CARBONDALE, Ill. (AP) Nic Baker threw for three touchdowns to three different receivers and Southern Illinois beat Austin Peay 49-23 in a season opener for the two teams on Saturday.

Baker, who threw for 219 yards, threw scoring passes to Izaiah Hartrup, Jaelin Benefield and Justin Strong for 31, 54 and 5 yards respectively. Ro Elliott, Strong and Kaleb Wagner added scoring runs of 1, 1 and 3 yards respectively.

Baker's scoring pass to Benefield halfway through the third quarter made it 35-0.

The Governors' Mike DiLiello threw for 214 yards, which included a 41-yard score to Kam Thomas with 10:40 remaining for their first touchdown of the season to make it 42-9. With 54 seconds left he threw a 44-yard score to Kenny Odom for the final margin.

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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll

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