Williams accounts for 4 TDs, Southern Illinois builds big first-half lead to beat Indiana St. 55-27

CARBONDALE, Ill. — DJ Williams accounted for four touchdowns and Southern Illinois built a big first-half lead and rolled past Indiana State 55-27 on Saturday night in a Missouri Valley Football Conference opener.

Williams threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Jay Jones and an 83-yarder to Vinson Davis III, and added a pair of short-yardage touchdown runs to help Southern Illinois take a 38-14 lead into the break. Chandler Chapman also had a 39-yard touchdown run in the first half for Southern Illinois (4-1, 1-0), ranked No. 11 in the FCS coaches’ poll.

Edward Robinson ran for an 81-yard touchdown for the Salukis and finished with 124 yards rushing on nine carries. Chapman added 93 yards on the ground with two scores. Williams was 19-of-31 passing for 226 yards and had 70 yards rushing on five carries.

Nick Osho led Indiana State (2-3, 0-1) with 211 yards rushing and two touchdowns. Brock Riddle and Keegan Patterson combined for 13-of-26 passing for 124 yards.