West Florida Survives Southern Illinois Rally, 34-31
Southern Illinois threw three interceptions, and one of them went back 44 yards for a touchdown. Take that seven points off the board and Southern Illinois wins 31-27. Instead West Florida hung on for a 34-31 win, and it did so while losing three fumbles of its own.
Southern Illinois got the first points, a 31-yard field goal from Seth Adams at 5:30 of the first quarter, and West Florida took the lead for good a few minutes later when Ty'ray Davis ran 45 yards for a touchdown at 1:13. A 19-yard Davis pass to Jakari Mozelle made it 13-6 (the two-point try failed), and then A'Khoury Lyde picked off a pass and ran it back 44 yards at 4:40 of the second quarter to make it 20-6. Adams kicked a 47-yarder as the half ended and it was 20-9. Markel Townsend added a 9-yard run to push the margin to 27-9 in the third.
The comeback was real. Jake Curry hit Allen Middleton for 18 yards and converted the two-pointer to Lem Wash, so it was 27-17, and then Curry ran in from 19 yards out at 7:39 of the fourth to make it 27-24. Davis answered with a 22-yard pass to Luc Carroll with 2:37 left for 34-24. Curry found Chandler Chapman from 8 yards at 1:10, and that was all of it, 34-31.
Southern Illinois actually had more total yards, 403 to 335, and ran 41 times for 216. It did not matter. West Florida starts 1-0, Southern Illinois 0-1. On the fantasy side, Davis was the best player on the field, with two passing touchdowns and a rushing one, and Curry was second on 27.8 points despite the three interceptions. Touchdowns forgive a lot.