TERRE HAUTE, Ind. ? Turnovers plagued the Indiana State University Sycamores Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium as the No. 6 nationally-ranked Southern Illinois Salukis routed ISU 72-10 in the Gateway Football Conference opener for both squads.
SIU improved to a perfect 5-0, 1-0 GFC on the season while ISU fell to 0-5, 0-1 GFC.
Indiana State had four turnovers in the first half of play and the Salukis capitalized with four of their eight first half touchdowns. On the day, the Salukis turned five Sycamore turnovers into 28 points. SIU scored on each of its first 10 drives until a fumble ended their third drive of the second half.
The Sycamores got on the scoreboard with 14:11 left in the second quarter on a 34-yard field goal by Core Varnadore that capped a 15-play, 57-yard drive. ISU's other score came with 10:11 left in the period on a 44-yard run by Alex Thomas.
The Salukis opened the scoring on a three-yard run by John Randle with 11:15 left in the first quarter. After Matt Speed blocked an ISU punt and recovered the ball at the Sycamore three, the Salukis needed just two plays to score their second touchdown of the game, a one-yard run by Rick Burgess. SIU made it 20-0 with 4:22 left in the first when Randle scored on a two-yard run. That touchdown came after SIU had intercepted an ISU pass.
SIU scored five times in the second quarter. Alan Turner scored on a 44-yard run and then caught a 29-yard TD pass from Nick Hill while Larry Luster scored on a 14-yard interception return and Deji Karim ran in from five yards out for the other score.
The Salukis tacked on a 40-yard field goal by Kyle Dougherty with 12:32 left in the third quarter and then scored off ISU's sixth turnover of the game on a one-yard run by Larry Warner with nine minutes left in the third.
Southern tacked on a late score in the fourth quarter on a one-yard run by Richard White.
Bryan McCulley led Indiana State with 11 rushes for 52 yards. Alex Thomas posted 45 rushing yards on a pair of attempts, including a 44-yard score in the first half.
Splitting time under center, Reilly Murphy finished with a 6-for-14 effort and a pair of interceptions while redshirt freshman Charles Dowdell was 4-of-12 for 38 yards and a pair of picks. Dowdell earned his first career start against the Salukis.
Brian Jackson was the Sycamore quarterbacks' top target with four pass receptions for 44 yards.
Chris Johansen finished with six punts for an average of 40.7 yards per kick, including a long of 50 yards.
The 72 points by Southern Illinois is the most-ever in a GFC contest. The previous high was the 70 points surrendered by the Sycamores at Illinois State in 2005.
Indiana State wraps up its current three-game homestand next Saturday, October 6 when they host Western Illinois in the second Gateway Football Conference contest of the season. Kick-off at Memorial Stadium is set for Noon (EST).
