Southern Illinois University
Murray St.
Football Crushes Murray State
09/13/2003 | 12:00:00 | Football
Sept. 13, 2003
By Seth Whitehead
www.SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE - If anyone out there's still not convinced the Southern Illinois University football team's defense is for real -- they might want to talk to the Ohio Valley Conference's top-two teams.
They've both had an all too close-up look at the revitalized unit.
Led once again by the suffocating play of its new-look "D", SIU dominated an OVC opponent for the second straight week, rolling to a 32-7 romp over Murray State Saturday night in front of 10,000-plus at McAndrew Stadium.
After throttling Southeast Missouri State last week, SIU ended up outscoring the OVC's top two teams 60-14 to improve to 3-0 for the first time since 1999.
The Salukis held the Racers to just 81 yards rushing on 40 carries and 221 yards overall. SIU also recorded a safety and had three sacks.
"I'm just real proud of our defense,'' SIU head coach Jerry Kill said. "I think right now they're setting the tone and I give a lot of credit to our defensive coaches and certainly our kids because they're the ones making plays.''
The Racers -- perhaps unconvinced that SIU's defense was legit even though they were continually being driven into the turf -- went for it on fourth down four times, coming up empty on each occasion.
The Racers made it inside SIU's 20-yard line just two times and scored once, thanks in large part to a turnover that gave them a short field.
Suddenly, all that 'worst to first in the Gateway Conference' talk made by the Saluki defense in the preseason isn't sounding so farfetched.
And it's been a team effort.
"It was really an 11-man defense,'' said senior linebacker Eric Egan. "Everybody was playing their position and playing their role. You saw the result...it was an excellent team victory.''
Egan and Moreland led SIU with 10 tackles. Chris Sutherlin had two sacks, with Egan recording the other.
Oh by the way, the offense wasn't too shabby either.
Muhammad Abdulqaadir ran for 126 yards in just three quarters of play and Tom Koutsos became the team's all-time leading scorer with two touchdown runs.
"You have to give credit to everyone on offense,'' Koutsos said, "but you have to tip your cap to the defense. They played great for the second week in a row.''
Koutsos moved past kicker Scott Everhart on SIU's all-time scoring list with his second touchdown run of the game, a 10-yard carry early in the third quarter.
The fifth-year senior finished with 44 yards rushing and now has scored 240 points in his Saluki career.
"It was nice and all,'' Koutsos said about his latest record, "but just being 3-0 is awesome. Forget about all the records. We're starting to win here, and it just feels good to be 3-0 with a chance to be 4-0 for the first time in 20 years.''
A game many felt was going to be a nasty back-and-forth affair wound up being a laugher by the third quarter. Murray State piled up the penalties (seven for 89 yards) everyone expected, but couldn't accumulate many first downs (13).
"We got out-coached and out-played the whole game,'' Murray State coach Joe Pannunzio said. "I have to give credit to SIU, because they played really well tonight. We got beat on both sides of the ball".
The Saluki defense made its mark right away, as Melvin Vance picked off a dying quail from Racers' quarterback Stewart Childress on the first series of the game. SIU then quickly moved the ball from its own 41 yard line into Murray's 10-yard line, setting up an eight-yard touchdown run for Koutsos, tying him with Everhart on SIU's all-time scoring list.
Murray looked like it was going to counter on its ensuing possession, quickly driving inside SIU's 10-yard line. But the Saluki defense countered with their second impressive goal line stand in as many games.
The Racers had the ball on SIU's 5-yard line with four shots at the endzone.
Based on last year's SIU defense, they probably figured they were in for an easy touchdown.
Ron Lane got the first carry, but gained just two yards as Linton Brown came up with a tackle. Chad Cook then got the handoff on second down, but he too had just a short gain, as Jamarquis Jordan stopped him two yards shy of the endzone.
Cook was then hit for a one-yard loss by Jordan and Billy Beard on third down.
With fourth down coming up, and perhaps memories of last year's Salukis in his head, Pannunzio opted not to go for an easy field goal.
That decision backfired, as Childress took the snap and dropped back for a pass. But everyone in yellow was covered.
Childress then scrambled to his right, dodging SIU pursuers. Realizing he had no open receivers, he then headed for the endzone. Unfortunately for Childress, Alexis Moreland stood in his path, and the junior All-American smothered the quarterback, giving the ball back to SIU on downs.
It was just one of many huge clutch plays.
"We're fortunate that we had some kids come up and make some big plays,'' Kill said. "Not only doing it once, but several times during the game."
SIU's next scoring drive took just two and a half minutes, as a 27-yard reception by Brent Little and a penalty set up a Brandon Robinson 17-yard run to give the Salukis a 14-0 lead late in the second quarter.
The Saluki defense then made another statement soon after, as Eric Egan and Billy Beard sacked Childress in the Saluki endzone for SIU's first safety of the year and a commanding 16-0 lead.
Murray State briefly grabbed some momentum soon after, as SIU's Kellen Allen fumbled deep in Saluki territory to set up the Racers only touchdown drive of the game, cutting the Saluki lead to 16-7.
The Salukis quickly erased any thoughts of a comeback, however, as they put together a 63-yard scoring drive on their first possession of the second half, capped by Koutsos' record-breaking 10-yard touchdown run.
Matt Weishaar added a two-yard touchdown run later in the quarter, and Craig Coffin capped the Saluki scoring with his first career field goal in the fourth quarter.
The Salukis broke a three-game losing streak to the Racers and avenged last year's bitter loss at Murray. SIU has outscored its opponents this season by an average of 32 points.
"All the credit right now needs to go to those kids,'' Kill said. "Those kids are really locked in and focused in on what they're trying to do right now.
"Also, (credit) to Southern Illinois because the stadium tonight was so loud on our side that I couldn't even communicate with Joel Sambursky out there. We need that. They're just as much responsible for the win as anybody is. The louder that crowd gets and more enthusiasm, the better our kids are going to play. That's a big key right now."
Deandre Green had 85 yards receiving and a touchdown to lead Murray State, while Stewart Childress was 14-for-19 passing for 123 yards for the Racers (1-2).
