No. 3 Salukis dump Jackrabbits, 34-15
BROOKINGS, S.D. — Third-ranked Southern Illinois clinched at least a share of the Missouri Valley Football Conference title and the league’s automatic berth in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision with a 34-15 victory over ninth-ranked South Dakota State Saturday afternoon at Coughlin-Alumni Stadium.

The Salukis scored 24 consecutive points between the second and third quarters in improving to 8-1 overall and 7-0 in league play. SDSU, playing before a home crowd of 10,317, dropped to 7-2 overall and 6-1 in the MVFC.

After holding the Jackrabbits to three plays and out on their first offensive possession, SIU took an early 3-0 lead on its opening drive. Kyle Dougherty capped a seven-play, 65-yard drive with a 49-yard field goal.

The Salukis made it 10-0 midway through the first quarter as Joe Allaria took a lateral and ran around the right end for a 21-yard touchdown, finishing off an eight-play, 70-yard drive.

SDSU bridged its first scoring drive of the afternoon between the first and second quarters. A clipping penalty negated an apparent 37-yard touchdown, and the Jackrabbits later were set up first and goal at the 1-yard later in the drive but were stuffed on three consecutive plays before settling for a 22-yard field goal by Peter Reifenrath.

Mistakes continued to pile up for the Jackrabbits throughout the second quarter. A bobbled snap on a punt attempt gave SIU the ball at the SDSU 6, and two plays later the Salukis made it a 17-3 game on a 4-yard pass from Paul McIntosh to John Goode.

Dougherty added a 22-yard field goal on the next SIU possession and the Salukis turned the game into a rout in the closing minutes of the half as Lance Caldwell intercepted a Ryan Crawford pass and returned it 75 yards for a touchdown to make the score 27-3.

Crawford was sacked five times in the first half and six times in the game.

SIU continued its onslaught by scoring on its opening drive of the second half, marching 80 yards on eight plays with McIntosh completing a 40-yard bomb to Jeff Evans for the touchdown.

Backup quarterback Thomas O’Brien entered the game for SDSU on the team’s second possession of the second half and led the Jackrabbits on two fourth-quarter scoring drives. O’Brien threw a two-yard touchdown pass to Colin Cochart to complete the Jackrabbits’ longest scoring drive of the season, a 96-yard march that took 12 plays.

O’Brien also threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Mike Steffen with 2:26 remaining in the game. SDSU failed on both of its two-point attempts.

Southern Illinois held a 388-342 advantage in total offense, gaining 280 yards on the ground. Walter Payton Award candidate Deji Karim became the first player to rush for 100 yards against SDSU this season, gaining 127 yards on 21 carries. McIntosh gained 76 yards on seven carries and complete 11-of-18 passes for 108 yards and two scores. Bryce Morris led the Saluki receivers with three catches for 23 yards.

For SDSU, O’Brien finished the game 16-of-25 passing for 181 yards and an interception. Crawford completed 15-of-29 attempts for 147 yards.
Glen Fox caught a career-high 12 passes for 101 yards. Saunders Montague added six receptions for 48 yards.

Kyle Minett led the Jackrabbit ground game with 61 yards on 11 carries.

Defensively, Conrad Kjerstad notched a career-high 15 tackles for SDSU. Danny Batten added 10 stops.

Mike McElroy led SIU with eight tackles. Caldwell recorded both of both of the Salukis’ interceptions, the second one coming in the end zone to thwart a potential Jackrabbit scoring drive in the third quarter.

SDSU will play its final non-conference game of the season next Saturday (Nov. 14), traveling to Minnesota. Kickoff is slated for 11 a.m. at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. The game is scheduled to be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.

SIU closes league action Nov. 14 by hosting Missouri State.

NOTES: The loss was SDSU’s first at home against a Missouri Valley Football Conference opponent since joining the league ... SIU has won both meetings against the Jackrabbits ... the attendance of 10,317 was a season low ... the Jackrabbits ran a season-high 83 plays, compared to 62 by SIU ... SDSU’s 54 pass attempts were three shy of the school record set in 1985 at Northern Arizona ... Fox became the first SDSU player to top 100 receiving yards this season, and moved into fourth place on the Jackrabbit career receiving charts with 142 receptions as he passed Rusty Lenners (137 receptions from 1993-96) ... Fox also moved into 10th place in career receiving yards with 1,630 ... nine different receivers caught at least one pass for the Jackrabbits
*Courtesy: SDSU Sports Information