's 22 away from becoming the 11th player in WIU history with 2,000 yards. The senior running back has six rushing TDs in his last four games played. With his eighth career 100-yard game, Watson moved into a tie for sixth place all-time… Norvell moved into a tie with Matt Barr for second place all-time in career touchdown passes (45). He is now 17 away from Paul Singer's record, and 49 passing yards shy of 6,000… Joey Borsellino recorded his 100th career reception in the contest, now with 101 catches for 1,213 yards. He jumped up to 21st all-time in yards… With 140 career receptions, Lenoir is 13 shy of Reggie Gray's all-time record. The junior wide receiver is up to 1,879 yards... Taylor moved into a tie for third place on the season 'Top 10' with 12 points scored on defense, and a tie for fifth place all-time. The sophomore linebacker becomes the eighth Leatherneck all-time to score multiple touchdowns on defense.
 
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