Southern Illinois University
4-7 , 2-4
Indiana St.
5-6 , 3-3
Football Falls to Indiana State, 21-14
11/09/2002 | 12:00:00 | Football
Nov. 9, 2002
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Indiana State took full advantage of the wind at its back in the first quarter, scoring all three of its touchdowns and then holding on for a 21-14 win over Southern Illinois.
High, gusty winds made it nearly impossible to move the ball through the air against the wind as Southern Illinois (4-7, 2-4) found out early.
On the Salukis' first possession, Scott Everhart's punt carried just 19 yards and gave Indiana State (5-6, 3-3) great field position at the SIU 41. Four plays later, quarterback Julian Reese found Ryan King open in the endzone for a 16-yard touchdown to put ISU up 7-0.
Southern was forced to punt again on its next drive, and Everhart's kick travelled 17 yards, setting the Sycamores up in Saluki territory at the 44.
It took Indiana State nine plays, but the pushed across a touchdown on a three-yard run by Jake Shields to take a 14-0 lead.
The Salukis' next drive netted one first down, and Everhart boomed a punt 49 yards, pinning the Sycamores at their own nine.
However, SIU hurt itself with a personal foul penalty, and on 3rd-and-8 from their own 26, Reese completed a 56-yard pass to Chris Lewis, giving ISU the ball at the Saluki 18. Five plays later, Reese scored from two yards out, giving Indiana State a 21-0 lead on the last play of the first quarter.
With the wind at its back, Southern marched 80 yards on 12 plays and scored a touchdown on a trick play as running back Brandon Robinson tossed an 11-yard pass to quarterback Joel Sambursky for a touchdown, cutting the lead to 21-7.
The Salukis had another scoring opportunity late in the second quarter, but Everhart's 45-yard field goal attempt missed wide right.
Southern had the wind in the third quarter but could not score. Amazingly, the Salukis mounted an 81-yard touchdown drive into the teeth of the wind in the fourth quarter. Brandon Robinson carried the ball six times on the drive for 31 yards, including a one-yard TD plunge to make the score 21-14 with 5:48 left in the game.
The Salukis got the ball back at their own 11 with 3:49 remaining in the game and drove to the ISU 38 where Sambursky was intercepted by Ryan Merriwether at the 29 to seal the ISU victory with 17 seconds left in the game.
Robinson finished as the game's leading rusher with 178 yards on 34 carries, and Southern out-gained Indiana State 304-232.
The Salukis finish their season next Saturday with a home game against Western Kentucky.
Postgame Quotes
Head Coach Jerry Kill:
?I don't think anyone expected the wind to be blowing that much and it wound up being a huge factor. The most important play of the game was the coin toss. Whoever had the wind would have a huge advantage to start with. I wanted to get off to a good start with the young team and we didn't get the wind, which was crucial. They got the wind and took advantage. We went three and out and it was hard to throw the ball. We had a short punt and they went down and scored. They played on a short field the first quarter and used their timeouts. The first half was a struggle but we played better the second half. Defensively we played well on defense the last three quarters.?
?Offensively we didn't play as well as we could. The difference in the game was the third quarter when we had the wind and four shots at points and made too many mistakes.?
?There were a lot of mistakes and we weren't clean on offense when we needed to be. To beat Indiana State you can't make mistakes and we made them at bad times. I think we're getting better and the defensive performance down the stretch was good.?
?Our time management was good but we had to go 90 yards into the wind. We lost some time and then we throw an interception. We lost the game in the third quarter. I was very pleased to see our defense play well after falling behind. We didn't execute in the third quarter and that was the difference.?
?The timing was off up front with all the injuries on the line and with the backs but we just still keep finding a way to battle and good things are going to happen here, we just have to be patient.?
RB Brandon Robinson:
?We just didn't get enough points today. We only needed one more touchdown. Falling behind early was the offense's fault. We didn't move the ball and then had short punts into the wind, which put the defense in a hole. The first quarter was terrible on our part.?
?We finally got into a rhythm in the second half and didn't make as many dumb mistakes. I wasn't sure how much I would carry the ball, but I was ready. I wish I could have made a big play. It wasn't a bad day, but I wish I could have played better.?
QB Joel Sambursky:
?The wind is an excuse. That's not why we lost the game. It was tough going into the win and both teams had to face that. We didn't execute and I made some dumb mistakes that I haven't made all year and that's the reason we lost.?
?It was a field position game. The wind was a factor because you can't throw into it, but in the end the mistakes hurt us. Indiana State is a good football team but we beat ourselves and that's not taking anything away from them. It's frustrating because we control our own destiny every game but when we make mistakes, we hurt ourselves. We have talent and I'm going to keep the faith because I know good things are going to happen here at SIU.?
Royal Whitaker
?The wind was a factor, but that's not why we lost. We made too many mistakes. We'll have to watch film and see what we can improve on. We played much better in the second half after some adjustments and shut them down, but we were way behind. It's tough to lose. I don't like to lose regardless of any losing streak. We need to play with intensity the whole game.?
Team Stats
INS 7, SIU 0
INS - Ryan King 16 yd pass from Julian Reese (Mike Megyesi kick) 4 plays, 41 yards, TOP 1:53
INS 14, SIU 0
INS - Jake Shields 3 yd run (Mike Megyesi kick), 9 plays, 44 yards, TOP 3:16
INS 21, SIU 0
INS - Julian Reese 2 yd run (Mike Megyesi kick), 9 plays, 91 yards, TOP 3:20
INS 21, SIU 7
SIU - Joel Sambursky 11 yd pass from B. Robinson (Scott Everhart kick) 12 plays, 80 yards, TOP 5:16
INS 21, SIU 14
SIU - B. Robinson 1 yd run (Scott Everhart kick), 11 plays, 81 yards, TOP 5:22