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 Jayson DiManche had three sacks |
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Nov. 13, 2010
Final Stats |
Notes |
Photo Gallery 
By Jason Clay
SIUSalukis.com
1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WIU | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 10 |
| SIU | 14 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 20 |
Jayson DiManche | |||||
| Team Stat Comparison | |||||
WIU | SIU | ||||
First Downs | 20 | 21 | |||
Net Rushing Yds | -7 | 254 | |||
Rush Att. | 22 | 57 | |||
Avg. Per Rush | -0.3 | 4.5 | |||
Rushing TDs | 0 | 2 | |||
Net Passing Yds | 343 | 110 | |||
Cmp-Att | 23-44 | 12-18 | |||
Int Thrown | 1 | 0 | |||
Avg. Per Cmp | 14.9 | 9.2 | |||
Passing TDs | 1 | 1 | |||
Total Offense | 336 | 364 | |||
| Individual Stat Leaders | |||||
Rushing | |||||
SIU | No | Yds | TDs | Long | |
S. Strother | 29 | 150 | 0 | 24 | |
WIU | No | Yds | TDs | Long | |
C. Ray | 6 | 29 | 0 | 17 | |
Passing | |||||
SIU | C-A-I | Yds | TDs |
||
C. Dieker | 12-18-0 | 110 | 1 |
||
WIU | C-A-I | Yds | TDs |
||
M. Barr | 23-44-1 | 343 | 1 |
||
Receiving | |||||
SIU | No | Yds | TDs | Long | |
J. Allaria | 4 | 32 | 0 | 12 | |
WIU | No | Yds | TDs | Long | |
L. Senatus | 9 | 157 | 1 | 37 | |
Western Illinois came into the game leading the nation with 496 yards of total offense and ranked third with 39.1 points, but Southern's defense shut down the potent Leatherneck attack. WIU did throw for 343 yards, but SIU held the Leathernecks to negative seven yards rushing, thanks in part to a season-high five sacks for a loss of 61 yards, and a season-low 10 points.
Sophomore outside linebacker Jayson DiManche led the way with three sacks for a loss of 43 yards. This was the seventh game in school history that the Salukis held a team to negative yards running the ball and the first time since Sept. 10, 2005 when Union (Ky.) was held to minus-14 yards rushing.
"Coach talked about giving a complete team effort, and we knew it was going take a team effort on offense, defense, special teams," said senior cornerback Korey Lindsey, who finished with five tackles and two pass breakups. "The offense really helped with running the ball and moving the chains."
The loss ends a three-game losing streak for the Salukis (4-6, 3-4 Missouri Valley Football Conference), while ending WIU's (6-4, 4-3) hopes to win the conference title.
"When you win a game today, against a very quality football team that was putting up some unbelievable numbers offensively, and only allow them to score 10 points, it shows that we had a great team effort," head coach Dale Lennon said.
SIU came into the game looking to control the ball with a sturdy rushing attack. The Salukis succeeded, running for 254 yards on 57 attempts with two rushing TDs. SIU held the ball for over 15 minutes more than Western Illinois had it.
"We executed a game plan," Lennon said. "We did it from start to finish. The guys hung with it and never broke faith and it paid off. Sometimes you're best defense can be your offense on the field just grinding it out and eating the clock up."
Sophomore running back Steve Strother set new career-highs with 29 rushes for 150 yards. Quarterback Chris Dieker's 17 rushing attempts were a personal best and he racked up 66 yards on the ground with 110 passing. Shariff Harris and Lucien Walker had SIU's two touchdown runs early in the game.
"I give all the credit to the offensive line," Strother said. "They had holes opening up for us all day, they were blocking hard all day. It wouldn't have been possible without them. "
A number of players stepped up for Southern Illinois Saturday. Besides DiManche, Chance Coda and Robert Spann also had sacks. Spann's interception of Matt Barr at the SIU three-yard line with under a minute to play sealed the win for the Salukis and put an exclamation point on the victory.
Junior wide receiver Cam Fuller was another Saluki that made significant contributions. He didn't have a catch in his career coming into the game, but Fuller caught three passes for 26 yards and hauled in a five-yard touchdown pass from Dieker in the fourth quarter.
Barr, WIU's Walter Payton Award Candidate, threw for 343 yards on 23-of-44 passing. Lito Senatus had nine receptions for 157 yards and he caught WIU's only touchdown of the day.
Southern Illinois came out of the gates and ate up over half of the first quarter on its first drive, which was a season-long 17-play drive that spanned 8:48 and all 17 plays were rushes. The 75-yard drive was capped off with a two-yard Harris touchdown run.
It was just the third time this season that SIU (4-6, 3-4) scored on its first drive of a game, and the Salukis countered with another scoring drive on their next possession. Lindsey set Southern up at the Western 22-yard line with a 22-yard punt return and then Walker scored five plays later on a two-yard run.
Western Illinois (6-4, 4-3) got on the board for the first time at the 14:02 mark of the second quarter, when Pat Smith hit a 32-yard field goal.
The Salukis continued to eat up the clock for the rest of the first half, controlling the ball for over 20 minutes. SIU had the ball at the WIU 10-yard line with just over six minutes left in the half, but were held on a fourth-and-1 and thus the score remained 14-3 after two quarters.
Myers Hendrickson's 35-yard punt return in the third quarter set WIU up with the ball on the Saluki 19-yard line. It was WIU's biggest play up to that point and it led to a 17-yard Barr to Senatus touchdown pass. The TD at 4:53 of the third quarter cut SIU's lead down to 14-10.
Southern Illinois did not let the Leathernecks build any momentum off that touchdown and they countered with a 12-play, 73-yard touchdown drive that took 5:37 off the clock. Dieker hit Fuller on a five yard pass on third-and-goal for the score. However, SIU was unable to convert the point after attempt, and thus led 20-10 with 14:12 to play.
Both teams traded a pair of possessions before the Leathernecks had the ball with under six minutes to play at the Saluki four-yard line on a third-and-goal. Barr rolled out to his left, but good Saluki coverage forced him back to his right, where DiManche sacked him for a loss of 21 yards. Smith then missed a 41-yard field goal.
WIU charged down the field with its eye on the end zone in the final minutes, but Spann's interceptioin at the SIU three-yard line with 48 seconds remaining ended Western's day.
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