Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Abdulqaadir, Whitaker Win Gateway Player of the Week Honors
10/07/2002 | 12:00:00 | Football
Oct. 7, 2002
After defeating #8-ranked Western Illinois Saturday, the Salukis won both the offensive and defensive "Player of the Week" awards in the Gateway Conference. It marked the first time in school history SIU has won both awards in the same week.
For the third-straight week, running back Muhammad Abdulqaadir earned the league's Offensive Player of the Week honors. He had 261 yards on 31 carries and scored four touchdowns in SIU's 54-52 upset victory against No. 8 Western Illinois. Abdulqaadir averaged 8.4 yards per carry, and he broke an 80-yard TD score with 10:57 left in the game that put SIU up 48-31. It tied the school record for sixth longest run from scrimmage. The game was his third-straight 200+ performance, also a school record. Abdulqaadir has now rushed for 837 yards in his last three games (a Gateway record for a three-game span), and 1,005 yards in his last four contests -- also a league record.
On defense, freshman linebacker Royal Whitaker keyed SIU's first win against Western Illinois since 1983 as he led the team with 14 tackles. He also added two tackles for losses, totaling 13 yards, and one sack for minus-10 yards. He forced a fumble and recovered a fumble, and both of those resulted in SIU touchdowns.
