Football falls to Marshall In season opener, 31-28

Saturday, September 5

Huntington, W. Va.

3:30 PM

Southern Illinois University

0-1

Marshall

1-0

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Southern Illinois	7	7	7	7	28
Marshall University	0	7	21	3	31

09/05/2009 | 12:00:00 | Football

Box Score

Sept. 5, 2009

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By Tom Weber
www.SIUSalukis.com

HUNTINGTON, W. Va. - Marshall spoiled an upset bid by Southern Illinois, striking for three-straight touchdowns in the third quarter to hold off the Salukis, 31-28, in the season opener for both schools on Saturday.

Southern followed its blueprint for victory to the letter in the first half. It played with poise and confidence en route to a 14-7 halftime advantage. Scores came on a touchdown run by quarterback Chris Dieker and a Dieker TD pass to Marc Cheatham.

To the dismay of a boisterous crowd of 24,012 -- many of whom expect the Thundering Herd to make a bowl run this season -- Marshall could only muster a late second-quarter touchdown. That score was set up by Lee Smith's recovery of a fumbled punt at SIU's 22.

The pendulum swung dramatically in the Herd's favor during the third quarter, however. Saluki turnovers and penalties, plus Marshall's hurry-up offense were the main culprits.

Led by quarterback Brian Anderson, Marshall needed just six plays and 90 seconds to tie the game, 14-14, on an Anderson to Antavio Wilson 28-yard pass.

A busted play resulted in a Dieker fumble on the first play of SIU's next possession, giving Marshall the ball at Southern's 41. Anderson led another short touchdown drive that was capped by a Terrel Edwards-May 11-yard run.

"My whole theory is you make the opponent earn everything they get," said Saluki head coach Dale Lennon. "If they get a drive that is 70 or 80 yards, and they take it 12 plays on you, they earned it. You can live with that. But when you make mistakes that give them opportunities to score..."

After a three-and-out by Southern's offense, Marshall drove 59 yards in five plays for a touchdown that gave the Herd a 28-14 lead with five minutes to go in the quarter. The drive was aided by a pair of pass interference penalties against the Salukis.

"We said at halftime, 'Marshall is in there getting their butts chewed, so we need to come out with a higher energy level,'" said Saluki linebacker Ryan Patton. "But we just let Marshall take the ball right down the field, and we just didn't come out with that energy."

The tide turned so quickly and decisively in the third quarter, that SIU did not have enough time to recover.

"We just gave over the momentum, and that's something against a good football team you just can't do," Lennon said. "We had some of those first-game mistakes that are always a coach's nightmare."

Trailing by 14, the Salukis did mount a comeback -- they simply ran out of time.

Mixing the power running of Deji Karim with short passes, the Salukis drove 66 yards in eight plays, as Dieker hit fullback John Goode for a touchdown that cut the deficit to 28-21 late in the third. Karim had 25 of his game-high 67 yards on the drive.

Trailing, 31-21, the Salukis got the ball back with 3:35 remaining thanks to a dramatic 4th-and-1 goalline stand, in which Edwards-Maye was flattened by Patton and linebacker Brandin Jordan for a one-yard loss. Jordan , a preseason candidate for the Buchanan Award, led the defense with 12 stops, including a sack, two tackles for loss and a forced fumble.

Southern then mounted its best drive of the day, marching 91-yards behind the right arm of Dieker and a couple of nifty quarterback scrambles. When Dieker plunged into the end zone on a five-yard scamper with 1:55 remaining, it cut the deficit to 31-28.

SIU failed to recover an onside kick by Kyle Dougherty, and Marshall ran the clock down to 30 seconds before giving the ball back to SIU at its own 19. Dieker's desperation pass to Jeff Evans on the game's final play fell incomplete.

"We weren't looking for a moral victory," Lennon said. "Our intention was to come in and win this football game. I'm sitting here thinking we had our chance to win this game and with that, I'm disappointed."

Playing at the Football Championship Subdivision level, the Salukis hardly appeared over-matched at the line of scrimmage. In fact, SIU out-rushed the Herd 105-72 and limited Marshall to just 2.0 yards per carry. Southern's offensive line also turned away Marshall's vaunted pass rush, giving Dieker time to complete 22-of-37 passes.

"Their front handled our front," said Marshall head coach Mark Snyder. "I don't know if they've been reading too many of their press clippings, or what it was. We just didn't generate any pass rush, in my estimation, without having to blitz."

Lennon said he expects his team will smooth out the rough edges in its play during the coming bye week.

"I was happy with our heart," Lennon said. "That's the one thing I told the team at the end. We played hard. You can't fault them for the effort that we gave out there. We never gave up. We tried, scratched, clawed into the game any way that we could. We gave ourselves a chance at the very end, so with that, that's something that you can definitely build on. Now we just have to focus on not being our own worst enemy."