Southern Illinois University
4-4 , 2-1
Illinois St.
4-3 , 2-1
Football Beaten By Illinois State, 35-14
10/19/2002 | 12:00:00 | Football
Oct. 19, 2002
NORMAL, Ill. - Illinois State shut down the nation's top-rated offense and held the nation's leading rusher in-check as the Redbirds beat #25 Southern Illinois, 35-14, Saturday at Hancock Stadium.
With the score tied 7-7, Illinois State (4-3, 2-1) scored three touchdowns in the third quarter to put the Salukis away. Redbirds' running back Quincy Washington started the scoring with a 15-yard touchdown run, and he finished as the game's leading rusher with 126 yards.
The story of the game was ISU's defense, which limited Saluki running back Muhammad Abdulqaadir to a hard-earned 103 yards on 23 carries. He scored both of SIU's TDs. Abdulqaadir had rushed for more than 200 yards in each of his last four games.
"We didn't execute today, and I made some bad mistakes I haven't made all year," said SIU quarterback Joel Sambursky, who threw his first two interceptions of the season in the game. "We didn't overlook Illinois State. They're too good a team, and we're too young to do something like that. We just couldn't get into a rhythm on offense today."
Southern Illinois (4-4, 2-1) was outgained 537-285 in total yardage and picked up 16 first downs to ISU's 29.
Postgame quotes
Sambursky: "It was frustrating to not play better on offense or score more points, especially after the defense grabbed us some early turnovers. We've done a good job of protecting the ball lately, but today the turnovers hurt us. I'll watch film and fix the mistakes. We have to take this as a lesson and not just a loss."
"They didn't really do anything different than any other team. Every team we've played has stacked us at the line with the running game that we have, and we still manage to move the ball. I just didn't play real well and made some bad decision that I haven't made all year, but like Coach Kill said, I have to learn from it."
"We didn't make the big plays that we've made all year to stretch the field. It was unfortunate that we didn't get those today, and it's on my shoulders and all the receivers."
DB Alexis Moreland: "I thought (Illinois State) came out with a great gameplan. They're a talented group and have good speed. They came out to play, and we ended up missing a couple tackles, and they found the holes. We have to go back to work this week and get things worked out."
LB Eric Egan: "(Washington) was just hitting some holes in the second half that he wasn't hitting in the first half. We definitely did a good job with the run game in the first half. The second half, I can't really explain it."
Head Coach Jerry Kill: "They were just one step ahead of us all day. They had us off-balance, and they beat us in every phase of the game. Fundamentally, we didn't play very well. We didn't tackle well, we didn't block very well. We've just got to learn from it, go back and watch the film and get better. We played like a young team today. That's the bottom line."
Team Stats
SIU 0, ILS 7
ILS - SOUZA, M. 9 yd run (CARROLL, S. kick), 12 plays, 81 yards, TOP 4:07
SIU 7, ILS 7
SIU - Mo Abdulqaadir 1 yd run (Scott Everhart kick), 7 plays, 29 yards, TOP 3:20
SIU 7, ILS 14
ILS - WASHINGTON, Q. 15 yd run (CARROLL, S. kick), 6 plays, 89 yards, TOP 1:34
SIU 7, ILS 21
ILS - SOUZA, M. 13 yd run (CARROLL, S. kick), 6 plays, 44 yards, TOP 1:43
SIU 7, ILS 28
ILS - EDWARDS, S. 1 yd run (CARROLL, S. kick), 2 plays, 43 yards, TOP 0:13
SIU 7, ILS 35
ILS - EDWARDS, S. 9 yd run (CARROLL, S. kick), 9 plays, 93 yards, TOP 2:14
SIU 14, ILS 35
SIU - Mo Abdulqaadir 2 yd run (Scott Everhart kick), 12 plays, 85 yards, TOP 4:38