Turnovers doom Salukis in 27-24 loss at SEMO

Saturday, September 12

Cape Girardeau, Mo.

6:00 PM

Southern Illinois University

0-2

Southeast Missouri

1-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Southern Illinois

Southeast Missouri

09/12/2015 | 12:00:00 | Football

Box Score Stats

Sept. 12, 2015

By John Lock
SIUSalukis.com

Final Stats | Photo Gallery

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - The Southern Illinois football team lost seven turnovers in a 27-24 loss at Southeast Missouri on Saturday night. SEMO kicker Ryan McCrum hit the game-winning 42-yard field goal with five seconds remaining to give the Redhawks the win.

"Anytime that you lose a game and a lot of it is self-inflicted, those are tough losses," head coach Dale Lennon said. "Our guys played hard, but we just made too many mistakes. Anytime that you have seven turnovers in any game, it is not going to go well for you. Despite the seven turnovers, we still had chances to win it at the end. We just made too many of those big mistakes."

Southern Illinois (0-2) had 10 more first downs in the game, outgained the Redhawks (1-1) by nearly 100 yards, averaged nearly six yards per play and forced seven SEMO punts; but the Salukis lost seven turnovers and didn't force any. SIU lost in the final 20 seconds for the second time in as many weeks. Southern's two losses are by a combined four points.

"There's still a lot of football in front of us," Lennon said. "This team has a lot of ability; we just need to stop being our own worst enemy."

In the first half, SEMO scored twice on defense in the first four offensive plays of SIU--once on a pick-six and once on a scoop-and-score. SIU looked like it would overcome the four first-half turnovers, piling up 271 yards of total offense and scoring three touchdowns on its four turnover-free drives. Southern led at halftime, 21-17.

The Salukis took the opening kickoff of the second half and marched down for a field goal to extend the lead to 24-17. Twice, Southern had the ball with a chance to extend the lead. Twice SEMO's defense held. After SIU unsuccessfully went for it on fourth down in the second such drive, SEMO put together its only offensive touchdown drive of the game to tie the score.

"That is the disappointing thing," Lennon said "You have to give them credit. They hung in there when we had them on the ropes, but we couldn't get the knockout punch."

The Salukis still looked like they might sneak away with a win. After driving down to the SEMO 6-yard-line in the final four minutes, SIU committed its sixth and most costly turnover of the game. On 3rd-and-goal, quarterback Mark Iannotti tried to spin out of a sack and lost the ball. SEMO returned it to midfield, and SIU's defense came up big and forced a punt. But the offense went 3-and-out, leaving just enough time for SEMO to get in field goal range. McCrum, despite having missed three-straight field goals, hit the game-winner with five seconds left. SIU tried lateraling the ball on the ensuing kickoff, but SEMO recovered it as time expired for its seventh and final forced turnover of the game.

Southern's defense showed a huge improvement in its second game of the season. After Indiana put up 48 points in the season opener, Southern's defense allowed only 13 points on 13 Southeast Missouri possessions. The Salukis sacked SEMO quarterback Tay Bender three times and held All-American receiver Paul McRoberts to just four catches. Chase Allen played a monster game, piling up 19 tackles in the loss, and Kenny James added 15 more.

Offensively, new running backs Daquan Isom and Aaron Stanton flashed potential. Isom ran for a team-high 64 yards (10.7 yards per carry) and Stanton rushed for 44 more (7.3 yards per carry). Isom had 131 all-purpose yards, and receiver Billy Reed had a career-best 112 yards receiving. Southern again spread out the production, with 10 receivers catching at least one pass and seven getting a rushing attempt.

UP NEXT: Southern Illinois has its bye week next weekend before hosting Liberty on Sept. 26 for the home opener and Family Weekend. The game will be the annual Black Out Cancer game. Bidding on Black Out Cancer jerseys ends Sept. 14 at 8 p.m. CT. Bid at SalukisBlackOutCancer.com.