Football Team Gets Homecoming Win, 23-17 Over Illinois State

Saturday, October 6

Carbondale, Ill.

1:30 PM

Southern Illinois University

1-3 , 1-1

Illinois St.

0-5 , 0-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Illinois State

Southern Illinois

10/06/2001 | 12:00:00 | Football

Box Score

Southern Illinois held off a late Illinois State rally, and head coach Jerry Kill earned his first victory as the Salukis beat the Redbirds, 23-17, on homecoming at McAndrew Stadium.

SIU built a 20-0 lead midway through the third quarter thanks to a potent ground attack led by Tom Koutsos and Brandon Robinson.

Koutsos carried the ball 28 times for 135 yards and a touchdown, and Robinson came off the bench to rush for 76 yards on six attempts.

But it was the defense that was called upon to win the game in the end. Leading 23-10 late in the game, SIU turned the ball over on fumbles on back-to-back possessions, deep in its own territory. Illinois State came away with just one score however, as the Saluki defense held. The defense forced ISU quarterback Dusty Burk to throw four straight incompletions on the Redbirds' last possession.

"We sat back and played zone defense and didn't let them throw over the top," Kill said. "We're not blessed with 4.3 speed in our secondary, but we did what we had to do to win the game on defense."

Southern Illinois (1-3, 1-1) opened the scoring on a seven-play, 79 yard drive, capped off by a Koutsos one-yard TD plunge with 11:54 left in the second quarter.

Two other first half drives stalled deep in ISU territory and the Salukis had to settle for a pair of Scott Everhart field goals from 23 and 27 yards away.

Leading 13-0 early in the third quarter, SIU special teamer Jason Newell broke through the Redbirds' punt protection to block a Ryan Hoffman attempt. Newell scooped the ball up at the ISU five yardline and rumbled into the endzone for a touchdown, giving SIU a 20-0 lead.

For Newell, it was his third punt block of the season and the team's fourth overall.

"Credit (special teams coach) Jay Sawvel for doing a great job," Kill said. "He draws them up in the dirt and we wind up getting a block every week."

The 20-0 lead began to slip away when Saluki quarterback Kevin Kobe was sacked and the Redbirds recoverd his fumble at the SIU 40. Seven plays later, ISU scored a touchdown on a four-yard run by Dusty Burk, to narrow the gap to 20-7.

The teams traded field goals to make the score 23-10, when a Mark Shasteen fumble gave ISU the ball at the Saluki 25. The Redbirds would eventually score on three-yard run by Burk to make the score 23-17, and it appeared the momentum had shifted to ISU with 3:00 left in the game.

"I think (SIU defenders) Bart Scott and Bryan Archibald said it ain't going to happen," Kill said. "Even though it was an ugly win, it couldn't have been a better way for this team to win. They needed to make plays to win the game."

Scott made many of them. He recorded 16 tackles from his linebacker position including a sack an three tackles for loss. He also intercepted a pass.

"I think basically the fourth quarter was a test of our character," Scott said. "The guys showed what kind of heart they had, and that reflects our coach, Jerry Kill."

Southern Illinois will play at Northern Iowa next Saturday, while Illinois State (0-5, 0-1) hosts Western Illinois.

From the Lockeroom

Illinois State Head Coach Denver Johnson: "Obviously we didn't do anything offensively in the first half. Come out the second half, did a liitle bit better, got some points on the board and moved the ball some, but...we're struggling right now to put together a complete game."

SIU DB Andre King: "It was a nice little rush for us. After the game coach Kill was talking and said 'we needed a game like this because it was a close game and we had to gut it out.' We knew we would have to come out with some energy and some life (on defense), but the most important thing is that we had to sustain it, and I think we did."

"We talked about Illinois State and the history behind it, and a lot of our new guys don't know about it. We tried to school them on it. The passion is there. It is always going to be a good game."

"If we are going to win we are going to need everyone out there (to play well). Coach has been drilling in our heads that we have been one player away from a big play several times this year."

SIU RB Brandon Robinson: "It got a little ugly. We ended up doing some stuff that we didn't need to do, or didn't have to do, but we won, so ...it's a win. What I sensed was that we were playing more to not lose the game instead of playing to win. We weren't really executing our plays right in the fourth quarter, and we were turning over the ball. We didn't have any until the fourth quarter and then all the sudden we had three.

"It feels good (getting a win going into Northern Iowa). They are still undefeated in the conference. We feel we have a chance...everyone else in our conference has lost a game so we still have a shot at it."

SIU QB Kevin Kobe: "I felt pretty confident (in the fourth quarter), I felt loose. Any time you get in a situation like that, it is going to be a little tense I guess. There were a few times where things like bad snaps hurt us, but other than that, I thought we played well under pressure."

"I was trying to be smart with the ball. Last time against Western I played well, but I wasn't real smart with the ball sometimes. I didn't try to force the ball, and it helped us."

"(Mark Shasteen) is a fifth year guy and he knows what he is doing. He runs good routes and knows when to get open. He did a great job of getting open."

"I would give myself a C. I thought I played smart, but I don't think I played real well, but we won. I'm not worried about that right now, I am just glad to get a win. We haven't won games like this around here in a long time, and it gives you a lot of confidence going into the next game. You don't have to think 'oh, here we go again.'"

"Bart, that kid is a force, I am just so proud of him. He is a senior and wanted this game really bad. Our whole defense did great, just kept us in it. It was a great team win."

LB Bart Scott: "We have had a lot of history with Illinois State coming back to beat us, and going into the year one of our goals was to beat Illinois State. We were hungry for a win in general and really hungry to beat ISU. When you go all out on every play, the ball tends to bounce your way.

"I think staying here during the summer really brought us together. We are a tight knit group. We don't want to let the guy next to us down. You don't want to be the guy who broke down and hurt the team. I think the team is coming together and wants to do their part at all costs because we care about each other."