No matter what level of football he's played at, racking up passing yards remains Josh Straughan's specialty.
After more than 11,000 yards through the air in high school and more than 5,000 playing in the NCAA's Division II, the Washington native has brought his game to Southern Illinois with similar results. Through games of Oct. 14, NCAA.com reports, Straughan was ninth in all of the Football Championship Subdivision with 1608 passing yards in five games.
“I think (the move up to FCS has) gone pretty good. I really don't think about it anymore,” Straughan told Southeast Illinois News. “Maybe in the spring when I came in, the speed was a little bit quicker, but I think I've kind of adapted to it.”
Straughan began building his quarterbacking reputation at Colton (Washington) High School. Playing in eight-man football, he collected more than 11,600 passing yards and 141 touchdowns en route to being a 2011 all-state selection, siusalukis.com reports.
From Colton, he went to Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. In his freshman season for the Tigers, in 2011, Straughan threw for 1,849 yards and 14 touchdowns, StillmanAthletics.com reports. Straughan had another 1,334 passing yards as a sophomore, and 2,223 yards and 26 touchdowns as a junior while earning All-Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference honors.
He entered the 2015 season as a preseason Division II All-American, but an injury wiped out what would have been his senior season at Stillman before it started. Straughan graduated from Stillman that December, with a 3.98 grade-point average as a health sciences major. He planned to use his last year of football eligibility by playing at Austin Peay State in Clarksville, Tennessee, but a change in the coaching staff there resulted in his scholarship being pulled.
Straughan said he spent that Christmas Eve sending out emails to coaches to find a new place to play.
“(SIU Head) Coach (Nick) Hill responded, brought me in for a visit and offered me, and I thought it was the best option for me,” Straughan said.
SIU's offense is similar to what Stillman ran, Straughan said, with a focus on a short and intermediate passing game.
“Both Coach Hill and (Quarterbacks Coach and Offensive Coordinator John) Van Dam have done a good job of getting me adapted to it,” Straughan said. “It's a pretty easy offense to pick up, and we have a lot of playmakers who make it even easier for me.”
He hasn't gone easy on the competition, and it began immediately. In the season opener against Florida Atlantic — a Football Bowl Subdivision program — Straughan threw for 367 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions in the Salukis' 38-30 loss on Sept. 3 in Boca Raton, Florida.
Straughan passed for 265 yards and a touchdown — with again no interceptions — in the Salukis' 30-22 win over Southeast Missouri on Sept. 10 in Carbondale. His scoring pass in the game was the first score in SIU's 17-point third quarter that gave the Salukis control after a close first half.
Then on Sept. 17 at home, Straughan had four touchdowns and 289 passing yards with no picks in SIU's 50-17 win over Murray State. That game earned Straughan Missouri Valley Football Conference Newcomer of the Week honors, siusalukis.com reports.
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