By Todd Golden
TERRE HAUTE — If the victory over Western Illinois for the Indiana State football team last week washed away the horrors of a 33-game losing streak, Saturday’s 33-0 loss to Southern Illinois provided an unwelcome reminder of how ISU got into that spot to begin with.
ISU was shutout for the fourth time this season in the Missouri Valley Football Conference loss. It was the third time this season that the Sycamores failed to clear the 100-yard hurdle in total offense — ISU had 90 yards. It was the second time this season a key blocked punt just before halftime steered the Sycamores into the ditch.
No. 3-ranked SIU (7-1, 6-0) was simply too good for the Sycamores in all facets. Offensively, the Salukis moved the ball consistently as they gained 360 total yards with a nine-minute edge in time of possession. This despite the fact that standout running back Deji Karim was held to 87 rushing yards, well below his season average.
Defensively, SIU not only held ISU (1-8, 1-5) to a sub-100-yard game, but forced two turnovers, had three sacks, and had 13 tackles for a loss, including a safety.
Besides the blocked punt, SIU’s special teams averaged 35 yards per kick return and partially blocked another punt.
“If we execute, we’re down 14-0 at half, that’s huge progress when we were down 50-0 at half against them last year,” ISU coach Trent Miles said.
“We did some good things, but typical of youthful football, but we did the critical errors [that hurt].”
SIU was determined to keep ISU quarterback Ryan Roberts — who had 160 rushing yards in the win over Western Illinois — under their thumb. Working out of a 3-4 set, the Salukis kept as many defenders in the box as possible. When Roberts would try to run off tackle, there were usually one or two SIU defenders on the edge to meet him. The result? Roberts rushed for minus-3 yards.
“That was the major difference against Western Illinois — that he was able to break contain and hurt them with his feet. One of the advantages of the 3-4 defense is we were able to bring pressure off the edge. Our guys did a very good job reacting to him and limiting his yardage,” SIU coach Dale Lennon said.
With the run not working, ISU had to turn to the air. Roberts completed 7 of 18 pass attempts for 52 yards and two interceptions. He was harassed by SIU defenders, but also missed the target on some of his open receivers.
“I need a lot of work. The first three or four pass plays I went out there — I think one of them was to [Larry] Lacotti, he ran a good route and I didn’t get him the ball. I just need to keep working hard at it and get back at it,” Roberts said.
Despite ISU’s troubles, the Sycamores trailed 14-0 with less than three minutes to go in the first half and were in position to hang in there with the Salukis. Then, a blocked punt punched ISU right in the gut.
SIU’s Bryce Morris had a free path to ISU punter Gabe Mullane, who didn’t stand a chance of getting a punt off. Morris hammered the ball with so much force it deflected 20 yards backward to the ISU 4. Beau Hoffman picked it up and strolled in for an easy touchdown to put ISU in a demoralizing 21-0 hole just before the break.
“It wasn’t the scheme. A true freshman miscounted on who he was supposed to block. And they get a punt block touchdown. Now it’s 21-0 and the perception is that, ‘Oh man, now we have to get back.’ We’re struggling offensively, so 14-0 would have been tough enough, 21-0 is very difficult,” Miles said.
Lennon thought it was extremely important to have the three touchdown edge at halftime.
“Having a punt blocked, especially for a score? It was very demoralizing. I thought they were playing good football, competing with us and battling, but all of the sudden you get a quick score, it takes the wind out of the sails. We grabbed the reins and took control at that point,” Lennon said.
ISU had no response offensively for the Salukis in the second half. The Sycamores gained just 10 yards of offense after the break and had one first down.
ISU travels to Missouri State next Saturday — the Bears lost 24-14 at home to Illinois State on Saturday. SIU has a showdown at South Dakota State next Saturday, a game that will likely determine the MVFC championship.
