Lyles, Williams lead way; S. Illinois dumps Youngstown St.

CARBONDALE, Ill. (AP) Kare Lyles completed seven passes and two went for touchdowns and Southern Illinois beat Youngstown State 35-10 Saturday in a Missouri Valley Conference matchup.

Lyles was 7-of-9 passing for 160 yards while running back Javon Williams Jr. went 1-of-2 passing for a 41-yard touchdown. Williams also caught a 73-yard touchdown pass, his lone reception of the day, and rushed for 63 yards on 13 carries and a touchdown.

Youngstown State took its only lead of the game on Colten McFadden's 31-yard field goal with 9:04 left in the first quarter. Williams had a 7-yard scoring run and Lyles threw a 53-yard touchdown to Landon Lenoir for a 14-3 lead before the end of the first. Romeir Elliott ran it in from 3-yards out before Lyles found Williams on the 73-yarder that made it 28-3. The Penguins scored their only touchdown when Nathan Mays connected with Ryan Emans on 22-yard pass with eight seconds before halftime.

Southern Illinois (3-4, 1-2) ended a three-game skid and Youngstown State (4-3, 0-3) dropped its third straight.