Football Stuns #2 Western Illinois, 37-32

Oct. 18, 2003

MACOMB, Ill. - Are there any doubters still out there in Saluki land?

If so, set down your half-empty glass. You obviously didn't see, listen to or hear about the Southern Illinois University football team's victory on Saturday.

And unfortunately for you -- no words will do it justice.

As the old saying goes: You just had to be there.

"Whoever wasn't at the football game today missed a hell of a football game," SIU head coach Jerry Kill said.

In short, the seventh-ranked Salukis came back from a 16-0 deficit late in the first half with 20 unanswered points in the time it takes to cook a Hot Pocket. Two 1/2 minutes -- three touchdowns. They surrendered that lead briefly in the second half, but came back once again and went on to stun second-ranked Western Illinois, 37-32, surviving a back-and-forth second half with big play after big play.

In perhaps their biggest win since the 1983 team won the I-AA National Championship, the Salukis improved to 7-0 overall and 3-0 in the Gateway Conference. They find themselves tied with Northern Iowa atop the conference standings with four games remaining.

"I don't want to downplay this," Kill said. "It was a great win. No question about it."

Muhammad Abdulqaadir exploded for 200 yards rushing and two touchdowns after a two-game layoff, and Joel Sambursky threw for 123 yards and a touchdown in the fourth quarter alone, helping SIU stave off the Leathernecks.

Brent Little was Samburky's primary target, as the sophomore put together a monster second half, pulling down two huge catches that converted key third downs. Little finished with three catches for 93 yards. He had just seven yards receiving going into the fourth quarter.

But those big numbers aside, it truly was a team effort throughout.

"I'm just very proud of our youngsters," Kill said. "They came in here, strapped their helmets on and played their guts out."

SIU has won two in a row against the Leathernecks after breaking an 18-game losing streak to WIU last year with a similarly wild 54-52 victory.

As was the case in that game, Walter Payton Award candidate Russ Michna was unstoppable, as he finished 28-for-48 passing for 375 yards and four touchdowns for WIU. But unlike last year, Michna faltered after a hot start.

The Leathernecks grabbed early momentum, forcing an SIU turnover on the Salukis' first offensive possession. And it was no ordinary turnover, cornerback David Akers came from behind Abdulqaadir at the end of what looked like a sure 54-yard touchdown run and knocked the ball loose at the 3-yard line, sending it through the back of the end zone.

Instead of a 7-0 SIU lead, Western got the ball back on their own 20-yard line.

It was all Michna for a majority of the next two quarter, as he completed 14 of his first 17 passes. Michna had already piled up 196 yards passing at the 7:04 mark of the second quarter when he hooked up with Terrence Hall for a 12-yard score that gave WIU a 14-0 lead.

Brent Little then made the mistake of taking a kickoff that would have gone out of bounds at the two-yard-line, failing to signal for a fair catch before being forced out of bounds. With SIU pushed back dangerously close to their own endzone, the Leathernecks capitalized, as they went up 16-0 seconds later on a safety.

It looked like the Leathernecks might blow the game wide open at that point.

But, thanks to some relentless running and opportune defense, SIU responded with a furious comeback, starting with a Tom Koutsos 16-yard touchdown run at the 2:41 mark of the second quarter. Courtney Abbott made it 16-8 with a two-point conversion run.

Aided by a pair of WIU turnovers, SIU would add two more scores and go into halftime with a lead.

Saluki linebacker Royal Whitaker set up SIU's next score, recovering a Leatherneck fumble on the WIU 11-yard line. Koutsos eventually scored on a one-yard run to cut Western's lead to 16-14. SIU went for the two-point conversion, but a pass failed.

Michna then threw and interception to Alexis Moreland on the Leathernecks' next possession, as Moreland returned the pick deep into WIU territory at the 27-yard line. Abdulqaadir then worked his magic, going all the way in for a touchdown on SIU's first play from scrimmage. An SIU two-point conversion failed -- again -- but the Salukis found themselves up 20-16 just a minute before halftime.

WIU had one more drive in it before the intermission, but SIU closed out the half in fine fashion, as Frank Johnson picked off a Michna pass in the endzone to keep Salukis in the lead.

"I think the defense sparked the team," Sambursky said of the first half turnaround. "To get those turnovers and give us the ball on the short field, it really helped out a lot and really changed the momentum of the game."

Western Illinois quickly regained the lead in the second half on a Michna 10-yard touchdown pass to Reggie Gray, but the Salukis responded with a Craig Coffin 41-yard field goal that tied the game at 23 at the 3:52 mark of the third quarter.

SIU then took the lead for good early in the fourth quarter, as a key 32-yard pass from Sambursky to Brent Little on 3rd-and-13 set up a two-yard touchdown run by Abdulqaadir that made it 30-23 Salukis.

Sambursky would find Little again on third-and-long with five minutes to go in the fourth quarter, this time hooking up with the sophomore for a 44-yard touchdown pass that moved SIU's lead to double-digits, 37-26.

But WIU quickly struck on its next possession, moving downfield in just over a minute, as Michna found Gray for an eight-yard TD. The Leathernecks then recovered an onside kick on the ensuing kickoff setting up a potential game-winning drive with 3:24 remaining.

But Michna threw four straight incomplete passes, giving SIU the ball back with 3:07 remaining.

SIU was then able to get a key first down 1:56 remaining that allowed them to run out the clock and let an amazing win sink in.

Michna's relative struggles in the second half can be attributed -- at least in part -- to vast improvement by SIU's defense in the second half. SIU's secondary got their hands on several Michna passes and the defensive front picked up the pressure on Michna.

Frank Johnson led the way with seven tackles, three pass deflections, 2.5 tackles for a loss and an interception return of 35 yards. Billy Beard had two sacks to lead SIU up front.

"The defense bailed us out there in the first half," Sambursky said. "Then I think the offense bailed out the defense out in the second half. It was just an all-around incredible team effort.

Koutsos had a solid game, running for 76 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries. More importantly, he saw SIU win for the first time in Macomb.

"Not a lot of people come to Western Illinois and beat these guys on their home field," Koutsos said. "Youngstown State can't do it. Northern Iowa can't do it. Western Kentucky - they didn't do it.

"For us to do this - it's a big win for us."

Sambursky finished 8-for-14 passing for 170 yards. Courtney Abbott added three catches for 59 yards.

Travis Glasford had 23 carries for 100 yards. James Norris and Terrence Hall both had 100-plus yards receiving for the Leathernecks (5-2, 2-1 Gateway), as Norris had 10 catches for 141 yards and Hall had nine catches for 141 yards and a touchdown.

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