Football ends playoff run with 24-3 loss to William & Mary
Dec. 5, 2009
Final Stats |  NotesÂ
By Jason Clay and Dana Ingraham
CARBONDALE, Ill. -Â A stifling William & Mary defense ended Southern Illinois' season Saturday afternoon, as the Tribe (11-2) handed the Salukis (11-2) a 24-3 loss in the Division I FCS quarterfinals at McAndrew Stadium.
"We had our opportunities but just didn't take advantage of them and made a few too many mistakes," head coach Dale Lennon said. "You can't do that against a good team and that was kind of the story of the day. Congratulations to William & Mary, they have a very good team and came out and did what they had to do to get the win."
At the start of the game the Salukis appeared to have the edge on the Tribe defense. SIU's offense got 102 yards in the first quarter, but William & Mary adjusted and held the Dawgs to just 85 total yards in the last three quarters.
William & Mary finished the game with 373 yards of total offense.
SIU scored first with a 46-yard field goal from Kyle Dougherty just over two minutes into the game. William & Mary was unable to convert a third down in that opening quarter, but halfway through the second Tribe kicker Brian Pate put one through the uprights to tie the game at three.
From that point on William & Mary beat Southern at its own game. Tribe running back Jonathan Grimes scored his first of three rushing touchdowns on the day with just a minute and a half left before halftime, putting William & Mary up 10-3 at the break after a Pate extra point.
With Grimes leading the way, William & Mary posted 181 total yards rushing, nearly 100 more than SIU's uncharacteristic 84. The Tribe defense held Walter Payton Award finalist Deji Karim to just 27 yards on the ground, but Karim broke the SIU record for single-season all-purpose yardage. He finished with 105 total yards Saturday.
William & Mary controlled the clock in the second half. After going just 1-for-7 on third downs in the first two quarters, the Tribe converted seven of their last 10 third-down tries. They held the ball for nearly 14 more minutes than the Salukis did in the game.
Saluki quarterbacks Paul McIntosh and Chris Dieker combined for 103 yards passing, but Southern was unable to find the end zone. After an SIU turnover on downs, William & Mary charged down field with two minutes left to put the final score in the book with another Grimes touchdown.
The loss breaks an 11-game winning streak for SIU and marks the final game ever played at SIU's McAndrew Stadium.
"This is definitely a season to be proud of," Lennon said. "That was message to our seniors in the locker room afterwards. I'm proud of what we accomplished. I thought we had a good chance to make a run at the national championship and that's why we are so disappointed, because we fell short of our goals."Â