Southern Illinois Salukis Sep 17, 2022; Evanston, Illinois, USA; The Southern Illinois Salukis go into the stands to celebrate with their fans after a win against the Northwestern Wildcats at Ryan Field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports

The Big Ten had a pretty rough start to Saturday. Nebraska got demolished by Oklahoma. Purdue lost a heart-breaker at Syracuse. Indiana needed overtime to defeat Western Kentucky at home. And then there was Northwestern, who lost at home to the Southern Illinois Salukis, an FCS program.

Nic Baker’s second touchdown pass to Jacob Garret ended up putting SIU ahead with 12:28 left in the fourth quarter and the Salukis never looked back. It was only their second win over a Big Ten school ever, the other being against Indiana in 2006 back when current coach Nick Hill was the team’s quarterback.

The win is all the more wild considering SIU came into the game having lost 64-29 to Incarnate Word and 34-31 to SE Missouri State to start the season.

For Northwestern, it’s a depressing turn on what started as a decent-looking season following their win over Nebraska in Ireland. However, since returning to the states, they’ve lost to Duke and now the FCS Salukis.

Naturally, the college football world had a field day with the Wildcats while also celebrating the Southern Illinois victory.

The Wildcats will look to rebound next Saturday when they host Miami-Ohio in their final non-conference game before the Big Ten road kicks in.

[CBS Sports]

About Sean Keeley

Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Editorial Strategy Director for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.