SDSU runs past SIU, 49-14

by John Lock, siusalukis.com

BROOKINGS, S.D. – Ninth-ranked South Dakota State scored on all five first-half possessions en route to a 49-14 win over Southern Illinois on Saturday night.

SDSU was coming off a 19-7 loss to Youngstown State last week and exploded offensively in the first half. The score was 14-0 before the Salukis gained a first down. At halftime, the Jacks had five touchdowns and only three third downs; they were averaging more than eight yards per play. Conversely, SIU’s only extended drive ended in an interception.

“We didn’t stop them, but we didn’t do anything on offense to get the momentum back or make it a shootout,” SIU head coach Nick Hill said. “We’ve been down 14 and came back. You don’t like to do that, but we talk about it all the time. You never know how the game is going to go. We have to adapt and adjust to any circumstance. But we just couldn’t get anything going tonight.”

Defensively, the Salukis rebounded in the second half. SIU forced three turnovers and had a pair of sacks. Cody Crider forced a fumble in the third quarter that set up a Sam Straub touchdown run five plays later. The Salukis second touchdown was a highlight leaping grab from Raphael Leonard early in the fourth quarter. But the Jackrabbits also scored two second-half touchdowns to hand SIU its most lopsided loss since 2003.

“At halftime, we talked about fighting back,” Hill said. “We came out and fought hard. You saw that. We competed. I’m proud of that. We just talked about stacking good plays together. That’s how you get good drives and stops. But obviously, this game was won in the first half.”

For SIU (2-3, 0-2 MVFC), Darrell James caught six passes for 78 yards. Daquan Isom averaged five yards per rush on nine carries. SDSU improved to 4-1, 1-1 MVFC. Brady Mengarelli rushed for 220 yards and two scores. QB Taryn Christion, last year’s MVFC Offensive Player of the Year, threw for 216 yards and four touchdowns against no interceptions.

“They won the line of scrimmage on both sides,” Hill said. “You can tell they were frustrated with the way their game went last week. A lot of that wasn’t because they weren’t good on offense; they just never had the ball against Youngstown. But we weren’t able to do anything to keep their explosive players off the field. There is no excuse for giving up that many rushing yards. We knew that their explosive players would make explosive plays in this game; they have their entire career. But when you make it easy on them–when they’re rushing the ball and picking up every third down, and we’re not picking up third downs–it’s a recipe for a long, long night.”

Southern Illinois returns home for a matchup with nationally ranked Illinois State on Saturday for the annual Homecoming football game. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. in Saluki Stadium.

Box Score

http://siusalukis.com/boxscore.aspx?path=football&id=7834