Southern Illinois University
2-0
Union College (Ky.)
0-2
Football Routs Union (Ky.), 82-7
09/10/2005 | 12:00:00 | Football
Sept. 10, 2005
By Tom Weber
www.SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Southern Illinois routed Union (Ky.) Saturday night, 82-7, as the Salukis rolled up the second-highest point total in school history.
Union (0-2) plays at the NAIA level and was no match for the Salukis (2-0), who are ranked #4 in the nation in I-AA. SIU netted an even 600 yards of total offense, while holding the Bulldogs to minus-14 yards rushing.
Saluki head coach Jerry Kill took most of his starters out of the game during Southern's 41-point second quarter. He said he was pleased with the intensity his team displayed throughout the evening.
"I told them I don't care who you are playing, we are going to go out there and play hard every time and represent Southern Illinois," he said. "We played a lot of people and got a good look at a lot of people, and now we need to heal up and get ready for next week."
SIU led just 14-0 early in the second period when safety A.J. Wallace intercepted a Joey Waters pass and sprinted 23 yards for a touchdown.
Wallace's score opened the floodgates for SIU, as they tacked on five more touchdowns before halftime.
Included in the scoring burst were a pair of touchdown catches by wide receiver Brent Little. Little caught four passes on the night and finished with 138 receiving yards, the fourth time in his career he's topped the century mark. He also moved into third place in career receiving yards at SIU with 1,679.
Little said although the score was lopsided, the game was beneficial for the Salukis.
"We got some good looks (from Union), some things we haven't seen," he said. "It was a great team for us to work on some things that we don't normally do."
Saluki starting tailback Arkee Whitlock was impressive in his brief appearance, rushing six times for 76 yards and two touchdowns.
Whitlock echoed Little's sentiment that the game was indeed worthwhile.
"Our focus in tonight's game was to execute plays, no matter who we were playing," Whitlock said. "(We) tried to take a few knocks and hit everybody hard."
The game may prove most valuable to the Saluki reserves, who saw plenty of action. Backup quarterback Nick Hill made the most of his playing time. After relieving starter Joel Sambursky midway through the second quarter, he completed all six of his pass attempts on the evening for 130 yards and two TDs.
"Every series that (the backups) were out there, I told the team `let's just have fun,' " Hill said. "A lot of times, we are not going to get the chance to play in the regular season, so we just went out to have fun and get better."
Hill was equally impressive as a ball carrier as he scrambled for 52 yards on five carries.
"It felt good to get out there and get hit a little bit, because its been three years since my body has taken a real hit, because we don't take hits in practice," he said. "I think Coach Kill wanted to see me get banged around a little bit, if nothing else to get used to it."
Kill said he liked what he saw from the sophomore southpaw.
"I just like watching Nick throw the football," Kill said. "He has got that pretty throw. He is the only guy out here who didn't want to quit playing. He would have like to have played all of tonight and the next day."
Southern Illinois will face a stiff test next week when it plays at I-A opponent Western Michigan. The Broncos are 0-2, but have lost close games to Mid-American Conference power Toledo and nationally ranked Virginia.
The Salukis may find themselves ranked #1 in the nation next week because the three teams ahead of SIU in the polls all lost on Saturday.
Kill said he doesn't care about rankings.
"Don't get me wrong, its great for the school, the area, and it shows our program is getting better," he said. "But all I care about is getting ready for Western Michigan. They are paying us $140,000 to go down there, and that means they are paying for a victory, and we are going to work hard to try and not let that happen."
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Team Stats
UNION 0, SIU 7
SIU - Whitlock,Arkee 2 yd run (Coffin,Craig kick), 5 plays, 64 yards, TOP 2:20
UNION 0, SIU 14
SIU - Allen,Kellen 11 yd pass from Sambursky,Joel (Coffin,Craig kick) 3 plays, 30 yards, TOP 1:19
UNION 0, SIU 21
SIU - Wallace, A.J. 23 yd interception (Coffin,Craig kick)
UNION 0, SIU 28
SIU - Little,Brent 48 yd pass from Sambursky,Joel (Coffin,Craig kick) 1 plays, 48 yards, TOP 0:04
UNION 7, SIU 28
UNION - Steven Stunson 8 yd pass from Joey Waters (Jason Buster kick) 5 plays, 61 yards, TOP 1:52
UNION 7, SIU 35
SIU - Jackson,Antione 5 yd run (Coffin,Craig kick), 4 plays, 41 yards, TOP 2:02
UNION 7, SIU 41
SIU - Whitlock,Arkee 45 yd run (Coffin,Craig kickfailed), 3 plays, 74 yards, TOP 1:03
UNION 7, SIU 48
SIU - Little,Brent 31 yd pass from Hill,Nick (Coffin,Craig kick) 1 plays, 31 yards, TOP 0:07
UNION 7, SIU 55
SIU - Turner,Craig 3 yd run (Coffin,Craig kick), 4 plays, 70 yards, TOP 1:19
UNION 7, SIU 62
SIU - Thomas,Renell 9 yd run (Coffin,Craig kick), 5 plays, 29 yards, TOP 1:56
UNION 7, SIU 69
SIU - Beeler,Ryan 17 yd pass from Hill,Nick (Coffin,Craig kick) 6 plays, 55 yards, TOP 2:46
UNION 7, SIU 75
SIU - Thomas,Renell 5 yd run (Coffin,Craig kickfailed), 8 plays, 92 yards, TOP 3:45
UNION 7, SIU 82
SIU - Thomas,Renell 35 yd run (Coffin,Craig kick), 3 plays, 62 yards, TOP 1:54