Winning Ways

McAndrew closes with spectacular season

BY TODD HEFFERMAN THE SOUTHERN

McAndrew Stadium’s 73rd and final season ended with another Southern Illinois University playoff run.

SIU (11-2) reached the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs for the seventh straight year and became the first team to sweep the Missouri Valley Football Conference, but ended its season prematurely in a lot of eyes. The top-ranked team in the country in The Sports Network poll earned the No. 3 seed on Selection Sunday, but fell in the quarterfinals to sixthranked William and Mary, 24-3.

“It was a momentum thing as much as anything,” said SIU linebacker Brandin Jordan, one of 16 seniors who played his last game Dec. 5. “We were on our heels, and they did a good job of executing their game plan. That was a big difference. There was no one thing to hang your hat on as to why they beat us. They came out and played well, and we didn’t do what we needed to do to give ourselves a chance to win.”

Jordan finished an epic career in the maroon and white fourth all-time in career tackles with 270. The Buck Buchanan Award nominee also finished third in SIU history in tackles for loss with 36.5.

SIU returned nine starters on its vaunted defense this season and led the MVFC in sacks (36) and interceptions (23). The Salukis’ 23 interceptions were the secondmost in school history, behind the 43 the 1983 national champions earned.

Junior safety Mike McElroy led SIU with seven picks,

THE SOUTHERN FILE PHOTO

A Saluki player watches during the waning moments of Southern Illinois’ win Sept. 26 over North Dakota State at McAndrew Stadium.

while junior cornerback Korey Lindsey had six.

The Salukis became the first team in the two-year history of the MVFC to go 8-0 in the league, which became even more impressive as SIU had to beat two of the top teams on the road to do it. SIU beat Northern Iowa, 27-20, at the UNIDome for the team’s first win in Cedar Falls, Iowa, since 1983. The Salukis then beat South Dakota State in their first trip to Brookings, S.D., in convincing fashion, 34-15, to wrap up the MVFC’s automatic bid to the playoffs.

“It’s a journey that you go on with a group of guys, which is special, so not a lot of people get to experience that,” SIU coach Dale Lennon said. “It’s a weekby-week adventure and a lot of good times. Some very challenging times.

THE SOUTHERN FILE PHOTO

SEE SEASON / PAGE 27

SIU football coach Dale Lennon (left) leads the team in ‘Go Southern Go!’ after winning Oct. 17 at Northern Iowa.

Page 2 Monday, December 14, 2009 The Southern Illinoisan

• New Roofs • Roof Removals • Roof Repairs M STOR MOST RE GONE. T ERS A CHAS ET CAUGH G DON’T INTER. Y B W

S ROOF IN T S O M LETED COMP 5 DAYS JUST SIGNING! FROM

Contract Tips 1) Get all estimates in writing.

2) Do not be induced into signing a contract by high-pressure sales tactics.

3) Never sign a contract with blank spaces or one you do not fully understand. If you are taking out a loan to finance the work, do not sign the contract before you lender approves the loan.

4) Remember, you have three business days from the time you sign your contract to cancel any contract if the sale is made at your home. The contractor cannot deprive you of this right by initiating work, selling your contract to a lender , or any other tactics.

5) If the contractor does business under a name other than the contractor’s real name, the business must either be incorporated or registered under the Assumed Business Name Act. Check with the Secretary of State to see if the business is incorporated or with the country clerk to see if the business has registered under the Assumed Business Name Act. 6) Check with local and country units of gover nment to determine if permits or inspections are required.

7) Determine whether the contractor will guarantee his or her work and products.

8) Determine whether the contractor has the proper insurance.

9) Do not sign a certificate of completion or make a final payment until the work is done to your satisfaction.

10) Remember, you should know who provides supplies and labor for any work performed on your home. Suppliers and contractors have a right to file a lien against your property if the general contractor fails to pay them. T o protect your property, request lien waivers from the general contractor.

HOME REPAIR - KNOW YOUR CONSUMER RIGHTS AVOIDING HOME REPAIR FRAUD Please use extreme caution when confronted with the following war ning signs of a potential scam: 1) Door-to-door salesperson who offer to do home repair work for substantially less than the market price.

2) Solicitations for repair work from a company that lists only a telephone number or a post office box number to contact, par ticularly if it is an out-of-state company.

3) Contractors who fail to provide customers references when requested.

4) Persons who offer to inspect your home for free. Do not admit anyone into your home unless he or she can present authentic identification establishing his or her business status. When in doubt, do not hesitate to call the worker’s employer to verify his or her identity .

5) Contractors who demand cash payment for a job or ask you to make a check payable to a person other then the owner or company name.

6) Offers from a contractor to drive you to the bank to withdraw funds to pay the work.

Don’t Settle for Less Call the BEST!

NEVER SIGN A BLANK CONTRACT

If you think you have been defrauded by a contractor or have any questions, please bring your concerns to the attention of your State’ s Attorney of the Illinois Attor ney General’s Office Springfield 1-800-243-0618 Carbondale 1-800-243-0607

FREE Estimates 993-0430 “YOUR HOMETOWN ROOFING COMPANY”!!!

501 W. DeYoung Suite #8, Marion, Illinois The Southern Illinoisan Monday, December 14, 2009 Page 3

Dawgs’ run doesn’t appear to be done

BY TODD HEFFERMAN THE SOUTHERN

Injuries and the strength of the opposition can never be completely forecast, but Southern Illinois University’s football team appears to have a lot of pieces to make another playoff run in 2010.

SIU (11-2), which comes off its seventh straight appearance in the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs, could return its starting quarterback, two first-team all-conference defensive backs and three of eight linemen. One of the strengths of the 2009 season, the Salukis’ depth, could play a big part in the 2010 playoff run.

“Any time you have a big graduating class, it’s some other players’ turn to step up,” SIU coach Dale Lennon said. “This is the beginning of the 2010 season. Even though we just finished the 2009 season, for the younger players, especially the players that have been redshirted, this is the start of the 2010 season.”

Lennon declined to specifically name the redshirts he thought could make an impact next year, but was able to keep all but one freshman off the field this year. Running back Steve Strother, who played in 11 of 13 games, could become the starter in spring ball.

Senior Richard White, who missed seven games because of injury, is expected to have knee surgery in January and will miss spring ball. He could be back by the fall and chal-

THE SOUTHERN FILE PHOTO

SIU safety Mike McElroy (above) and quarterback Chris Dieker (right) are expected to be among the anchors of next year’s team, as SIU looks to reach the postseason again.

lenge for minutes lost by the departure of Missouri Valley Football Conference Offensive Player of the Year Deji Karim.

Senior-to-be Chris Dieker, who missed five games with a broken clavicle, will likely take the No. 1 quarterback spot when spring ball starts, Lennon said.

Redshirt freshman Paul McIntosh, a member of the league’s all-newcomer team after leading SIU to six wins, will challenge for that spot, along with redshirt freshman Kory Faulkner.

Faulkner, a 6-foot-4, 205-pound righty, was the Missouri Class 3A Offensive Player of the Year out of Saint Genevieve High School, and threw for more

than 8,000 yards and 102 touchdowns. Another redshirt freshman may be one of the Salukis’ top receiving threats, as 6-2 John Lantz was a first-team all-state pick by the Champaign News-Gazette, Chicago Tribune and Illinois Football Coaches Association. Lantz, a Sacred Heart-Griffin High School grad who could also return punts and kicks, set the school’s receiving mark and led the Cyclones to the 2008 state title.

The Missouri Valley Football Conference champs could return two offensive line starters and defensive end Chance Coda on the defensive front. Backup defensive end Kyle Russo,

Page 4 Monday, December 14, 2009 The Southern Illinoisan

who had 25 tackles and six sacks, was a member of the league’s all-newcomer team.

SIU loses all four linebackers but returns two first-team all-conference defensive backs in Korey Lindsey and Mike McElroy.

McElroy led the Salukis with seven picks, while Lindsey had six. Lennon expects both to be good leaders for the defense next season.

“A lot of times, what hap-

pens when you have juniors becoming seniors, they’re not comfortable becoming leaders, but in Korey’s situation, he kind of was one of the leaders on the defensive side of the ball,” Lennon said. “We’ve got a number of leaders coming back on the defensive side, with Mike McElroy, who knows what it’s all about, so his experience will be valuable to us.”

The team will open its yet-unnamed stadium

Sept. 2 with Quincy, and then play at Illinois for its Football Bowl Subdivision foe. The Salukis then host Southeast Missouri State, and begin the league season at Youngstown State. Road warriors this season, SIU gets six home games in 2010, including dates with Northern Iowa, South Dakota State, Western Illinois and Indiana State. todd.hefferman@thesouthern.com 618-351-5087

Agency Manager

Larry Bonifield Marion 618-997-9441

Brad Woolcott Marion 618-997-9441

Amanda Brayfield Herrin 618-988-8440

Ted Boulds Marion 618-993-3176

Susan White Herrin 618-942-6108

Jeff Smith West Frankfort 618-932-2512

Michael Brachear Benton 618-435-8191

Kyle Hosick Marion 618-997-9441

Darla Sloan West Frankfort 618-932-6695

Charlotte Clover Anna 618-833-8100

Paul Pinnon Murphysboro 618-687-2207

Patty Koenig Murphysboro 618-684-5327

Mike Boese Murphysboro 618-687-5691

Scarlett Miller Marion 618-993-3176

Mike Harris Carbondale 618-457-5373

John Raski III Carbondale 618-351-9811

Rich Campbell Marion 618-997-9441

Krista Menckowski Sesser 618-625-5100

Matt Duffy Murphysboro 618-684-4123

1108-004

The Southern Illinoisan Monday, December 14, 2009 Page 5

Salukis have plenty to be proud of he chapter just closed on a football season in which the Salukis OFF more than TARGET lived up to LES expectaWINKELER tions. A lot of people expected SIU to advance to the national championship game. That didn’t happen.

However, on balance, this season cannot be construed as disappointing on any logical level.

Rightly or wrongly, the Salukis were picked to finish second in the Missouri Valley Football Conference in the preseason poll. At the time, that seemed realistic.

Although the Dawgs had virtually their entire starting defense returning and some high-profile offensive players back, there were some question marks. The biggest question was who would replace the dynamic Larry Warner at tailback.

Deji Karim was the heir apparent, but Karim’s experience was limited to 76 carries in 2007. A knee injury cost him the entire 2008 season. In retrospect, that might have been the biggest break the Salukis got all year. There might not have been enough carries for Warner and Karim in 2008.

And if Karim had used up his eligibility last year, who would have been the Dawgs featured back this year?

In addition, the Salukis had to play at Northern Iowa and South Dakota State.

The odds of winning at the UNI-Dome are roughly the same as winning the lottery. It just doesn’t happen. And before SIU’s

T

THE SOUTHERN FILE PHOTO

Construction workers make progress on the west stands at SIU’s new football stadium.

Weather won’t slow Saluki Way

BY TODD HEFFERMAN THE SOUTHERN

As McAndrew Stadium becomes a track facility, now that it’s 73rd and final football season is complete, work continues on Southern Illinois University’s new gridiron home.

The yet-unnamed, $25.3 million facility northeast of SIU Arena nearly has the six c o n c e s s i o n / b a t h ro o m buildings completed, said associate athletic director Jason King, who is in charge of facilities. The concrete floor of the press box will be poured next week, King said. When the press box is complete, it will have 12 suites, a club level, media room, radio and coaches’ booths on the second floor and a working elevator. The stadium, team complex and renovation to SIU Arena are all part of the $83 million Saluki Way project, which is scheduled to be completed next year.

The typical weather in December, January and February shouldn’t hinder Saluki Way’s progress, King said, as a lot of the new

THE SOUTHERN FILE PHOTO

A crane moves supplies near the SIU Arena extension.

additions have exterior walls.

“The good thing is, we’re at a point right now where if we have a rain day … the contractors can go in and work inside,” he said.

“Weather is always going to be a factor, but it’s not as much of a factor as it used to be.”

Work on the grandstands and seating bowl will begin in January for the 15,000seat capacity facility. The football stadium will have a horseshoe shape with more than 1,000 chairback seats and a video-capable scoreboard.

The football stadium is

expected to open in August.

SIU opens the 2010 season Sept. 2 against NAIA school Quincy. The Salukis will have six home games next year, including contests against Northern Iowa and South Dakota State.

The renovations at SIU Arena, which are projected to cost $29.9 million, are expected to be completed

by October. Crews continue to work on some of the interior projects, but have to put off replacing the stands until the end of the men’s and women’s seasons in March or April.

SEE SALUKI WAY / PAGE 27

Page 6 Monday, December 14, 2009 The Southern Illinoisan

PAUL NEWTON / THE SOUTHERN

SIU’s Paul McIntosh rolls to his right before passing during the Salukis’ win over Youngstown State on Oct. 24.

visit to South Dakota State, no MVFC team had won there in two years.

Given all that, a second place finish seemed reasonable.

Of course, the ante was upped considerably when the Salukis won at UNI. Suddenly, anything less than a conference championship, and a seventh straight playoff berth, would have been a disappointment.

However, the team and fans had to reassess the following week when starting quarterback Chris Dieker broke his clavicle against Youngstown State.

Paul McIntosh, a redshirt freshman, was inserted into the lineup, and SIU didn’t miss a beat.

With McIntosh at the helm, the Salukis knocked off Indiana State, South Dakota State and Missouri State to run the Valley table. After knocking off Southeast Missouri in the season finale, the No. 1 ranked Salukis earned the third seed in the NCAA tournament — a bit incongruous, but not shocking when one considers the top seeds went to Montana and Villanova.

And despite the offensive intrigue, this team thrived on defense.

With playmakers like

Brandin Jordan, Chauncey Mixon, Marty Rodgers, Mike McElroy and Korey Lindsey returning, defense was supposed to be the backbone of this team. The only question involving the defense was, would it live up to its reputation?

The defensive unit took a hit in the first game of the season, a 31-28 loss to Football Bowl Subdivision school Marshall, when Mixon went down with a broken jaw. However, Kyle Walker filled in admirably, minimizing the effect of Mixon’s loss.

That’s the way it was all season: The defense refused to budge.

Teams were able to move the ball on the defense early in every game. You could almost sense the defense making adjustments with every series. It was like watching a vise tighten. By the end of the game, most offensive units were rendered immobile.

Living up to potential can be difficult. This team did that. They did it with grace.

They lived up to their billing, and they did it gracefully … all marks of an outstanding season.

LES WINKELER is the sports editor of The Southern Illinoisan. Contact him at les.winkeler@thesouthern.c om, or call 618-351-5088.

VOGLER FORD-MAZDA 1170 E. MAIN • CARBONDALE, IL • 866.793.3673

W W W. V O G L E R F O R D . C O M The Southern Illinoisan Monday, December 14, 2009 Page 7

GAME 1, SEPT. 5: MARSHALL 31, SIU 28

Season starts with hard-fought loss 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.

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 Mark 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 at 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 11-yard run.

“My whole theory is you make the opponent earn everything they get,” SIU

THE SOUTHERN FILE PHOTO

Marshall’s Michael Janac (above) stops SIU running back Deji Karim during the teams’ game in Huntington, W.Va. Marshall’s Cody Slate (right, 85) celebrates with Chuck Walker after scoring a touchdown during the Thundering Herd’s season-opening victory.

coach Dale Lennon said. “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,’” Saluki linebacker Ryan Patton asid.

“But we just let Marshall take the ball right down the field, and we just didn’t come out with that energy.”

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

Page 8 Monday, December 14, 2009 The Southern Illinoisan

remaining thanks to a dramatic fourth-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 Buck 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 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.

SIU Marshall

7 7 7 7 — 28 0 7 21 3 — 31 Scoring Summary First Quarter SIU — Dieker 1 run (Dougherty kick), 0:21.

Second Quarter MAR — Slate 10 pass from Anderson (Rantanamorn kick), 3:15.

SIU — Cheatham 2 pass from DIeker (Dougherty kick), 0:26.

Third Quarter MAR — Wilson 28 pass from Anderson (Rantanamorn kick), 13:23.

MAR — Edwards-Maye 11 run (Rantanamorn kick), 10:07.

MAR — Slate 15 pass from Anderson (Rantanamorn kick), 5:21.

SIU — Goode 4 pass from Dieker (Dougherty kick), 1:54.

Fourth Quarter MAR — Rantanamorn 32 FG, 11:33.

SIU — Dieker 5 run (Dougherty kick), 1:40.

Team Stats SIU MAR First Downs 20 23 Rushes-Yds 28-105 36-72 Passing Yds 206 316 Comp-Att-Int 22-38-1 27-36-1 Punts 4-45.5 3-36.7 Fumbles-Lost 2-2 1-1 Penalties-Yds 8-60 6-45 Individual Stats RUSHING—SIU: Karim 16-67, DIeker 8-24, Strother 2-8, Evans 1-3, Allaria 1-3. MAR: Ward 14-54, EdwardsMaye 15-28, Edmonson 1-4, Slate 2-0, Anderson 4-(14).

PASSING—SIU: Dieker 22-37-1—206. MAR: Anderson 27-36-1—316.

RECEIVING—SIU: Morris 6-69, Allaria 4-38, Strother 3-25, Cheatham 2-20, Evans 2-20, Karim 2-16, Goode 2-6, Kernes 1-12. MAR: Walker 10-119, Slate 9114, Wilson 3-44, Bonner3-26, Wilson 1-8, Smith 1-5.

— SIU Media Services

GAME 2, SEPT. 19: SIU 59, SOUTHWEST BAPTIST 7 CARBONDALE — Senior running back Deji Karim set a new school record for the most rushing yards per carry, and Southern Illinois racked up the second most offensive yardage in program history as the Salukis defeated Southwest Baptist, 59-7,at McAndrew Stadium.

SIU (1-1) finished the game with 699 yards of total offense. Karim averaged 21 yards on his 10 carries, shattering the old school record by almost seven yards a carry for a back with at least 10 attempts.

“The guys were hungry and they wanted to play tonight,” SIU coach Dale Lennon said. “You know, you just finish a game, and you lose and you feel like you had a chance to win and then you have to sit a week. I don’t think that they overlooked Southwest Baptist and I feel that we really needed to win the game tonight and the guys responded.”

Much of the offensive outburst came on the ground. Of the 699 total yards, 435 of it came by the run, which is the seventhmost in a Saluki game.

Fullback Lucien Walker added 78 yards on 14 carries and Richard White added 53 yards on 11 carries.

Not to be surprised, Southern Illinois produced big plays all night long. Of SIU’s eight touchdowns in the game, four of them went for 39 yards or more.

Karim led the Dawgs with 290 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns. His 61yard touchdown run early in the third quarter was the longest run of his career. He rushed for a career-high 210 yards with two touchdowns, and he returned a kickoff 82 yards for SIU’s first score of the game.

Junior quarterback Chris

An impressive home opener

THE SOUTHERN FILE PHOTO

SIU quarterback Chris Dieker (above) throws his hands in the air after connecting with wide receiver Joe Allaria for a touchdown against Southwest Baptist.

Allaria (below) runs downfield after catching a pass during the Salukis’ 59-7 victory Sept. 19 at McAndrew Stadium.

Dieker completed 14-of-17 passes for 243 yards and he accounted for three scores, two passing and one rushing. Dieker’s 82.4 completion percentage was the fifth-best in school history.

Junior wide receiver Joe Allaria had a career night.

He set new personal bests with seven catches for 144 yards and scored one touchdown on a 77-yard pass from Dieker.

The Bearcats were led by quarterback Steve Gachette, who finished the game with 210 yards passing and 63

rushing. However, he threw three interceptions, two of which went to junior Korey Lindsey.

Southwest Baptist came out swinging and took the game’s opening drive 78 yards in for the score.

Gachette completed 6-of-7 passes on the drive, which he capped off with an 18-yard TD pass to Charles Johnson.

SIU would not be flustered and countered with a flurry. Karim started it by returning the ensuing kickoff 82 yards for the score.

SIU’s secondary unit took

exception to Gachette’s efforts on the first drive and intercepted him the next two times SBU had the ball.

SW Baptist SIU

7 0 0 0 — 7 17 21 7 14 — 59 Scoring Summary First Quarter SBU — Johnson 18 pass from Gachette (Jolly kick), 12:40.

SIU — Karim 82 kickoff return (Dougherty kick), 12:30.

SIU — Dougherty 21 FG, 7:51.

SIU — Allaria 77 pass from Dieker (Dougherty kick), 3:50.

Second Quarter SIU — Evans 39 pass from Dieker (Dougherty kick), 13:10.

SIU — Karim 6 run (Dougherty kick), 11:12.

SIU — DIeker 1 run (Dougherty kick), 0:06.

Third Quarter SIU — Karim 61 run (Dougherty kick), 14:31.

Fourth Quarter SIU — Walker 4 run (Dougherty kick), 14:56.

SIU — Wilkins 3 run (Dougherty kick), 5:56.

Team Stats SBU SIU First Downs 20 30 Rushes-Yds 29-107 54-435 Passing Yds 210 264 Comp-Att-Int 26-47-3 16-20-0 Punts 6-40.2 3-43.7 Fumbles-Lost 0-0 1-1 Penalties-Yds 6-38 4-25 Individual Stats RUSHING—SBU: Gachette 15-63, Everson 8-33, Duhaney 5-23. SIU: Karim 10-210, Walker 14-78, White 11-53, McIntosh 8-45, Govan 4-42, Wilkins 312, Dieker 2-(-2).

PASSING—SBU: Gachette 26-47-1—210. SIU: Dieker 14-17-0—243; McIntosh 2-3-0—21.

RECEIVING—SBU: Johnson 10-102, Paige 6-40, King 4-53, Everson 2-7, Austin 2-6, Duhaney 1-1, Manuma 1-1. SIU: Allaria 7-144, Morris 3-46, Cheatham 3-26, Evans 1-39, Kernes 1-11, Karim 1-(-2).

— SIU Media Services

The Southern Illinoisan Monday, December 14, 2009 Page 9

A SPECTACULAR SEASON

DEJI KARIM Saluki tailback Deji Karim’s 2009 season will go into the record books as one of the greatest offensive efforts in SIU football history. Relatively unknown coming into the season, Karim’s name will forever be mentioned among SIU’s all-time greats.

Karim’s name will be found in the SIU record books next year in a multitude of categories: No. 1 — All-purpose yards, season, 2,339.

Yards per carry, game (minimum 10 attempts) 21.0 (210 yards on 10 carries) vs.

Southwest Baptist Longest run from scrimmage, 93 yards vs. Illinois State No. 2 — Yards per carry season, 7.1 Longest run from scrimmage, 92 yards vs. Western Illinois No. 3 — Rushing yards, season 1,694 rushing yards, season rushing yards Yards rushing, game, 273 vs. Illinois State Most 100-yard rushing games, season, 9 Yards per carry, game (minimum 20 attempts), 9.75 vs. Illinois State

THE SOUTHERN FILE PHOTO

SIU’s Deji Karim runs against Eastern Illinois.

Most points, season, 120 Most touchdowns, season, 19 No. 4 — Most consecutive 100-yard rushing games, 5 No. 5 — Most touchdowns, career, 26 No. 6 — Most 100-yard rushing games, career, 10 No. 7 — Most rushing attempts season, 240 No. 13 – Most points scored, career, 162

THE SOUTHERN FILE PHOTO

SIU’s Deji Karim looks to run downfield during the Salukis victory over Illinois State on Oct. 10.

We provide General Psychiatric Services Including: Diagnostic Interview Psychiatric Consultation Medication Management Psychological Testing Psychological Assessment

Psychotherapy: • Individual • Group • Family • Grief Issues Other Related Psychiatric Services

618-998-0888

www.SouthernIllinoisPsychiatry.com We are now at our new of fice at 112 Airway Drive Marion, Illinois 62959. This location is acr oss from Williamson County Airport next to Pain Management Center of Marion near the intersection of Route 13 and 148.

Page 10 Monday, December 14, 2009 The Southern Illinoisan

GAME 3, SEPT. 26: SIU 24, NORTH DAKOTA STATE 14

Defensive domination CARBONDALE — Behind a strong defensive effort, No. 8 Southern Illinois was able to win its eighth straight Missouri Valley Football Conference opener with a 24-14 victory over North Dakota State.

The two teams came into the game ranked in the top six nationally in scoring offense, but it was a clean game controlled by defense and field position.

The Salukis (2-1, 1-0 MVFC) held the Bison (13, 0-1) to just 14 points after they had averaged 40.3 points coming into the game. Senior linebacker Kyle Walker had three of SIU’s four sacks in the game. He entered the contest with just two career sacks.

North Dakota State only managed just 14 points off its 324 yards of total offense. Southern Illinois never trailed in the game and kept the Bison at bay, despite having the ball for 15 minutes less than NDSU. “They were having success moving the ball, but we didn’t give up any big plays,” SIU coach Dale Lennon said. “Overall, I’m very proud of our defense and how they kept their composure. Things didn’t necessarily go our way, but our guys just hung in there. It was a well-played game on both sides.”

The Saluki special teams

had a big hand in the victory. Punter Scott Ravanesi backed the Bison back up toward their goal line all night long. He averaged 46.4 yards on eight punts and three were downed inside the NDSU 20-yard line. Kicker Kyle Dougherty added a 44-yard field goal in the first half.

The nation’s top two rushers in terms of yards per game were featured Saturday. NDSU’s Pat Paschall finished with 150 yards rushing on 28 carries, but never found the end zone. SIU’s Deji Karim had 96 of his 127 yards in the second half and scored one touchdown. His 35-yard run early in the fourth quarter set up SIU’s last touchdown, a sevenyard Chris Dieker-toJoe Allaria pass.

Dieker finished with 186 yards on 10-of-23 passing with two TDs. His 61-yard pass to Jeff Evans early in the second quarter started the scoring.

Allaria led all receivers in the game with six catches for 90 yards and that one score.

Senior linebacker Brandin Jordan and junior free safety Mike McElroy tied for a game-high 10 tackles. Jordan recorded his 300th career tackle in the game, becoming the 13th Saluki ever to do so.

SIU senior safety Marty

THE SOUTHERN FILE PHOTO

SIU’s Kyle Walker (above) gets one of his three sacks against North Dakota State quarterback Nick Mertens during the Salukis win over North Dakota State on Sept. 26. SIU’s Brandon Williams (right, 6) and Brandin Jordan take down North Dakota State running back Pat Paschall.

Rodgers had an interception late in the fourth quarter, which was the only turnover in the game.

N. Dakota St. 0 7 0 7 — 14 SIU 0 10 7 7 — 24 Scoring Summary Second Quarter SIU — Evans 61 pass from Dieker (Dougherty kick), 10:25.

NDSU — McNorton 1 run (Bibeau kick), 5:36.

SIU — Dougherty 44 FG, 2:41.

Third Quarter SIU — Karim 23 run (Dougherty kick), 8:54.

Fourth Quarter NDSU — Ebel 0 blocked FG return (Bibeau kick), 13:19.

SIU — Allaria 7 pass from Dieker (Dougherty kick), 8:16.

First Downs Rushes-Yds Passing Yds Comp-Att-Int Punts Fumbles-Lost Penalties-Yds

Team Stats NDSU SIU 19 14 54-219 33-139 105 186 9-23-1 10-23-0 8-36.8 8-46.4 0-0 0-0 6-50 5-48

Individual Stats RUSHING—NDSU: Paschall 28-150, McNorton 12-37, Voigtlander 2-15, Mertens 11-12, Prelvitz 1-3, Bibeau 0-2.. SIU: Karim 23-127, Dieker 3-6, Walker 1-5, Goode 1-3, Strother 2-1.

PASSING—NDSU: Mertens 9-23-1—105. SIU: Dieker 10-23-0—186.

RECEIVING—NDSU: Holloway 5-63, Washington 1-25, Paschall 1-8, Brown 1-7, McNorton 1-2. SIU: Allaria 6-90, Evans 2-70, Morris 1-14, Kernes 1-12.

— SIU Media Services

The Southern Illinoisan Monday, December 14, 2009 Page 11

CONGRATULATIONS

SALUKIS on a great season!

A SPECTACULAR SEASON

CHRIS DIEKER

Your Hometown Friend!

Carbondale Carbondale East 216 E. Main St. 1399 E. Main St. 549-2181 549-1704

Carterville

Murphysboro

Vergennes

200 W. Plaza Dr. 985-5494

900 Walnut St. 687-4100

640 Hack Ave. 684-4779

www.tboc.com Member FDIC

PROVIDED

SIU’s Chris Dieker passes during the Salukis’ win Oct. 17 at Northern Iowa.

Although junior quarterback Chris Dieker played just half the season, he passed for 1,326 yards. That total allowed him to move up the charts in several career categories.

Dieker will begin his senior season with an impressive place in the

SIU record books: No. 2 — Lowest interception percentage, career, 2.61 No. 5 — Completion percentage, game (minimum 10 attempts), 82.4 percent, 14-of-17 vs.

Southwest Baptist No. 6 — Completion percentage, season, 58.4

percent, 101-of-173 No. 8 — Career completions, 288 Career attempts, 573 Career touchdowns, 26 Passing efficiency, season, 136.1 Lowest interception percentage, season, 2.89 No. 9 — Career passing yards, 3,421

Page 12 Monday, December 14, 2009 The Southern Illinoisan

GAME 4, OCT. 3: SIU 30, WESTERN ILLINOIS 10

Dawgs run away from Leathernecks MACOMB — Deji Karim’s two touchdowns and 282 all-purpose yards led No. 8 Southern Illinois to a 30-10 victory over Western Illinois to give the Salukis their 400th victory in program history.

Karim had 18 carries for 157 yards and the two scores.

His 92-yard touchdown run on SIU’s first offensive play of the game set a new school record. He also added a career-long 42-yard reception and a 69-yard kickoff return in the game.

SIU’s 20-point win gave the Salukis their eighth straight victory over the Leathernecks (1-3, 0-1 MVFC).

“It was a good win for us tonight,” SIU coach Dale Lennon said. “In the first half, the offense came out and did what they had to do, and in the second half, the defense closed out the game for us.

“It wasn’t the prettiest win for us, but what I told the team in the locker room is that we’ll take a win on the road any day.”

Western Illinois quarterback Matt Barr came into the game ranked No. 9 nationally in passing with 274.7 yards per game, but only had 90 yards before leaving in the first half with a thumb injury. SIU’s defense held backup quarterback Wil Lunt to just 7-of-14 passing and 50 yards while sacking him four times.

The Salukis outgained WIU 368-243 and forced three interceptions, two by Mike McElroy and one by Lance Caldwell.

The Dawgs added 10 more points before halftime to take a 27-10 lead into the locker rooms. Fullback John Goode caught his second touchdown pass of the season from Dieker on a sevenyard reception at 3:58 and Dougherty hit a 37-yard field goal with just seconds left in the half.

Southern Illinois got another Dougherty field goal on its first drive of the second half. This one was once again from 43 yards, and it came after a 10-play, four-plus minute drive.

After giving up 188 yards in the first half, the Saluki defense tightened up in the second half. In the third quarter, Western Illinois had minus-four yards of offense.

Three of SIU’s four sacks came in the second half.

SIU WIU

PROVIDED

SIU’s Deji Karim runs downfield after passing the Western Illinois defense during the first half of the teams’ Oct. 3 game.

Quarterback Chris Dieker was 14-of-24 in the game for 154 yards and one touchdown.

Karim, the nation’s No. 2 rusher, had 217 all-purpose yards by halftime as the Salukis had four scoring drives in the first 30 minutes that all lasted less than three and a half minutes.

Junior kicker Kyle Dougherty connected on all three of his field goal attempts, two of them from 43 yards.

Southern’s defense,

which only allowed the Leathernecks to complete 42 percent of their passes, was led by safeties Marty Rodgers and McElroy.

Rodgers tied for the gamehigh with eight tackles and McElroy had six stops to go with his two picks. Caldwell registered his first career sack in the game to go with his first interception.

Things looked good right from the start. On SIU’s first offensive play of the game, Karim took the handoff from Dieker 92 yards in for

the score.

After a Dieker fumble on a sack, Western Illinois got a 30-yard field goal from Brian Egan at 4:30 of the first quarter to get the Leathernecks on the board.

Despite the hiccup on the fumble, Karim kept the Salukis going. He returned the kickoff after WIU’s field goal 69 yards to the Leatherneck 26 and then, four plays later, he scored on a three-yard run to put SIU up, 14-3, after the first quarter.

Western Illinois got its first touchdown of the game early in the second quarter after a 13-play, 74-yard drive. Dre Gibbs scored for the Leathernecks on a twoyard run at 11:39.

Dougherty put the Salukis up 17-10 with a 43-yard field goal a little more than three minutes later. It came on a seven-play, 46-yard scoring drive that was kept alive early thanks to a 42yard Dieker-to-Karim pass on a third-and-10 from SIU’s 28-yard line.

14 13 3 0 — 30 3 7 0 0 — 10 Scoring Summary First Quarter SIU — Karim 92 run (Dougherty kick), 12:22.

WIU — Egan 30 FG, 4:40.

SIU — Karim 3 run (Dougherty kick), 2:41.

Second Quarter WIU— Gibbs 2 run (Egan kick), 11:39.

SIU — Dougherty 43 FG, 8:13.

SIU — Goode 7 pass from Dieker (Dougherty kick), 3:58.

SIU — Dougherty 37 FG, 0:03.

Third Quarter SIU — Dougherty 43 FG, 8:49.

Team Stats SIU WIU First Downs 17 16 Rushes-Yds 37-214 35-103 Passing Yds 154 140 Comp-Att-Int 14-21-1 14-33-3 Punts 3-40.3 6-33.3 Fumbles-Lost 1-1 2-0 Penalties-Yds 6-88 9-75 Individual Stats RUSHING—SIU: Karim 18-157, Strother 9-34, McIntosh 2-14, Walker 2-9, DIeker 6-0. WIU: Gibbs 20-84, Gabelmann 9-38, Barr 2-2, Lunt 4-(-21).

PASSING—SIU: Dieker 14-21-1—154. WIU: Lunt 719-2—50; Barr 7-14-1—90.

RECEIVING—SIU: Evans 4-31, Morris 3-18, Allaria 2-48, Karim 2-41, Cheatham 2-9, Goode 1-7. WIU: Senatus 6-45, Crump 2-28, Speight 2-7, Rideau 1-22, Morgan 1-16, Gabelmann 1-12, Warner 1-10.

— SIU Media Services

The Southern Illinoisan Monday, December 14, 2009 Page 13

Introducing MICHAEL P. LAWLER, MD BOARD CERTIFIED INTERNAL MEDICINE 1129 NORTH CARBON, MARION

Are you looking for an Adult Primary Care Doctor? Call 993-1111 for a Board Certified Internal Medicine Physician Dr. Michael Lawler who specializes in Adult Primary Care.

With every visit you can count on communicating with the doctor who you can count on for life.

A SPECTACULAR SEASON

SCOTT RAVANESI

Dr. Lawler has a special inter est in Diabetes, High cholesterol, Hypertension and Preventative Medicine.

www.DrMichaelLawlerMD.com

Now seeing patients

618.993.1111

PAUL NEWTON / THE SOUTHERN

SIU’s Scott Ravanesi watches one of his punts sail downfield Sept. 19 against Southwest Baptist.

Scott Ravanesi was more than a punter for the Southern Illinois University football team during the past four years.

He was a weapon.

Ravanesi closed his career as the all-time leader in punting average.

Ironically, the quality of teams SIU fielded during Ravanesi’s career hampered his pursuit of some records — he didn’t have to kick nearly as frequently as many of his predecessors and he frequently kicked from better field position.

As a result, he had to sacrifice distance for accuracy. He compensated well. The senior kicker placed a remarkable 18 punts inside the 20-yard line this season.

Ravanesi’s standing among SIU punters includes:

THE SOUTHERN FILE PHOTO

SIU’s Scott Ravanesi prepares to hold during an extra-point attempt in the Salukis’ win Sept. 19 over Southwest Baptist.

No. 1 — Career average, 42.56 Longest punt, 83 yards vs. University of Massachusetts No. 2 — Season average, 45.78 (2007)

No. 4 — Season average, 43.29 (2008) No. 5 — Most attempts, career, 191 Most yards, career, 8,129 No. 6 — Season average, 42.4 (2009)

Page 14 Monday, December 14, 2009 The Southern Illinoisan

GAME 5, OCT. 10: SIU 43, ILLINOIS STATE 23

SIU gives fans happy Homecoming CARBONDALE — An electric first half full of big offensive plays was topped by two huge Saluki defensive plays that allowed No. 6 Southern Illinois to win its ninth straight Missouri Valley Football Conference game with a 43-23 victory over Illinois State on Homecoming.

Southern Illinois, led by 273 rushing yards and three touchdowns by senior running back Deji Karim, has now won 15 straight conference home games. Karim’s yardage on the ground was the third most in a game in school history.

Korey Lindsey’s interception against two open receivers on a flea-flicker early in the fourth quarter allowed SIU to extend its three-point lead. Then Ryan Patton forced a fumble on a sack with the Redbirds inside the SIU 30 in the fourth quarter, allowing the Dawgs to finish the game with 20 unanswered points.

Karim became just the ninth back in SIU history to rush for 100 yards in four straight games. His 93-yard touchdown run in the first quarter was one yard farther than his school record 92-yarder he had at Western Illinois. It was his second 200-yard rushing game of the season.

“Deji was pretty impressive,” SIU coach Dale Lennon said. “It’s just one of those things that when you have a player like that offensively, it makes it difficult to defend.”

The Salukis had 613 yards of total offense in the game — the fourth most in school

THE SOUTHERN FILE PHOTO

SIU’s Korey Lindsey (above) leaps for an interception in front of Illinois State’s Eyad Salem in the fourth quarter Oct. 10.

SIU’s Marc Cheatham (above) avoids Redbird defenders Chris Garrett (25) and Jermaine Malcolm for a touchdown catch.

history. Junior quarterback Chris Dieker threw for a career-high 274 yards and two scores that were both over 40 yards.

Illinois State quarterback Matt Brown, a Marion native, had 321 yards passing with two TDs and two interceptions. Geno Blow had 84 yards rushing and the Redbirds had 428 yards of total offense.

Kyle Walker led the SIU defense with seven tackles, while Lindsey and senior

safety Marty Rodgers each had six.Patton’s sack was the only one in the game for the Dawgs and Mike McElroy intercepted a pass after the game had been decided.

In the same fashion as the previous game, Karim started the scoring with a huge touchdown run. This week, his 93-yarder at 7:27 gave the Salukis a 7-0 lead.

Illinois State’s Zach Kutch was able to get a 25-yard field goal before Karim struck again. With 27 sec-

onds left in the first quarter, Karim bounced through the left side of the line and outran the Redbird defense to the goal line for a 31-yard touchdown. That put SIU up 13-3 after a missed pointafter attempt.

Junior kicker Kyle Dougherty put the Salukis up 16-3 with a 33-yard field goal at 8:12 of the second quarter.

The Salukis had the Redbirds backed up on a third-and-11 on their ensu-

ing drive. Brown found Tyrone Walker past the SIU secondary. He caught the pass near the SIU 40-yard line and took it in for an 81-yard score.

That play gave Illinois State enough momentum to halt the Salukis on the ensuing drive and set up a 33-yard Kutch field goal to cut SIU’s lead down to three.

However, Dieker put an end to ISU’s run, momentarily, and SIU took a 23-20 halftime lead.

Early in the fourth, Illinois State had a flea-flicker called and SIU bit on the run.

The Redbirds had two open receivers down field, but Lindsey was able to make an incredible interception.

Three plays later, Karim found the end zone for the third time on a 21-yard run to put SIU up by 10. llinois State SIU

3 13

17 10

3 3

0 17

— 23 — 43

Scoring Summary First Quarter SIU — Karim 93 run (Dougherty kick), 7:27.

ISU — Kutch 25 FG, 3:55.

SIU — Karim 31 run (Dougherty kick), 0:27.

Second Quarter SIU— Dougherty 33 FG, 8:12.

ISU — Walker 81 pass from Brown (Kutch kick), 7:07.

ISU — Kutch 33 FG, 2:13.

SIU — Cheatham 54 pass from Dieker (Dougherty kick), 0:59.

ISU — Salem 14 pass from Brown (Kutch kick), 0:28.

Third Quarter ISU — Kutch 33 FG, 9:52.

SIU — Dougherty 45 FG, 7:12.

Fourth Quarter SIU — Karim 21 run (Dougherty kick), 11:10.

SIU — Dougherty 27 FG, 4:27.

SIU — Kernes 42 pass from Dieker (Dougherty kick), 2:17.

First Downs Rushes-Yds Passing Yds Comp-Att-Int Punts Fumbles-Lost Penalties-Yds

Team Stats ISU SIU 20 27 22-107 44-339 321 274 28-44-2 15-26-1 4-45.2 3-43.3 1-1 0-0 8-85 8-94

Individual Stats RUSHING—ISU: Blow 15-84, Gordon 5-23, Brown 2-0. SIU: Karim 28-273, Strother 4-30, Walker 3-22, Dieker 7-19, Allaria 1-(-3).

PASSING—ISU: Brown 28-44-2—321. SIU: Dieker 15-26-1—274.

RECEIVING—ISU: Salem 14-114, Walker 4-112, Graves 2-19, Blow 2-10, Cline 1-34, Venson 1-20, Gordon 1-12, White 1-4, Mose 1-1, Ericksen 1-(-5).

SIU: Allaria 5-37, Evans 4-91, Morris 3-46, Cheatham 1-54, Kernes 1-42, Karim 1-4.

— SIU Media Services

The Southern Illinoisan Monday, December 14, 2009 Page 15

GAME 6, OCT. 17: SIU 27, NORTHERN IOWA 20

THE SOUTHERN FILE PHOTO

SIU’s Kyle Walker (left) and Scott Ravanesi tackle Northern Iowa’s Varmah Sonie on the opening kickoff in the first quarter of the Salukis’ win Oct. 17 in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Salukis flatten No. 2 Northern Iowa CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — An opportunistic fifth-ranked Southern Illinois football team ended an 11-game losing streak in Cedar Falls, Iowa, by beating No. 2 Northern Iowa, 27-20, in front of a record crowd of 17,190 at the UNI-Dome.

There had been four previous Missouri Valley Football Conference games between top-5 teams, and SIU became the first to beat the team ranked higher.

SIU’s win over the second-ranked Panthers was its first win against a team ranked that high since beating No. 1 Western Kentucky

on Oct. 27, 2005. It was also SIU’s seventh win in program history over a top-5 team.

“I told our team afterwards in the locker room that it was just game No. 6, but it was a heck of a game No. 6,” SIU coach Dale Lennon said. “We had a great defensive effort.”

Steven Morse’s fumble recovery on a fumbled punt set up Deji Karim’s one-yard touchdown run to put Southern Illinois up, 20-13, with five minutes to play.

Senior cornerback Brandon Williams added a touchdown on an interception

return at 2:48 that ended up being the winning points, as UNI was able to score in the final two minutes to cut SIU’s lead down to seven.

However, wide receiver Marc Cheatham recovered the Panthers’ onside kick to secure the victory for SIU. The Saluki red-zone defense deserves as much of the credit as anybody in the victory. Excluding the last touchdown in the final minutes, Northern Iowa had the ball inside the Southern 10-yard line four times, but was only able to score three times and totaled just 13 points.

Page 16 Monday, December 14, 2009 The Southern Illinoisan

Junior safety Mike McElroy intercepted a pass from wide receiver D.P. Eyman on a trick play late in the third quarter that ended one of UNI’s possessions deep in Saluki territory.

Karim rushed for more than 100 yards for the fifth straight game, becoming just the sixth Saluki ever to do so. He finished the game with 125 yards on 24 attempts with one touchdown, and added one catch for 48 yards.

Senior quarterback Chris Dieker led an efficient offense and made some key plays for the Dawgs. He fin-

ished the game completing 16-of-29 passes for 174 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

The Saluki defense held Northern Iowa to nearly 100 yards less than its average.

Panther quarterback Pat Grace only completed 13-of28 passes for 219 yards.

SIU UNI

3 3 7 14 — 27 0 10 0 10 — 20 Scoring Summary First Quarter SIU — Dougherty 45 FG, 3:17.

Second Quarter UNI— Anderson 1 pass from Grace (Hallgren kick), 13:08.

SIU — Dougherty 27 FG, 6:52.

UNI — Hallgren 21 FG, 0:44.

Third Quarter SIU — Morris 17 pass from Dieker (Dougherty kick), 9:19.

Fourth Quarter UNI — Hallgren 26 FG, 11:55.

SIU — Karim 1 run (Dougherty kick), 5:06.

SIU — Williams 21 interception return (Dougherty kick), 2:48.

UNI — Hord 3 pass from Grace (Hallgren kick), 1:50.

First Downs Rushes-Yds Passing Yds Comp-Att-Int Punts Fumbles-Lost Penalties-Yds

Team Stats SIU UNI 19 17 39-171 32-156 174 219 16-29-1 13-29-2 5-46.4 3-39.3 0-0 1-1 9-84 5-42

Individual Stats RUSHING—SIU: Karim 24-125, Dieker 10-44, Walker 1-6, Strother 1-1. UNI: Law 20-123, Anderson 6-20, Grace 6-13.

PASSING—SIU: Dieker 16-29-1—174. UNI: Grace 1328-1—219; Eyman 0-1-1—0.

RECEIVING—SIU: Allaria 6-44, Evans 3-23, Morris 2-30, Robertson 2-16, Karim 1-48, Kernes 1-8, Goode 1-5. UNI: Oordt 4-57, Hord 3-52, Herring 2-76, Eyman 2-32, Anderson 1-1, Law 1-1.

— SIU Media Services

GAME 7, OCT. 24: SIU 27, YOUNGSTOWN STATE 8

McIntosh emerges as a new leader CARBONDALE — No. 3 Southern Illinois won its 11th straight Missouri Valley Football Conference game and its 17th straight regularseason home game with a 27-8 victory over Youngstown State.

Their 11th-straight MVFC victory tied with Western Illinois’ 11-consecutive from 1997-98 for the second most in league history.

SIU starting quarterback Chris Dieker was knocked out of the game late in the first quarter with an injury, but redshirt freshman Paul McIntosh did a good job filling his void to lead the Salukis to the victory.

McIntosh completed 10-of-14 passes for 133 yards and he led Southern Illinois with 81 yards rushing on 12 carries. His 86yard touchdown to Joe Allaria on his first pass of the game was the second longest in school history.

Allaria caught a five-yard out, and after eluding a defender, he outraced the Youngstown State defense to the end zone for the first score of the game.

“That was probably one of the turning points in the game,” SIU coach Dale Lennon said of the 86-yard score. “When Joe (Allaria) caught the ball, I didn’t think he could break it loose, and then to see him beat everyone to the end zone was good. Paul McIntosh did a great job coming in and he gained the confidence of the offense.”

Senior running back Deji Karim was held under 100 yards rushing for the first time since the season open-

THE SOUTHERN FILE PHOTO

Youngstown State’s Andre Elliot (left) sacks SIU’s Chris Dieker during the Salukis’ win Oct. 24 over the Penguins. SIU’ Paul McIntosh (right) runs against YSU.

er. However, he did eclipse 1,000 yards rushing on the season and became the third fastest Saluki to reach 1,000 yards in a year.

Youngstown State had 346 yards of total offense, but only 50 on the ground.

Penguin quarterback Brandon Summers led YSU with 296 yards passing on 30-of45 attempts with one touchdown and two interceptions.

Junior cornerback Korey Lindsey led the Dawgs with 12 tackles, two interceptions and half a sack. He moved up into third place in school

history with 13 career interceptions. SIU had four sacks in the game. Senior linebacker Brandin Jordan accounted for 1.5 of those, to go along with his six tackles and three quarterback hurries.

Bryce Morris and Allaria both had five receptions, and Allaria’s 108 yards receiving gave him his second 100-yard receiving game of the season. Karim added three catches for 24 yards to give him 91 all-purpose yards, his lowest output of the season.

SIU’s special teams got

the ball rolling after a scoreless first quarter. Fred Wright blocked Ben Nowicki’s punt at the Penguin 11-yard line and Rashad Graham picked it up for SIU and carried it down to the 2.

Two plays later, fullback John Goode scored his first career rushing touchdown on a one-yard plunge to give Southern Illinois the 7-0 lead at 13:39 of the second quarter.

McIntosh, who came in late in the first quarter for the injured Dieker, then got SIU a 14-point lead with his

first pass of the game.

That’s when he found Allaria for the 86-yard touchdown.

The Penguins had a chance to get on the scoreboard late in the second quarter, but Stephen Blose missed a 25-yard field goal, allowins SIU to take a 14-0 lead into halftime.

YSU SIU

0 0 0 8 — 8 0 14 10 3 — 27 Scoring Summary Second Quarter SIU — Goode 1 run (Dougherty kick), 13:39.

SIU — Allaria 86 pass from McIntosh (Dougherty kick), 9:27.

Third Quarter SIU— Karim 2 run (Dougherty kick), 8:52.

SIU — Dougherty 44 FG, 1:35.

Fourth Quarter YSU — Pitts 56 pass from Summers (Pitts pass from Summers), 9:55.

SIU — Dougherty 45 FG, 6:17.

First Downs Rushes-Yds Passing Yds Comp-Att-Int Punts Fumbles-Lost Penalties-Yds

Team Stats YSU SIU 18 15 24-50 44-147 296 168 30-45-2 15-20-0 4-29.2 5-43.8 0-0 0-0 3-25 7-75

Individual Stats RUSHING—YSU: Smith 9-49, Cook 4-28, Brown 514, Summers 6-(-41). SIU: McIntosh 12-81, Karim 2067, Walker 4-11, Strother 2-2, Goode 2-0.

PASSING—YSU: Summers 30-45-2—296. SIU: McIntosh 10-14-0—133; Dieker 5-6-0—35.

RECEIVING—YSU: Jones 11-96, Pitts 7-102, Barnes 7-54, Brown 1-18, Berassa 1-13, Banna 1-12, Rogers 11. Smith 1-0. SIU: Allaria 5-108, Morris 5-29, Karim 324, Cheatham 2-7

— SIU Media Services

The Southern Illinoisan Monday, December 14, 2009 Page 17

GAME 8, OCT. 31: SIU 33, INDIANA STATE 0

Salukis smother, shut out Sycamores TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — No. 3 Southern Illinois allowed just 90 yards of total offense in a 33-0 victory over Indiana State for its 12th straight Missouri Valley Football Conference win.

The Salukis’ seventh straight win moved their record to 7-1 overall and 6-0 in conference play.

The shutout was SIU’s first since Oct. 18, 2008, at Youngstown State, when the Dawgs won by the same 33-0 score.

“Overall, I’m very pleased with the day,” SIU coach Dale Lennon said. “I was concerned coming into the game because Indiana State is an improved team and has been closing the gap this year. Right now, I’m happy we got win No. 7, and we’ll continue to go on and try for No. 8.”

Redshirt freshman quarterback Paul McIntosh threw for 159 yards and rushed for another 57 with two touchdowns on the ground in his first career start. He completed 15-of22 passes without an interception against the Sycamores (1-8, 1-5 MVFC).

The Salukis outgained Indiana State by 270 yards and had a pair of interceptions to extend their streak to nine straight games with at least one pick.

Senior running back Deji Karim had a game-high 87 yards on 15 carries with one touchdown in a light day of work for him. Wide receiver Bryce Morris had a career-high 80 yards receiving as well as a blocked punt that Beau Hoffman returned four yards for a touchdown late

AP

SIU’s Deji Karim dives into the end zone to score during the Salukis’ 33-0 win Oct. 31 over Indiana State in Terre Haute, Ind.

in the second quarter.

The first quarter was uneventful for the most part. Late in the period, the Salukis got the ball at the Sycamores 44-yard line after a punt return from Mike McElroy. It took the Dawgs 10 plays, but just after the turn of the quarter, Karim scored on a

four-yard run on a fourthand-2 for the first points of the game.

Four minutes later, McIntosh capped off an eightplay, 91-yard drive with a two-yard touchdown run.

Morris blocked Braulio Martinez’s punt after the Salukis held the Sycamores to a three-and-out. Senior

Page 18 Monday, December 14, 2009 The Southern Illinoisan

wide receiver Beau Hoffman recovered the ball at the 4-yard line and walked in for the score to give SIU a 21-0 lead. That score would hold going into the half.

SIU 0 Indiana State 0

21 0

10 0

2 0

— —

Scoring Summary Second Quarter SIU— Karim 4 run (Dougherty kick), 14:10.

33 0

SIU — McIntosh 2 run, (Dougherty kick) 8:11.

SIU — Hoffman 4 blocked punt ret., (Dougherty kick) 2:22.

Third Quarter SIU — McIntosh 2 run, (Dougherty kick), 9:32.

SIU — Dougherty 30 FG, 0:55.

Fourth Quarter SIU — Briggs saftey, 14:57

First Downs Rushes-Yds Passing Yds Comp-Att-Int Punts

Team Stats SIU INS 20 6 44-161 35-40 199 50 17-25-1 8-19-2 4-41.8 10-31.4

Fumbles-Lost Penalties-Yds

1-1 6-55

0-0 6-46

Individual Stats RUSHING—SIU: Karim 15-91, McIntosh 8-57, Strother 6-14, Walker 5-16. INS: Brown 18-43, Hardy 1-9, Craig 1-6.

PASSING—SIU: McIntosh 15-22-0—159, Brenneisen 1-2-1—20, Allaria 1-1-0—20. INS: Roberts 7-18-2—52, Stutzriem 1-1-0— (-2).

RECEIVING—SIU: Allaria 5-29, Morris 4-80, Robertson 2-40, Cheatham 1-15, Harruff 1-14, Kernes 1-8, Walker 1-6, Smith 1-4, Karim 1-3. INS: Kent 3-22, Jones 2-14, Gates 1-9, Kraemer 1-7

— SIU Media Services

A SPECTACULAR SEASON

KYLE DOUGHERTY

THE SOUTHERN FILE PHOTO

SIU’s Kyle Dougherty kicks off (above) during the Salukis’ win Nov. 21 over Southeast Missouri State. Dougherty (below) does a drill to improve leg strength during practice Aug. 25.

Junior kicker Kyle Dougherty was a major part of SIU’s success during 2009. Already a fixture on the career charts, Doughtery solidified himself as one of the premier kickers in SIU history this year by setting the new single-season mark for field goals, 19.

Dougherty’s record-breaking kick, a 46-yard effort, resulted in the only points SIU managed to put on the board against William and Mary in the final game played at McAndrew Stadium.

Dougherty’s current records include: No. 1 — Field goals, season, 19 No. 2 — Field goals, career, 49 No. 4 — Most points, season, 110 Most points, career, 303 No. 6 — Most PATs, season, 53 No. 7 — Longest field goal, 49 yards vs. South Dakota State University

The Southern Illinoisan Monday, December 14, 2009 Page 19

GAME 9, NOV. 7: SIU 34, SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 15

Another postseason berth locked up BROOKINGS, S.D. — No. 3 Southern Illinois dominated No. 9 South Dakota State in a 34-15 victory to secure at least a share of SIU’s fifth Missouri Valley Football Conference Championship and its seventh-straight playoff appearance.

The win was the 13th conference victory in a row for the Salukis, as they tied Northern Iowa’s MVFC record for the most consecutive league victories.

Southern Illinois has now won eight-straight games this year and stands at 8-1 overall and 7-0 in the conference.

“I thought our coaching staff and players had a very good week of preparation and our players did a great job of executing today,” SIU coach Dale Lennon said. “We took advantage of every opportunity they gave us today. It’s a good win, but at the same time it is game No. 9, and now we have to move on to game No. 10. We can’t afford to lose our edge and can’t be too satisfied with what we’ve accomplished so far.”

South Dakota State came into the game with the nation’s top scoring defense and only allowed 89 yards rushing a game, but the Salukis had a field day on offense. Deji Karim became the first running back to rush for more than 100 yards against the Jackrabbits this season, as he had 127 yards on 21 carries. SIU as a team racked up 280 yards on the ground and 388 of total offense.

The Saluki defense held

AP

SIU’s Connor James (above) brings down SDSU’s Tyrel Kool in the first quarter of the Salukis’ win Nov. 7. SIU’s Joe Allaria (right) breaks the tackle of SDSU’s Conrad Kjerstad to score.

SDSU to 14 yards rushing and had six sacks against a Jackrabbits offensive line that came into the game with just nine sacks allowed in their first eight games. SDSU finished with 342 yards of total offense, but 154 of that came in the fourth quarter after the final outcome was pretty much set in stone.

Lance Caldwell had a pair of interceptions for the Dawgs, as they have now picked off a pass in 10 straight games.

He returned one of his picks 75 yards for a touchdown right before halftime, the fifth longest interception

return for a touchdown in school history.

Redshirt freshman Paul McIntosh put up good numbers in the win. He threw for two touchdowns and had 184 yards of total offense (108 passing, 76 rushing). Jeff Evans and John Goode were the recipients of his two touchdown passes and junior kicker Kyle Dougherty made a pair of field goals.

The Salukis meant business right from the get-go and scored on four of their first five possessions.

Defensively, they had five sacks in the first half and

Page 20 Monday, December 14, 2009 The Southern Illinoisan

held the ’Rabbits to just 130 yards on 47 plays in the first 30 minutes.

Southern Illinois forced SDSU to go three-and-out on the game’s opening drive, thanks to a sack by Brandin Jordan.

That set up SIU’s first possession, where Kyle Dougherty hit a seasonlong 49-yard field goal to start the scoring.

After a couple more sacks by Kyle Walker and the Saluki defense, Southern Illinois got the ball back and drove 70 yards on eight plays for a touchdown late in the first quarter. McIntosh

passed out to Joe Allaria, who caught it and took it in 21 yards for a touchdown.

The play was ruled a lateral because the pass went backwards, thus giving Allaria his second career rushing touchdown.

SIU SDSU

10 17 7 0 — 34 0 3 0 12 — 15 Scoring Summary First Quarter SIU — Dpugherty 49 FG, 11:02 SIU — Allaria 21 run, (Dougherty kick), 4:13 Second Quarter SDSU— Reifenrath 22 FG, 12:19.

SIU — Goode 4 pass from McIntosh, (Dougherty kick) 6:39.

SIU — Dougherty 22 FG, 3:47.

SIU — Caldwell 75 Interception ret., (Dpugherty kick), 1:29 Third Quarter SIU — Evans 40 pass from McIntosh, (Dougherty kick), 12:07.

Fourth Quarter SDSU — Cochart 2 pass from O’Brian, (pass failed) 5:43 SDSU — Steffen 23 pass from O’ Brian, (pass failed), 2:26

First Downs Rushes-Yds Passing Yds Comp-Att-Int Punts Fumbles-Lost Penalties-Yds

Team Stats SIU SDSU 19 24 43-280 29-14 108 328 11-19-0 31-54-2 4-35.0 5-40.4 0-0 0-0 4-35 3-45

Individual Stats RUSHING—SIU: Karim 21-127, McIntosh 7-76, Strother 4-34, Allaria 1-21, White 3-15, Walker 4-8.

SDSU: Minett 11-61, Duffy 10-17.

PASSING—SIU: McIntosh 11-18-0—108, Brenneisen 0-1-0—0. SDSU: Crawford 15-29-1—147, O’Brian 16-25-1—181.

RECEIVING—SIU: Morris 3-23, Cheatham 2-17, Evans 1-40, Kearnes 1-13, Allaria 1-9, Goode 1-4, Walker 2-2. SDSU: Fox 12-101, Montague 6-48, Steffen 4-88, Cochart 2=39, Rollin 2-24, Duffy 2-7, Minett 1-11, Kool 1-7, Sheehan 1-3

— SIU Media Services

A SPECTACULAR SEASON

LINEBACKERS SIU’s Chauncey Mixon (left) gets a piece of Missouri State quarterback Cody Kirby in mid-throw, resulting in an interception during the Salukis’ win Nov. 14. SIU’s Brandin Jordan (below, 10) joins forces with Stephen Franklin to tackle MSU’s Clay Harbor on Nov. 14.

THE SOUTHERN FILE PHOTO

A solid linebacking corps was the backbone of SIU’s defense in 2009.

The senior duo of Brandin Jordan and Chauncey Mixon have been leaders of the defensive unit since they broke into the lineup as freshmen. Both ended stellar careers this year and are prominent figures in the record book.

Mixon’s standing would have been better had he not missed four games with a broken jaw this season.

Chauncey Mixon No. 2 — Tackles for loss, career, 41.5 No. 7 — Pass break-ups, career, 17 Sacks, career, 16 No. 9 — Tackles for loss, season, 15 (2008) No. 11 — Tackles for loss, season, 14.5 (2007) No. 13 — Tackles, career, 289

Brandin Jordan No. 3 — Tackles for a loss, career, 36.5 No. 4 — Most tackles, career, 370 No. 6 — Forced fumbles, career, 4

The Southern Illinoisan Monday, December 14, 2009 Page 21

GAME 10, NOV. 14: SIU 44, MISSOURI STATE 24

No doubt about it: Outright champs CARBONDALE — No. 1 Southern Illinois defeated Missouri State, 44-24, to set a new Missouri Valley Football Conference record with its 14th straight league victory in the final regularseason game ever at McAndrew Stadium.

The victory secured the outright MVFC Championship for SIU. This is the second time Southern has won the conference outright and the fifth time it has shared at least part of the title since 2003.

The Salukis (9-1) finished the conference slate of their schedule with an 8-0 record.

SIU coach Dale Lennon said he is very proud of his team for winning the outright conference championship.

“That was something on the minds of our players, and our senior class emphasized winning the outright championship,” Lennon said. “I was concerned coming into the game that we had too much on our plate. You could pile it as high as you wanted to for the significance of the game, and our players were ready and excited to play. The whole key was the offense coming back with a touchdown to make it 7-7, and it allowed us to settle in.”

The Saluki defense created five turnovers and returned two interceptions for touchdowns. Mike McElroy’s 80-yard interception return for a TD in

the third quarter is the fourth longest in school history.

Seniors Brandin Jordan and Marty Rodgers led the defense with seven tackles each and Kyle Russo added two sacks.

Walter Payton Award candidate and senior running back Deji Karim rushed for three touchdowns and had his seventh 100-yard rushing game of the season.

Karim totaled 160 all-purpose yards and 117 rushing yards on 14 carries.

Quarterback Paul McIntosh threw for 150 yards with one 27-yard touchdown pass to Marc Cheatham. He completed 8-of-12 passes and led the Saluki offense to 358 yards of total offense.

Chris Douglas rushed for 106 yards with one touchdown and Cody Kirby threw for 180 yards to lead the Bears.

Southern Illinois scored four touchdowns over a seven-minute span between the end of the first quarter and the start of the second to take a commanding lead.

Karim had two of his three touchdown runs in that span, including a 73-yarder, and Brandon Williams returned an interception 34 yards to the house.

SIU held a 34-7 lead at halftime and ended up scoring 41 unanswered points until the five-minute mark of the third quarter to seal the deal. Missouri State

threw the first punch in the game, as it scored on a 65-yard Douglas rush on its fourth play from scrimmage.

The Salukis countered the quick Bear strike with one of their own. Karim scored on a seven-yard run at 11:30 after a six-play, 76-yard drive. McIntosh’s 56-yard completion on a third-and9 to Joe Allaria set the Dawgs up in the red zone, and Karim followed with a score.

After the Salukis forced a pair of fumbles, Karim got his second rushing touchdown of the first quarter. His three-yard TD run ended a five-play, 39-yard drive to give the Salukis a 14-7 lead.

Williams gave the Dawgs a 14-point cushion before the end of the first quarter, as he returned an interception 34 yards for a touchdown.

THE SOUTHERN FILE PHOTO MSU SIU

7 0 3 14 — 24 21 13 7 3 — 44 Scoring Summary First Quarter MSU — Douglas 65 run, (Hottelman kick) 13:09 SIU — Karim 7 run, (Dougherty kick), 11:30 SIU — Karim 3 run, (Daugherty kick), 2:41 SIU — Williams 34 Interception return, (Daugherty kick), 1:16 Second Quarter SIU — Cheatham 27 pass from McIntosh, (kick failed), 13:49.

SIU — Karim 73 run, (Dougherty kick) 10:32.

Third Quarter SIU — McElroy 80 interception return, (Dougherty kick), 6:58.

MSU — Hottelman 40 FG, 4:21 Fourth Quarter MSU — Warren 7 run, (Hottelman kick) 6:05 SIU — Daugherty 31 FG, 2:33 MSU — Harbor 8 pass from Horner, (Hottelman kick), 0:45

First Downs Rushes-Yds Passing Yds

Page 22 Monday, December 14, 2009 The Southern Illinoisan

Team Stats MSU 22 47-222 242

SIU 13 37-183 175

SIU’s Brandon Williams (above) returns an interception for a touchdown during the Salukis’ win Nov. 14. Former SIU standout Bill Norwood salutes the crowd before the game.

Comp-Att-Int Punts Fumbles-Lost Penalties-Yds

19-30-3 3-54.7 2-2 5-55

9-14-1 5-38.6 0-0 7-60

Individual Stats RUSHING—MSU: Douglas 17-106, Cooper-falls 1358, Warren 11-54. SIU: Karim 14-117, Walker 7-34, McIntosh 8-34, Govan 2-9, Strother 2-7, White 2-3.

PASSING—MSU: Kirby 16-27-3—180, Horner 3-30—62. SIU: McIntosh 8-12-1—150, Brenneisen 1-2-0— 25.

RECEIVING—MSU: Harbor 11-111, Saffold 3-77, Emery 3-36, Dotson 1-14, Douglas 1-4. SIU: Allaria 257, Karim 2-27, Cheatham 1-27, Hoffman 1-25, Morris 1-20, Strother 1-14, Kernes 1-5

— SIU Media Services

GAME 11, NOV. 21: SIU 42, SE MISSOURI STATE 24

Regular season closed out in style CAPE GIRARDEAU — Redshirt freshman quarterback Paul McIntosh accounted for four touchdowns and senior running back Deji Karim ran for 155 yards as No. 1 Southern Illinois closed out its 2009 regular season with a 42-24 win at Southeast Missouri State.

The Salukis (10-1) closed the regular season with a 10game winning streak.

SIU coach Dale Lennon said afterwards that he thought his team has a good chance to receive one of the four seeds in the playoffs and earn a home game in the opening round.

“Any time a team has 10 wins and captures the Missouri Valley Football Conference outright, that is making a great case for yourself,” Lennon said. “It’s good that we will control our own destiny from here on out.

“The big thing from today is we got the win and you’ve got to give Southeast Missouri State a lot of credit.

They don’t have the best record, but they’ve played everyone tough all year and that’s what they did to us today.”

McIntosh ran for 101 yards on 13 carries and threw for 181 yards with one touchdown. He scored three rushing TDs as he registered just the 11th 100-yard rushing game by a quarterback in school history.

The Salukis had 294 yards rushing and 475 yards of total offense. Karim picked up his 155 yards on 16 carries and had two touchdown runs, including a 70-yarder.

came from two yards out and gave Southern Illinois a 28-3 lead.

Two touchdowns were then scored in the next 1:56.

Southeast Missouri State got its first touchdown of the game when Scheible faked a reverse and hit a wide-open Miles Edwards for a 54-yard touchdown pass.

Karim answered for the Salukis with a 70-yard touchdown run on SIU’s first offensive play after the kickoff. For Karim, a Walter Payton Award Candidate, it was his fourth touchdown run on the year of 70 yards or more.

SIU SEMO

PAUL NEWTON / THE SOUTHERN

Southern Illinois’ Richard White returns a kickoff during the Salukis’ win over Southeast Missouri State on Nov. 21.

He averaged 9.7 yards per carry and had 218 all-purpose yards.

Southeast Missouri State (2-9) put up a fight in its final game of the season. The Redhawks racked up 344 yards of total offense and were led by quarterback Matt Scheible, who had 155 yards passing with two touchdowns.

Senior linebacker Brandin Jordan led the SIU defense with 11 tackles and one of SIU’s two sacks. SIU’s streak of 11 straight games with at least one interception came to an end, as the Saluki

defense did not record a single turnover for the first time in the last 20 games.

Southern Illinois marched down the field to go up 7-0 on the game’s opening drive.

McIntosh capped off the nine-play, 63-yard drive with a 15-yard touchdown run just three minutes into the game.

The Redhawks controlled the ball for the majority of the first and second quarters, but McIntosh drove the Salukis down for their second touchdown late in the second quarter.

He hit Matt Guinn for a

49-yard pass down the sideline before Karim scored his 15th rushing touchdown of the season. That came on a 10-yard dive to put SIU up 14-0 at the 3:10 mark.

The Saluki defense got a quick stop, giving McIntosh the opportunity to work his magic once again. This time, he drove the Salukis 57 yards in just over a minute and hit Bryce Morris for a 10-yard touchdown pass with 42 seconds left in the half.

McIntosh threw for 147 yards and ran for 69 as he guided the Dawgs to the 21-0 lead after two quarters.

After a fairly docile first half, the fireworks were launched in the third quarter, where the teams combined to score 31 points.

Southeast Missouri State finally got on the scoreboard five minutes into the stanza with a 38-yard Curtis Huge field goal.

SIU’s Richard White set the Salukis up with great field position on the ensuing kickoff. He returned it 59 yards down to the Redhawk 25-yard line, and the Dawgs scored five plays later.

McIntosh’s second rushing touchdown of the game

7 14 14 7 — 42 0 0 17 7 — 24 Scoring Summary First Quarter SIU — McIntosh 15 run, (Dougherty kick) 12:09 Second Quarter SIU — Karim 10 run, (Dougherty kick), 3:10.

SIU — Morris 10 pass from McIntosh, (Dougherty kick) 0:42.

Third Quarter SEMO — Huge 38 FG, 9:52 SIU — McIntosh 2 run, (Dougherty kick), 7:39 SEMO — Edwards 54 pass from Scheible, (Huge kick), 6:04 SIU — Karim 70 run, (Dougherty kick), 5:43 SEMO — Edwards 5 pass from Scheible, (Huge kick), 4:21 Fourth Quarter SEMO — Castro 14 interception return, (Huge kick) 9:22 SIU — McIntosh 3 run, (Dougherty kick), 7:26

First Downs Rushes-Yds Passing Yds Comp-Att-Int Punts Fumbles-Lost Penalties-Yds

Team Stats SIU SEMO 22 21 44-294 51-189 181 155 12-18-1 10-18-0 1-36.0 5-30.6 2-1 1-0 2-20 6-60

Individual Stats RUSHING—SIU: Karim 16-155, McIntosh 13-101, Walker 7-26, Govan 1-6, White 3-6, Strother 2-6.

SEMO: Harris 21-93, Scheible 14-55, Peoples 7-33, Jones 6-11.

PASSING—SIU: McIntosh 12-18-1—181. SEMO: Scheible 10-18-0—155.

RECEIVING—SIU: Allaria 5-59, Guinn 3-83, Morris 3-25, Kernes 1-14. SEMO: Peoples 3-32, Edwards 2-59, Brown 1-29, Grassi 1-13, Harris 1-9, Ahamefule 1-7, King 1-6

— SIU Media Services

The Southern Illinoisan Monday, December 14, 2009 Page 23

GAME 12, NOV. 28: SIU 48, EASTERN ILLINOIS 7

Strong start to playoffs CARBONDALE — No. 3 seed Southern Illinois forced six turnovers and had two different 100-yard rushers as the Salukis rolled over Eastern Illinois for a 48-7 victory at McAndrew Stadium in the first round of the 2009 NCAA Division I Football Championships.

The Salukis (11-1) had one interception and recovered five fumbles — the second most in a game in school history. SIU scored 28 points off of the Panthers mishaps and scored 48 unanswered in the game to move on to the quarterfinals for the fifth time in school history.

“Anytime a team forces six turnovers, things are going to go your way,” SIU coach Dale Lennon said. “When the defense can get the ball back to the offense as quick as they did, you are going to be able to put a lot of points on the board.”

Coming into the game, Eastern Illinois had not allowed a 100-yard rusher.

Southern Illinois had two on the day as Deji Karim had 155 yards and Paul McIntosh added 115. As a team, SIU had 323 yards rushing in the playoff victory.

Karim got his 155 yards rushing on 23 carries and he scored three touchdowns (two rushing, one receiving).

McIntosh had his second straight 100-yard game. He became just the second Saluki quarterback in SIU history to have two 100-yard rushing games in a career.

McIntosh accounted for three touchdowns in all. He completed 13-of-17 passes for 66 yards with two TDs and ran for another.

Senior linebacker Brandin Jordan led the Dawgs with seven tackles.

“We were just happy we were getting them,” Jordan said in regards to the turnovers. “Anytime you get six, that’s pretty good, and we keep getting hungry as the game went along to get another.”

Senior nose tackle Chris Arthurs recovered two fumbles, and Lance Caldwell forced one fumble and had SIU’s lone interception. Kyle Russo returned a fumble 28 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter after a Kyle Walker sack knocked the ball free.

The Salukis had four sacks in the game and recorded eight tackles for a loss.

Southern Illinois only gave up 189 yards of total offense while having 389 of its own.

Fmbles were the tale of the first half.

Karim’s first career fumble, on his 310th touch as a Saluki, set up EIU’s first score just 3:12 into the game.

Wide receiver Lorence Ricks scored an 11-yard touchdown on a Panther reverse.

The next time Eastern had the ball, the Panthers coughed it up to the Salukis on a fumbled exchange between the center and quarterback Jake Christensen. That gave SIU the ball

THE SOUTHERN FILE PHOTOS

SIU’s Stephen Franklin celebrates after a defensive stop (left) Nov. 28, and salutes the crowd (right) after the playoff game.

at the EIU 33, and Karim needed just two carries to reach the end zone. His 10yard run at 7:33 tied the game up at seven apiece.

McIntosh gave Southern Illinois its first lead early in the second quarter. He broke through a couple of arm tackles on a 16-yard touchdown run that capped off a six-play, 58-yard drive.

After a Panther fumble and a McIntosh interception on back-to-back drives, Korey Lindsey’s punt return set the Salukis up with the ball on the EIU 22-yard line.

SIU did not find the end zone, but Kyle Dougherty made a 33-yard field goal to put SIU up, 17-7.

With 6:04 left in the half, Walker blitzed through the right side and was able to hit Christensen as he was look-

Page 24 Monday, December 14, 2009 The Southern Illinoisan

ing to pass. He knocked the ball up in the air — and right into the hands of Russo, who returned it 28 yards for the touchdown.

That capped off 24 unanswered points for the Salukis as they held a 24-7 lead at the half.

Caldwell, who forced one of three Panther fumbles in the first half, intercepted Christensen on EIU’s first drive of the second half.

That set up a six-yard McIntosh-to-John Goode touchdown pass to put SIU up, 31-7.

Eastern’s turnover problems continued to plague it as the third quarter wore on.

Its fifth turnover and fourth fumble led to SIU’s next touchdown that gave the Dawgs a 38-7 lead. This came on an 11-yard pass

from McIntosh to Karim, which was his first touchdown reception of his career.

Dougherty tacked on a 45-yard field goal late in the third quarter. It was his 18th of the season, which tied Ron Miller’s school record that he set in 1983.

Karim added a 58-yard rushing touchdown midway through the fourth quarter to cap the scoring for the Salukis and end a stretch of 48 unanswered points.

Eastern Illinois did have a late chance to punch in its second touchdown, but with 3:42 to play the Saluki defense held at their own 1-yard line.

EIU SIU

7 0 0 0 7 17 17 7 Scoring Summary First Quarter EIU — Ricks 11 run (Signor kick), 11:42.

— 7 — 48

SIU — Karim 10 run (Dougherty kick), 7:33.

Second Quarter SIU— McIntosh 16 run (Dougherty kick), 13:28.

SIU — Dougherty 33 FG, 7:24 SIU — Russo 28 fumble return, (Dougherty kick) 6:04.

Third Quarter SIU — Goode 6 pass from McIntosh, (Dougherty kick), 11:29.

SIU — Karim 11 pass from McIntosh, (Dougherty kick), 6:37.

SIU — Dougherty 45 FG, 1:14.

Fourth Quarter SIU — Karim 58 run, (Dougherty kick), 11:31

First Downs Rushes-Yds Passing Yds Comp-Att-Int Punts Fumbles-Lost Penalties-Yds

Team Stats EIU 10 36-109 80 7-18-1 5-43.2 5-5 3-40

SIU 20 53-323 66 13-17-1 4-34.8 1-1 7-55

Individual Stats RUSHING—EIU: M. Williams 20-107, Potempa 7-17, Ricks 3-13. SIU: Karim 23-155, McIntosh 15-115, Walker 7-31.

PASSING—EIU: Reeder 6-10-0—67, Christensen 18-1—13. SIU: McIntosh 13-17-1—66.

RECEIVING—EIU: Lora 3-28, Whittaker 2-28, Wright 1-13, Potempa 1-11. SIU: Morris 3-15, Kernes 214, Goode 2-13, Allaria 2-6, Karim 1-11, Cheatham 1-6

— SIU Media Services

GAME 13, NOV. 28: WILLIAM AND MARY 24, SIU 3

SIU knocked down, out

THE SOUTHERN FILE PHOTO

SIU’s Joe Allaria (top) gets taken down by William and Mary’s David Caldwell on Dec. 5. SIU’s James McFadden (above) kneels on the sideline during the final minute of the season-ending loss.

CARBONDALE — A stifling William and Mary defense ended Southern Illinois’ season, 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,” SIU 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 and 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 and Mary adjusted and held the Dawgs to just 85 total yards in the last three quarters.

William and Mary finished the game with 373 yards of total offense.

SIU scored first with a 46-yard field goal from Kyle Dougherty just more than two minutes into the game.

William and 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 and Mary beat Southern at its own game.

Tribe running back Jonathan Grimes scored his first of three rushing touchdowns with just a minute and a half left before halftime, putting William and Mary up 10-3 at the break after a Pate extra point.

With Grimes leading the way, William and 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 singleseason all-purpose yardage.

He finished the game with 105 total yards.

W&M SIU

0 10 7 7 — 3 0 0 0 — Scoring Summary First Quarter SIU — Dougherty 46 FG, 12:58.

Second Quarter W&M — Pate 36 FG, 6:06.

W&M — Grimes 6 run (Pate kick), 1:37.

Third Quarter W&M — Grimes 7 run (Pate kick), 2:56.

Fourth Quarter W&M — Grimes 5 run (Pate kick), 1:45.

Team Stats W&M SIU First Downs 22 11 Rushes-Yds 49-181 27-84 Passing Yds 192 103 Comp-Att-Int 15-28-1 11-22-1 Punts 3-35.7 6-47.3 Fumbles-Lost 0-0 1-0 Penalties-Yds 1-5 6-65

24 3

Individual Stats RUSHING—W&M: Grimes 30-133, Marriner 7-30, Miller 1-12, Riggins 2-9, Archer 6-2. SIU: McIntosh 1363, Karim 12-27, Dieker 1-(-5).

PASSING—W&M: Archer 15-28-1—192. SIU: Dieker 5-11-1—54; McIntosh 6-11-0—49.

RECEIVING—W&M: McAulay 5-61, Varno 5-54, Hill 235, Grimes 2-12, Dohse 1-30. SIU: Morris 4-34, Karim 340, Hoffman 1-10, Cheatham 1-7, Allaria 1-7, Evans 1-5.

— SIU Media Services

The Southern Illinoisan Monday, December 14, 2009 Page 25

SIU’s Mike McElroy hits North Dakota State’s Matt Veldman, knocking the ball loose for an incomplete pass on Sept.

26.

A SPECTACULAR SEASON

DEFENSIVE BACKS Takeaways were an important part of the SIU defense this season. The secondary was a huge contributor. The Salukis had 23 interceptions this season, the second-best team mark in SIU history.

Mike McElroy, a junior, led the team with seven picks. Another junior, Korey Lindsey, had six interceptions. Lance Caldwell, a senior, finished the year with five.

The trio’s standing among SIU greats is as follows:

Lance Caldwell

THE SOUTHERN FILE PHOTO

No. 4 — Most interception return yards, season, 103 (2009)

No. 2 — Most interceptions season, 7 (2009) No. 3 — Most interception return yards, career, 131 No. 8 — Most career interceptions, 10

! THIS PRIC UGH THRO 2010 , JAN. 4

$

SIU’s Lance Caldwell (1) makes a hit Oct. 7 during the Salukis’ win over Western Illinois.

Korey Lindsey

Mike McElroy

*HURREYGOOD

THE SOUTHERN FILE PHOTO

No. 3 — Most career interceptions, 13 No. 5 — Most interceptions, season, 6 No. 8 — Most interception return yards, career, 109 No. 11 — Most interception return yards, season, 82 (2008)

*Prime #1 Metal

1.90/ft.

*

$

SIU’s Korey Lindsey upends North Dakota State’s Warren Holloway during the Salukis’ win over the Bison on Sept. 26.

THE SOUTHERN FILE PHOTO

Liner Panel

Bare Galvalume Metal

1.85/ft.

$

1.60/ft.

29 Gauge • Multiple Colors • No W aiting, Next Day Service Pick Up or Delivered • Panel & Trims • *40 Year Warranty Full Line of Building Materials

ALL YOUR COMPLETE POST-FRAME METAL MADE HERE IN SOUTHERN ILLINOIS! Page 26 Monday, December 14, 2009 The Southern Illinoisan

6 mi. N of Rt. 13 on Pittsburg Rd. • Marion, IL

618-983-8600

A SPECTACULAR SEASON

SEASON: Salukis reached FCS quarterfinals

INDIVIDUAL FEATS

THE SOUTHERN FILE PHOTO

SIU’s Joe Allaria runs downfield after making a catch Nov. 21 against Southeast Missouri State.

The 2009 season will go down as one of the greatest in SIU football history.

The 11-2 Salukis swept the Missouri Valley Football Conference to earn their seventh straight berth in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision playoffs. The streak is the secondlongest in the country.

Montana has qualified 17 straight seasons.

During the course of the year, the Salukis set new

team and individual records. The 11 wins were the third most in school history. In addition, the SIU defense intercepted 23 passes, the second highest single-season total.

Some of the individual marks include:

Joe Allaria

No. 6 — Most receiving yards, season, 697 (2009) No. 10 — Longest pass reception, 77 yards vs.

Southwest Baptist No. 20 — Most receptions, career, 70

FROM PAGE 2 “When it’s all said and done, the thing that makes it hard at the end is you just don’t want it to end, and you know you got something pretty special. And that’s when, when it ends, it takes a piece of you away.”

SIU finished off the perfect conference mark at home against Missouri State, 44-24, and set another MVFC mark. With the victory, the Salukis won their 14th straight conference game, breaking UNI’s previous mark of 13 set between 1993 and 1995.

Before the season started, the game against the Bears was thought to possibly be the last game at “The Mac,” but the NCAA selection committee gave the Salukis at least one more shot.

SIU was paired with Eastern Illinois in the opening round of the playoffs.

The Salukis won their third straight game against the Panthers, 48-7, as the defense forced six turnovers and the offense produced the first two 100-yard rushers EIU allowed all season.

Tailback Deji Karim and quarterback Paul McIntosh, two of the most pivotal players for SIU’s offense this season, became the first two players to break the century mark against EIU. Karim, SIU’s first Payton Award finalist since 2004, rushed for 155 yards and scored three touchdowns.

DALE LENNON, SIU FOOTBALL COACH

McIntosh, who made his playoff debut, had more than 100 rushing yards at halftime and finished with 115. The redshirt freshman transfer from Army accounted for three touchdowns, throwing for two and rushing for another.

McIntosh, one of the most pleasant surprises of the season, became just the second quarterback in SIU history to rush for 100 yards twice in a season. The right-hander from Evansville, Ind., came in for the injured Chris Dieker on Oct. 24 against Youngstown State and led SIU to six straight wins.

Dieker, the junior quarterback who led the Salukis to a 9-3 mark last year, broke his clavicle in the opening quarter against the Penguins. He returned briefly against William and Mary, and is expected to be the No. 1 quarterback entering spring ball.

McIntosh filled in admirably, completing 78of-116 passes for 888 yards, eight touchdowns and three interceptions. The team’s second-leading rusher, he ran for 588 yards and six scores on 87 carries.

Karim, nicknamed “The Dream,” carried SIU’s rushing attack. The fifth-year senior accounted for 18 of the Salukis’ 48 offensive touchdowns and averaged 130.3 yards rushing per game. Slated as the backup to Richard White at the start of the season, Karim became the starter as White was held out of the Marshall game with an injury. All Karim did in return was run up 1,694 yards of total offense.

SIU begins another run at a national title Sept. 2 against NAIA foe Quincy. It will be the first game at the still-unnamed football stadium that will open adjacent to SIU Arena.

“This is definitely a season to be proud of,” Lennon said. “That was the 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 a national championship, and that’s why we are so disappointed, because we fell short of our goals.” todd.hefferman@thesouthern.com 618-351-5087

SALUKI WAY: Weather won’t slow construction

Ryan Kernes

FROM PAGE 6

No. 7 — Most receiving touchdowns, career, 11

The new arena will have 1,200 additional chairback seats, a new upper concourse and an interior graphics package with a deluxe video board.

The 50,000-square foot

No. 2 — Longest pass reception, 86 yards, vs.

Kyle Walker Youngstown State No. 5 — Most receptions, No. 7 — Most sacks, season, 52 (2009) season, 8 (2009)

‘This is definitely a season to be proud of. ... I thought we had a good chance to make a run at a national championship, and that’s why we’re so disappointed, because we fell short of our goals.’

team complex connected to the arena will house new offices and locker rooms for the men’s and women’s basketball teams and football team. Each team will gain new player lounges, conference rooms and a shared meeting room capa-

ble of seating 115 people in a theater-style auditorium.

The athletic department will also get a new equipment room, training room and video classrooms. todd.hefferman@thesouthern.com 618-351-5087

The Southern Illinoisan Monday, December 14, 2009 Page 27

SALUKI SENIORS’ FAVORITE MEMORIES

Lance Caldwell

Chauncey Mixon

Brandon Williams

Marty Rodgers

Brandin Jordan

Fred Wright

“That’s hard — I guess when we played Delaware that year, that was pretty exciting because of the atmosphere and everything like that, that was a big game.

Beside that, winning the conference championship in my senior year.”

“My best moment playing for SIU has to be a tie between sacking (Joe) Flacco twice in the playoffs in the semis in ’07 and winning the conference outright this year in ’09.”

“There’s a lot of them. I might have to say beating Northern Illinois. That was the first D-I team that we beat since I’ve been here.”

“My greatest moment was probably when we just won this last conference championship.”

“My greatest moment at SIU was my redshirt freshman year when we beat Indiana. We were down by a couple of points, fought back, that was still probably like my third game starting. Coach Burns was on that team, our tight end coach, so we whooped him and it felt good.”

“My greatest moment when we played Massachusetts and Byron Gettis caught a touchdown pass at the beginning of the game to give us that boost.”

Kyle Walker

Bryce Morris

Deji Karim

Travis Bloomfield

Ryan Patton

“My favorite moment as a Saluki is beating Northern Iowa at the Dome.”

“I’d have to say my favorite moment was (Nov. 14), winning it outright and being able to be the first team to ever go 8-0 in conference, especially being a senior when we did that.”

“Greatest moment at SIU probably had to be when I ran the 93-yard touchdown against Illinois State.”

“Two of my greatest memories are Northern Illinois, it was my first actual college game snapping it, and the Northern Iowa game with the winning field goal.”

“I’d say my most distinct moment, that’s definitely not my favorite, is winter conditioning. I don’t know if I have one favorite. Last year’s win over Northern Iowa was fun, but there’s been a lot of good wins.”

Page 28 Monday, December 14, 2009 The Southern Illinoisan

SALUKI SENIORS’ FAVORITE MEMORIES

Beau Hoffman

Mike Nitti

Scott Bauer

Tony Colletti

Shawn Smith

Blake Brunner

“My greatest moment was beating UNI in the Dome.”

“My greatest moment would have to be my start against Northern Iowa last year.”

“To be honest with you, one of my greatest moments is dancing with the Shakers at the SIU basketball game with all of the football players.”

“The most memorable moment playing football here at SIU has been the comeback win at Northern Illinois when we were down pretty late in the second half and came back and won at their place.”

“Lets go with — I can’t narrow it down to one – I was thinking about this the other day. My first career start at Indiana was pretty great. The comeback win against Northern Illinois was an awesome game. Beating Northern Iowa at the Dome was a great thing.”

“My favorite is yet to come.”

John Purdy

Ryan Kernes

Chris Arthurs

Dolapo Adubifa

Scott Ravanesi

“Well, I haven’t been here too long, but I’d have to say my greatest moment was (Nov. 14) when we were holding up that MVFC title trophy in front of the crowd and singing the school fight song.”

“I don’t know if I can narrow it down to a single one. When we came back against Northern Illinois two of years ago, it was just a team comeback and it was awesome. Beating IU when I was a freshman was a great experience and then our playoff run two years ago when we made it to the semifinals.”

“My freshman year when we played UT-Martin, and we were down pretty big. We ended up coming back and scored a touchdown with like less that a minute left to take the lead and ended up winning.”

“My greatest moment was this past year, playing Northern Iowa in the Dome and beating them. Being here for five years, and not ever beating them in the Dome and with the history for not ever beating them for so long in the Dome, it was really good to actually have that happen my senior year.”

“My favorite moment probably as a Saluki was probably either Indiana my freshman year when we beat them, I think it was our first big-time win against a Division I school, or at Northern Illinois.

That was probably one of the craziest games I’ve ever played in, and those are two memories that I will never forget.”

The Southern Illinoisan Monday, December 14, 2009 Page 29

Page 30 Monday, December 14, 2009 The Southern Illinoisan

SIU’s Deji Karim runs Oct. 24 against Youngstown State.

TEAM STATS

THE SOUTHERN FILE PHOTO

SIU coach Dale Lennon leads his team into the locker room at halftime Nov. 21 against SEMO.

MVFC ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM First Team Offense QB Pat Grace (UNI) Sr. RB Deji Karim (SIU) Sr. RB Pat Paschall (NDSU) Sr. FB John Goode (SIU) So. WR Donald Jones (YSU) Sr. WR Eyad Salem (ILS) Sr. TE Clay Harbor (MSU) Sr. OL David Arkin (MSU) Jr. OL Keith Buckman (NDSU) Sr. OL Ryan McKnight (SDSU) Jr. OL David Pickard (SIU) So. OL Austin Steichen (UNI) Sr. PK Zach Kutch (ILS) Sr. Defense DL Chris Arthurs (SIU) Sr. DL Danny Batten (SDSU) Sr. DL James Ruffin (UNI) Sr. DL Mychal Savage (YSU) Sr. LB Derek Domino (SDSU) Jr. LB Brandin Jordan (SIU) Sr. LB Josh Mahoney (UNI) Sr. LB Antoine Wilkinson (MSU) Jr. DB Korey Lindsey (SIU) Jr. DB Mike McElroy (SIU) Jr. DB Quentin Scott (UNI) Sr. DB Patrick Stoudamire (WIU) Sr. P Scott Ravanesi (SIU) Sr. RS Todd Speight (WIU) Jr.

Second Team Offense QB Matt Brown (ILS) Fr. RB Dre Gibbs (WIU) Sr. RB Kyle Minett (SDSU) Jr. FB Ryan Mahaffey (UNI) Jr. WR Joe Allaria (SIU) Jr. WR Glen Fox (SDSU) Sr. TE Schuylar Oordt (UNI) Jr. OL Nick Bledsoe (ILS) So. OL Bryan Boemer (SIU) So. OL Austin Howard (UNI) Sr. OL Casey Knips (SDSU) Sr. OL Eric Rodemoyer (YSU) Jr. PK Kyle Dougherty (SIU) Jr. Defense DL Eric Brunner (ILS) So. DL Matthew Gratzek (NDSU) Jr. DL Wes Lane (UNI) Sr. DL Waylon Richardet (MSU) Jr. LB Aaron Archie (INS) Fr. LB Preston Evans (NDSU) So. LB Kyle Glazier (WIU) Jr. LB Chauncey Mixon (SIU) Sr. DB Kelvyn Hemphill (ILS) Jr. DB Conrad Kjerstad (SDSU) Jr. DB Skylar Smith (MSU) Jr. DB Lenny Wicks (YSU) Sr. P Dean Priddy (SDSU) Jr.

RS Deji Karim (SIU) Sr. Honorable Mention Illinois State: DB Chris Garrett, LB EJ Jones, DL Doni Phelps Indiana State: RS Darrius Gates, DL Rod Hardy, DB Donye McCleskey Missouri State: P Jordan Chiles, WR Jared Emery, QB Cody Kirby North Dakota State: OL Ryan Foster, C Austin Richard Northern Iowa: RB Carlos Anderson, PK Billy Hallgren, WR D.J. Hord, LB Jamar Thompson South Dakota State: TE Colin Cochart, LB Chris Johnson, LB Jimmy Rogers Southern Illinois: QB Chris Dieker, TE Ryan Kernes, DB Marty Rodgers Western Illinois: LB Buddy Dudczak, FB Josh Gabelmann, WR Lilo Senatus Youngstown State: WR Dominique Barnes, S Andre Elliott, QB Brandon Summers Offensive Player of the Year: RB Deji Karim (SIU) Defensive Players of the Year: DE James Ruffin (UNI) and DE Danny Batten (SDSU) Coach of the Year: Dale Lennon (SIU)

SIU OPP SCORING 442 207 Points Per Game 34.0 15.9 FIRST DOWNS 247 239 Rushing 135 97 Passing 97 122 Penalty 15 20 RUSHING YARDAGE 2854 1569 Yards gained rushing 3099 1989 Yards lost rushing 245 420 Rushing Attempts 526 479 Average Per Rush 5.4 3.3 Average Per Game 219.5 120.7 TDs Rushing 30 9 PASSING YARDAGE 2279 2654 Comp-Att-Int 182-296-9 237-424-23 Average Per Pass 7.7 6.3 Average Per Catch 12.5 11.2 Average Per Game 175.3 204.2 TDs Passing 18 14 TOTAL OFFENSE 5133 4223 Total Plays 822 903 Average Per Play 6.2 4.7 Average Per Game 394.8 324.8 KICK RETURNS 39-970 75-1406 PUNT RETURNS 29-212 12-123 INT RETURNS 23-339 9-75 KICK RETURN AVERAGE 24.9 18.7 PUNT RETURN AVERAGE 7.3 10.2 INT RETURN AVERAGE 14.7 8.3 FUMBLES-LOST 9-7 13-10 PENALTIES 79-764 67-611 Average Per Game 58.8 47.0 PUNTS-Yards 55-2305 65-2417 Average Per Punt 41.9 37.2 Net punt average 36.8 32.4 TIME OF POSSESSION 29:04 30:55 3RD-DOWN Conversions 66/165 65/190 3rd-Down Pct 40 34 4TH-DOWN Conversions 7/9 10/29 4th-Down Pct 78 34 SACKS BY-Yards 36-247 14-84 TOUCHDOWNS SCORED 55 25 FIELD GOALS-ATTEMPTS 19-25 11-17 ONSIDE KICKS 0-1 0-1 RED-ZONE SCORES 40-49 28-38 RED-ZONE TDS 30-49 17-38 PAT-ATTEMPTS 53-55 22-22

THE SOUTHERN FILE PHOTO

SIU GAME HIGHS Rushes: 54 vs. Southwest Baptist (Sept. 19) Yards Rushing: 435 vs.

Southwest Baptist (Sept. 19) Yards Per Rush: 8.1 vs.

Southwest Baptist (Sept. 19) TD Rushes: 5 vs. Southwest Baptist (Sept. 19) 5 at Southeast Missouri (Nov. 21) Pass attempts: 38 at Marshall University (Sept. 5) Pass completions: 22 at Marshall University (Sept. 5) Yards Passing: 274 vs.

Illinois State (Oct. 10) Yards Per Pass: 13.2 vs.

Southwest Baptist (Sept. 19) TD Passes: 3 at South Dakota State (Nov. 7) Total Plays: 74 vs.

Southwest Baptist (Sept. 19) Total Offense: 699 vs.

Southwest Baptist (Sept. 19) Yards Per Play: 9.4 vs.

Southwest Baptist (Sept. 19) Points: 59 vs. Southwest Baptist (Sept. 19) Sacks: By 6 at South Dakota State (Nov. 7) First Downs: 30 vs.

Southwest Baptist (Sept. 19) Penalties: 9 at Northern Iowa (Oct. 17) Penalty Yards: 94 vs. Illinois State (Oct. 10) Turnovers: 3 at Marshall University (Sept. 5) Interceptions By: 3 vs.

Southwest Baptist (Sept. 19) 3 at Western Illinois (Oct. 3) 3 vs. Missouri State (Nov. 14)

SIU INDIVIDUAL GAME HIGHS Rushes: 28, Deji Karim vs.

Illinois State (Oct. 10) Yards Rushing: 273, Deji Karim vs. Illinois State (Oct. 10) TD Rushes: 3, Deji Karim vs.

Illinois State (Oct. 10) 3, Deji Karim vs. Missouri State (Nov. 14) 3, Paul McIntosh at Southeast Missouri (Nov. 14) Long Rush: 93, Deji Karim vs. Illinois State (Oct. 10) Pass attempts: 37, Chris Dieker at Marshall University (Sept. 5) Pass completions: 22, Chris Dieker at Marshall University (Sept. 5) Yards Passing: 274, Chris Dieker vs. Illinois State (Oct. 10) TD Passes: 3, Paul McIntosh at South Dakota State (Nov. 7)

Long Pass: 86, Paul McIntosh vs. Youngstown State (Oct. 24) Receptions: 7, Joe Allaria vs.

Southwest Baptist (Sept. 19) Yards Receiving: 144, Joe Allaria vs. Southwest Baptist (Sept. 19) TD Receptions: 18 tied with 1 Long Reception: 86, Joe Allaria vs. Youngstown State (Oct. 24) Field Goals: 3, Kyle Dougherty at Western Illinois (Oct. 3) 3, Kyle Dougherty vs. Illinois State (Oct. 10) Long Field Goal: 49, Kyle Dougherty at South Dakota State (Nov. 7) Punts: 8, Scott Ravanesi vs.

North Dakota State (Sept. 26)

Punting Avg.: 47.3, Scott Ravanesi vs. William and Mary (Dec. 5) Long Punt: 67, Scott Ravanesi vs. North Dakota State (Sept. 26) Long Punt Return: 23, Korey Lindsey vs. Eastern Illinois (Nov. 28) Long Kickoff Return: 82, Deji Karim vs. Southwest Baptist (Sept. 19) Tackles: 12, Brandin Jordan at Marshall University (Sept. 5) 12, Korey Lindsey vs.

Youngstown State (Oct. 24) Sacks: 3.0, Kyle Walker vs.

North Dakota State (Sept. 26) Tackles For Loss: 3.0, Kyle Walker vs. North Dakota State (Sept. 26) Interceptions: 2, done four times

The Southern Illinoisan Monday, December 14, 2009 Page 31

Page 32 Monday, December 14, 2009 The Southern Illinoisan