No. 16 Salukis run away from South Dakota, 41-10

Saturday, October 4

Carbondale, Ill.

6:00 PM

Southern Illinois University

5-1 , 2-0

South Dakota

2-3 , 0-1

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
South Dakota	3	7	0	0	10
Southern Illinois	7	3	10	21	41

10/04/2014 | 12:00:00 | Football

Box Score Stats

Oct. 4, 2014

By John Lock
SIUSalukis.com

Final Stats | Photo Gallery

CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Southern Illinois football program got a big 41-10 win over South Dakota on Saturday night in the first-ever meeting between the two programs. The teams went into halftime tied at 10 before SIU put up 31 unanswered points after intermission.

Sound familiar? SIU (5-1, 2-0 MVFC) outplayed its opponent after halftime for the sixth time in six games this year. The Salukis were tied or trailing at the half against Eastern Illinois, Western Illinois and South Dakota, and they won those games by 17, 17, and 31 points, respectively.

"I wasn't sure what we would see coming back from half time," head coach Dale Lennon said. "Our guys were confident in the second half, but I want to make sure we don't make that a habit that we have to have that type of second half to rally."

Against South Dakota, Lennon's Salukis were dominant in the second half. South Dakota managed just 78 yards and three first downs after halftime, while SIU's offense was throwing up 341 yards and 31 points to run away with the win.

Again, Southern got huge contributions from all three phases. The offense put up 500+ yards in an MVFC game for the first time since 2010; the defense pitched its third second-half shutout of the season; and special teams got a 75-yard kick return from Tay Willis, a 17-yard punt return from LaSteven McKinney and another punt downed inside the five from Nick Neidig.

Again, MyCole Pruitt was the best player on the field. For the third-straight game, Pruitt posted more than 100 yards receiving, a feat that hasn't been done by an SIU player since Cornell Craig in 1999.

Again, Malcolm Agnew powered the Saluki ground game. Agnew finished his fourth 100-yard game of the season with 128 yards and three touchdowns, passing his running backs coach, Larry Warner, in career touchdowns at SIU in the process.

Again, Mark Iannotti controlled the second half. Iannotti went 10-for-13 with 186 yards after the break. Again, Southern's defense dialed up the pressure. The Salukis came into the game ranked third in the FCS in sacks per game (3.8) and added three more tonight.

And again, Southern came away with a win. SIU started 2-0 in MVFC play for just the second time in Lennon's tenure and improved to 4-0 at Saluki Stadium this season. At the midway point in the season, SIU has put itself in a good position to make a run at a conference title chase and playoff berth.

"Our mindset is to keep winning, keep going, do everything we have to do to get to the playoffs," Pruitt said. "And if we keep going down where we're headed, I think we'll get there."

The win set up a showdown with top-ranked North Dakota State that will be anything but a regular game. The Bison have won an FCS-record 29-straight games and three-straight national titles.

"You have to be confident when you're playing North Dakota State, and you also have to realize how good they are," Lennon said. "We need to be at the top of our game."