Anniversary gifts for SIU: Illinois capitalizes on Southeast special teams snafus, fumbles

Southeast Missouri State made Southern Illinois sweat for just a bit Thursday night -- but not nearly enough to prevent the Salukis' anticipated romp.

SIU's vaunted offense was held somewhat in check by Southeast's maligned defense for more than a half, and the Redhawks threatened to make things interesting late in the third quarter.

But the fifth-ranked Salukis, after taking advantage of several Southeast miscues in the first half, steamrolled the Redhawks in the fourth quarter to run away with a 58-23 victory. An announced crowd of 10,100 saw the season opener for both teams at Houck Stadium, which had its 75th anniversary celebrated.

"We had to play good to have a chance to beat a team like SIU, and we didn't," Southeast coach Tim Billings said. "You can't give a team like that 21 points."

That's pretty much what the Redhawks did in the first half as the Salukis scored touchdowns directly off a blocked punt and off a fumble on a fake punt, and added a TD after recovering a fumble on Southeast's 15-yard line. The actual damage was just 20 points, since SIU missed an extra point, but you get the picture.

The Redhawks' generosity helped the Salukis roll up a 37-3 lead late in the first half. SIU carried a comfortable 37-10 advantage into the locker room despite having just 211 yards of offense after averaging more than 500 per game a year ago.

"They're a really good team," said Southeast senior wide receiver T.J. Milcic, who caught a 71-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Mike Haley late in the first half to give the Redhawks a shot of momentum heading to the break. "Take away those 21 points, and maybe we would have given them a challenge."

Southeast gave its fans something to cheer about early in the third quarter when sophomore cornerback Monroe Hicks out of Central High School intercepted a short pass near the sideline and raced 47 yards for a touchdown, slicing SIU's lead to 37-17.

The Redhawks' defense, after holding SIU on its second offensive series of the third period, recovered a fumble on the Salukis' next offensive possession.

Threatening to slice SIU's advantage to a somewhat tenuous 13 points, the Redhawks marched inside the Salukis' 30-yard line -- but the drive stalled.

"I really thought if we could have scored there, we could make a game of it," said Haley, who made his first career start and passed for 223 yards, completing 19 of 35, with two interceptions and a touchdown.

But that was basically Southeast's last gasp. The Salukis, displaying the mettle that has them placed among the nation's Division I-AA elite, dominated the fourth quarter, scoring on drives of 75 and 88 yards to go ahead 51-17.

SIU added another touchdown with reserves in the game, making it 58-17. The Redhawks made the final score a bit more respectable in the final two minutes as junior backup quarterback Kevin Ballatore hit sophomore wide receiver Scott NesSmith with a 24-yard touchdown pass.

"SEMO is a good squad. We never took them lightly," said Joel Sambursky, SIU's stellar senior quarterback. "They have great potential. They turned the ball over and weren't able to recover. We turned the ball over, too, but we were able to recover."

Southeast lost two fumbles, had two interceptions and also had two punts blocked deep in its own territory. SIU lost three fumbles and had an interception.

Sambursky, a four-year starter who is regarded among the nation's premier signal callers, completed 20 of 33 passes for 276 yards and two touchdowns.

"He made a lot of plays for them," Billings said of Sambursky. "He does some very special things. He kept several of those drives alive on his own."

Although Southeast's defense seemed to display considerable improvement over the unit that statistically ranked among the nation's worst last season, the Salukis' big final period gave them a whopping 545 yards of total offense for the game. SIU tailback Arkee Whitlock had 126 yards on 27 carries.

"I think we're a lot better on defense than we were last year," Billings said.

Said junior linebacker Seth Harrell, a Jackson High School product, "I thought we hung in there, we fought them. They're a really good team, but we didn't back down."

Southeast finished with 354 yards of offense, but just 149 came in the second half. The Redhawks had only 70 yards rushing -- true freshman Tim Holloman led the way with 43 yards on seven carries -- although their young offensive line appeared to hold up well, allowing just one sack. SIU had more than a nine-minute edge in time of possession.

"He {Holloman} is going to be a plus for us, and I thought our offensive line held up pretty good," Billings said. "We've got a long way to go, but there were some positives. We're going to be fine."

---

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 58, SOUTHEAST 23

SIU 23 14 0 21 -- 58

SE 0 10 7 6 -- 23

First Quarter

SIU -- Craig Coffin 25 FG

SIU -- A.J. Wallace 19 blocked punt return (Coffin kick)

SIU -- Antoine Jackson 3 run (kick failed)

SIU -- Kellen Allen 14 pass from Joel Sambursky (Coffink kick)

Second Quarter

SE -- Colin Schermann 32 FG

SIU -- Braden Jones 26 fumble return (Coffin kick)

SIU -- Allen 8 pass from Sambursky (Coffin kick)

SE -- T.J. Milcic 71 pass from Mike Haley (Schermann kick)

Third Quarter

SE -- Monroe Hicks 47 interception return (Schermann kick)

Fourth Quarter

SIU -- Arkee Whitlock 1 run (Coffink kick)

SIU -- Jackson 6 run (Coffin kick)

SIU -- Quorey Payne 11 pass from Nick Hill (Coffin kick)

SE -- Scott NesSmith 24 pass from Kevin Ballatore (kick blocked)

SIU SE

First downs 30 17

Rushes-yards 49-197 22-70

Passing yards 348 284

Passes 21-35-1 27-51-2

Punts 2-22.5 8-28.6

Fumbles-Lost 5-3 2-2

Penalties-Yards 4-35 4-50

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- SIU, Whitlock 27-126, Jackson 13-46, Renell Thomas 5-24, Sambursky 2-16. SE, Tim Holloman 7-43, Brandon Simpson 2-24, Elton Peterson 7-13, John Radney 2-10, Austen Collins 1-5, Haley 2-minus 7, D'Eldrick Taylor 1-minus 18.

PASSING -- SIU, Sambursky 20-33-1-276, Hill 1-2-0-72. SE, Haley 19-35-2-223, Ballatore 8-16-0-61.

RECEIVING -- SIU, Alan Turner 4-77, Allen 4-41, Payne 2-41, Jones 2-34, Chris Kupec 2-27, Whitlock 2-20, Brent Little 2-19, Ryan Beeler 1-61, Jackson 1-22, Micah Turner 1-6. SE, Joseph Tuineau 4-43, Samora Goodson 4-10, Milcic 3-86, Jamel Oliver 3-50, Antonio Scaife 3-25, Brian Matthews 3-17, NesSmith 2-31, Simpson 2-27, Radney 1-1, Peterson 1-minus 2, Collins 1-minus 4.