WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - In its second-ever trip to West Lafayette, the Southern Illinois University football team (1-1) battled but lost, 34-17, to Purdue on Saturday.

Southern Illinois' opening two drives both ended with touchdowns, with the first being via a DJ Williams rush and the other being a four-yard pass from Williams to tight end Ryan Schwendeman. The Salukis led, 14-7, in the first quarter before the Boilermakers tied it on the following drive.

Offensively, Southern totaled 283 yards on offense on Saturday. SIU had 202 passing yards and 81 rushing yards in the loss.

Williams finished the game with a line of 20-of-33 passing with 202 yards and one touchdown, to go along with 19 rushing yards and one touchdown on the ground. Fabian McCray's 72 receiving yards were a team-high, while Schwendeman's touchdown was his first of the season on his first reception of the year.

Andrew Behm recorded a team-leading 16 tackles, followed by Colin Bohanek's 10. Vinny Pierre Jr. had an interception in the loss, his second as a Saluki.

On special teams, Paul Geelen drilled a 53-yard field goal at the 7:41 mark of the fourth quarter. This was a career-best for the senior from Utrecht, Netherlands.

Southern Illinois got the ball first and made the most of it. Williams capped off a 75-yard drive with a seven-yard touchdown run to put the visitors ahead early. This was the veteran quarterback's second rushing touchdown of the year and sixth at SIU.

After Purdue scored on its opening possession, the Salukis answered back quickly with a three-play, 75-yard drive to go back in front, 14-7. The big play came from Southern's own 25 yard line where Williams connected with McCray for 63 yards to the Boilermakers' 12 yard line. After a strong run by Chandler Chapman, Williams found Schwendeman for Southern's second and final touchdown.

The Boilermakers tied the game one drive later and then out-scored the Salukis, 10-0, in the second quarter. At the end of the first half, Purdue led by a score of 24-14.

It was a battle of the defenses in the third quarter. Southern's defense got off to a quick start as Pierre Jr. picked-off Purdue's Ryan Browne for his first interception of the season.

The Salukis were unable to capitalize on the following possession, as both of their drives in the third quarter ended in punts.

Purdue made it a three-score game in the fourth quarter with a one-yard rushing touchdown to go ahead, 34-14, with 11:48 left to play.

Geelen posted the game's final points on a career-best 53-yard field goal halfway through the fourth quarter. The senior kicker/punter was 1-for-2 on the game, with his lone miss being from 59 yards at the end of the first half.

When time expired, Purdue had won by a final score of 34-17.