Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Salukis host Northern Iowa
03/19/2001 | 12:00:00 | Football
September 11, 2000
A second-half collapse which . . . may challenge any in recent Southern Illinois University football history cost the Salukis their second setback of the 2000 season last Saturday (Sept. 9) against Southeast Missouri State and made this week's Gateway Conference Television Network game of the week even more important.
The Salukis, up 31-0 with less than . . . seven minutes remaining in the first half of their season opener at home, allowed the visiting SEMO Indians to regroup by giving up six points as a result of an 80-yard, four-play drive with just 5:15 remaining in the first half.
SIU was still in control late in the third . . . quarter, leading 33-7 before the Indians scored four times in the final 18:32 minutes of the game to stun the Salukis. The loss forced the first 0-2 season's start on SIU since the 1994 club dropped its first six of the season. And, with Division I-A Kansas on the immediate horizon -- at Lawrence, Kan., Saturday, Sept. 23 -- this week's contest with Northern Iowa has suddenly taken on added importance.
Interestingly enough, neither SIU or UNI . . . scored points as a result of their offenses in losses Saturday. The Salukis' only second-half points -- two -- came as a result of a safety and the Panthers were unable to add to 17 first-half points they had scored while losing 42-17 at Division I Boise State Saturday. UNI scored first in the game on a 26-yard field goal by MacKenzie Hoambrecker. Down by just a 21-17 count at halftime, the Panthers were outscored 21-0 in the second half and dropped to 1-1 for the season.
SIU cut its turnovers in half from a . . . week ago when they posted eight in losing at Murray State, but the four the Salukis did commit were again costly. A Sherard Poteeete pass interception early in the fourth quarter led to SEMO's fourth touchdown which allowed the Indians to pull within five points at 33-28.
A further check of SIU's past football . . . history, revealed that the Salukis' eight at Murray State were most in a single game since the ninth game of the 1982 season at Eastern Illinois when they had a pair of fumbles and six interceptions while losing 20-7 to the Panthers.
This week's televised game will be aired . . . on MetroSports Time Warner cable (Kansas City, Mo.), WKDA-TV (Cape Girardeau, Mo.), KFXA-TV (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) and WWIR-TV (Macomb, Ill.) according to information received from the Gateway office last week. Mitch Holthus will be handling the play-by-play and Theotis Brown the color with Richard Baldinger working the sidelines. Satelite information: SBS 6, Transponder 9. Dowlink frequency: 11921 MHz (horizontal).
The broadcast is set to start at . . . 12:30 with kickoff at 12:36 p.m.
One of the finest defensive efforts . . . in SIU's recent football history was wasted last Saturday when the Salukis limited visiting Southeast Missouri State to a minus-seven yards rushing and yet dropped their season's home opener, 34-33.
Combined with a respectable . . . 148 yards allowed at Murray State the previous week, the Salukis are presently sporting a 65.5-yard per game rushing defense average which is the best in the Gateway Conference.
SIU's defensive leaders are . . . Teddy Sims, Bart Scott, Ron Doyle, Andre King and Lavar Stepter who have been credited with 70 of the Salukis' 128 stops so far this season. Sims has 11 unassisted tackles to go along with seven assists for a total of 18. Scott, SIU's defensive leader for the past two seasons, is 9-5 for 14, Doyle 5-8 for 13, King 7-6 for 13 and Stepter 6-6 for 12.
While SIU's defense is tops in the . . . Gateway against the rush, the Salukis are fifth in pass defense (232.0 yards per game) and tied for sixth in scoring defense with Indiana State. Both have allowed opponents 38 points per game.
At the same time SIU's defensive unit is claiming . . . early-season honors, so, too, is Saluki running back Tom Koutsos who had one of his finest collegiate outings against SEMO. His 189-yard effort was third on his all-time list of five games in triple digits as a Saluki. Koutsos gained 220 against western Kentucky in last year's season's finale after having had 194 against SEMO in the 1999 opener, 172 at Eastern Illinois and 132 against Illinois State.
Koutsos and quarterback Sherard Poteete, SIU's . . . top two offensive threats a year ago when the Salukis won five of their 11 games, neither were productive at Northern Iowa. Koutsos missed the game completely while Poteete was relatively ineffective in completing just seven of 12 passes for a season's low 50 yards.
It also is worth noting that Poteete . . . has thrown touchdown passes in nine consecutive games going into this week's Northern Iowa contest. His last outing without a TD pass ... at Northern Iowa.
And staying in the same category -- touchdown . . . passes, Poteete now has thrown for 26 in his brief 13-game career as a Saluki and appears to be headed toward a new SIU record which is presently held by Scott Gabbert at 37 (see chart to the left).
The Salukis, who just a year ago . . . could have claimed a share of the Ohio Valley Conference championship as they were 4-0 against teams from that league, will prefer not to press that point this season after opening 0-2 against teams from that conference. A year ago SiU downed Southeast Missouri State, Murray State, Eastern Illinois and Western Kentucky while on its way to a 5-6 season.
