CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Indiana State's Shakir Bell scored a pair of rushing touchdowns and Calvin Burnett tallied a pair of interceptions as the Sycamore defense forced three turnovers and did not allow a touchdown to the opposition for the second time this season in earning a 24-3 victory over Southern Illinois in front of 12,166 fans at Saluki Stadium.

ISU improves to 3-2, 1-1 MVFC while Southern Illinois falls to 2-3, 1-1 MVFC.

Bell finished the contest with 160 yards rushing on 33 carrries and a pair of touchdowns, but the big story was the play of the Sycamore defense.

ISU limited the Salukis to just 107 yards of rushing offense and forced a trio of turnovers as the Sycamores have now allowed just three offensive touchdowns in the last 17 quarters of action, dating back to to the fourth quarter of the season opener at Indiana.

The Sycamores broke a nine-game losing streak to Southern Illinois, earning its first victory since a 21-14 decision in 2002 in Carbondale.

Just two carries into the contest, Bell went over the 3,000 rushing yard mark for his career and finished with his 15th career 100-yard rushing game and now has 3,143 yards on the ground during his career. He also needs just 10 more touchdowns rushing to tie the ISU school record of 33.

Southern Illinois drew first blood in the contest with a 27-yard field goal from Austin Johnson with 9:57 left in the first quarter for the quick 3-0 Saluki advantage. The field capped a 12-play, 65-yard drive after the opening kickoff and featured two quarterback sacks by the Sycamore defense inside the Saluki red zone.

The Sycamores finally broke through with 6:19 left in the second quarter on a drive that featured four Tanner Riley pass receptions, including a nine-yarder at the end off a throw from Mike Perish to give ISU a 7-3 advantage. Shakir Bell also broke through with a 26-yard run to move the ball inside the Southern Illinois 20-yard line.

Mike Perish connected on 9-of-10 passes in the first half for 62 yards while Bell had 81 rushing yards and Riley posted six catches for 40 yards.

Bell would get the Sycamore offense untracked in the second half as he scored twice in short yardage situations. His first touchdown came with 13:02 left to go in the contest to stretch the lead out to 14-3. Then Bell went into the end zone for another two-yard touchdown with 9:48 to go to make it 21-3.

Fritschle rounded out the scoring with a 31-yard field goal to give the Sycamores a 24-3 advantage at the 5:12 mark of the fourth quarter as he improved to 8-of-9 on his field goal attempts on the season.

As they have done through each of the first five games this season, the Sycamores were led defensively by Aaron Archie and Jacolby Washington who posted 10 and nine tackles respectively. In fact, the Sycamore defense surrendered over half of the Saluki's total offense on just the first two drives as SIU amassed 138 yards through their first two possessions and were limited to just 117 yards the rest of the way.

Ben Obaseki, Connor Underwood and Jacolby Washington each recorded quarterback sacks in the game. It marked the third consecutive game in which Underwood has posted a sack.

Burnett tied a career high with his two inteceptions as he also posted a pair in the 2010 road victory over Youngstown State. ISU's other interception was the first one of sophomore Donovan Layne's career.

Indiana State has now won consecutive road games in MVFC play dating back to last season's road win at Missouri State.

Indiana State returns to action on Saturday, October 6 for the annual Homecoming contest against Missouri State. The game will kick-off at 3:05 p.m. (ET) inside Memorial Stadium.