The Daily Egyptian is published by the students of SIU at Carbondale. Except during vacations and exam weeks, The Daily Egyptian is published Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters and TWThF during the summer semester."

SIU places five players on league's All-Newcomer Team

Derek Anderson ~ Daily Egyptian SIU punt returner Quorey Payne is stripped of the ball by a Delaware defender. In the Salukis 48-7 loss to the Blue Hens Saturday, they turned the ball over a season-high six times.

Just two days after completing its season with a disappointing first-round playoff loss to Delaware, SIU received a few more honors from the Gateway Conference with the announcement of the All-Newcomer Team.

Elmer McDaniel, who was also named to the Gateway's all-conference first team, was SIU's lone representative on the offensive team.

On the defensive team, the Salukis had four players in defensive linemen Linton Brown and James Fields and safeties Frank Johnson and Jamarquis Jordan. Both Brown and Johnson were on the all-conference honorable mention lists.

Northern Iowa running back Terrance Freeney was named the Newcomer of the Year while Western Kentucky quarterback Justin Haddix was named the league's Freshman of the Year. Last season, SIU's Muhammad Abdulqaadir and Joel Sambursky won the awards, respectively.

SIU develops severe case of fumblitis

Before the Delaware game, SIU had turned the ball over just 11 times all season, with six coming via the fumble and five being interceptions.

Only three times did SIU even turn the ball over multiple times in a single game. Four times, the Salukis made it through the game without committing a single turnover.

On Saturday, the Salukis turned it over twice in just six touches of the football. Before the 48-7 first-round beating concluded, the Salukis would turn the ball over six times, more than half their season total.

The four fumbles were the most for the Salukis since fumbling away the ball four times against West Virginia Tech in the fourth game of last season.

In the end, the turnovers were too much as Delaware scored 27 points off the SIU giveaways.

Finalists for Payton Award announced

On Monday afternoon, the Sports Network released the names of the three finalists for the coveted Walter Payton Award, Division I-AA's equivalent of the Heisman Trophy.

The three finalists are Colgate running back Jamaal Branch, Grambling State quarterback Bruce Eugene and Delaware quarterback Andy Hall.

The winner will be announced at the 17th annual I-AA College Football Awards Dec. 18 in Chattanooga, Tenn., the eve of the I-AA national championship game also in Chattanooga.

Branch ran the ball 338 times for 2,026 yards and 25 touchdowns for the undefeated Raiders.

Eugene completed 285-of-528 passes for 3,808 yards and 34 touchdowns. He also ran the ball for 489 yards for 9-3 Grambling.

Hall completed 195-of-303 passes for 2,285 yards and 21 touchdowns as well as running for 630 yards for the 12-1 Blue Hens.

Votes were due Nov. 26 and were made by select media and Division I-AA sports information directors. Results will not be known until the awards show.

The finalists for the Buck Buchanan Award and the Eddie Robinson Award have yet to be narrowed to the three who will be invited to the awards show.

Buchanan finalists were as follows: SIU safety Alexis Moreland, Idaho State defensive end Jared Allen, Bethune-Cookman defensive end Steve Baggs, Harvard linebacker Dante Balestracci, Cal-Poly linebacker Jordan Beck, Northeastern linebacker Liam Ezekiel, Illinois State linebacker Boomer Grigsby, Montana State safety Kane Ioane, Delaware defensive end Shawn Johnson, Colgate linebacker Tem Lukabu, Wofford safety Matt Nelson, Eastern Illinois linebacker Nick Ricks, McNeese State linebacker Roderick Royal, Western Illinois linebacker Lee Russell, Monmouth linebacker Joe Sentipal and Appalachian State defensive end K.T. Stovall.

The coaches who were on the ballots sent to the voters were: Jerry Kill of SIU, Mike Ayers of Wofford, Al Bagnoli of Pennsylvania, Dick Biddle of Colgate, Kevin Callahan of Monmouth, Charlie Coe of Alabama State, Jack Crowe of Jacksonville State, Mark Farley of Northern Iowa, K.C. Keeler of Delaware, Pete Richardson of Southern, Howard Schnellenberger of Florida Atlantic, George Small of North Carolina A&T, Jerome Souers of Northern Arizona, Tommy Tate of McNeese State, Mark Whipple of Massachusetts and Doug Williams of Grambling State.

Gateway in the playoffs

Despite the loss by SIU in the first round, the Gateway still has three teams playing in search of the national championship.

All three teams will be on the road for the second round after Northern Iowa and defending national champion Western Kentucky had home games last weekend. Northern Iowa, who shared the regular season league title with SIU, will face Delaware at 11:05 Saturday morning.

Western Illinois, who won on the road last week against Montana, will face Colgate for an 11 a.m. kickoff.

Finally, Western Kentucky will battle Wofford Saturday at 3 p.m.

In the one non-Gateway playoff game of the day, Florida Atlantic will go to Northern Arizona, which knocked off No. 1 seed McNeese State in the first round, Saturday for a 7:05 p.m. showdown.