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Salukis hit full stride

The wind was swirling around Springfield Mo., blowing about the speed students are supposed to drive on campus and in as many random directions as Lincoln Drive.

It reeked havoc on passing attacks, kicking games and the inflatable tunnel Southwest Missouri State was forced to take down at the end of the second quarter.

But SIU didn't have to worry about the wind - it was too busy on the ground.

The No. 1-ranked Salukis were able to move the ball easily beneath the ridiculous wind conditions Saturday, running for a season-high 350 yards and burying the Bears 27-3. SIU recorded a season high in yards per carry (7.6).

SMS, on the other hand, could only muster 88 rushing yards and never got its potent passing attack going, sealing a lopsided homecoming loss.

Once again SIU won big in the trenches, made quite obvious by the mammoth holes Saluki running backs waltzed through.

"They were moving folks out the way so much that we could basically do anything we wanted," SIU running back Brandon Jacobs said of the offensive line, which was nothing short of dominant for the second consecutive week.

Jacobs picked up 151 yards averaging 9.4 yards per carry, and Arkee Whitlock pitched in 158 yards on 8.8 yards per carry. Whitlock also caught five balls for 42 yards, giving him 200 all purpose yards on the day.

Terry Jackson, who Kill said is 80-85 percent healthy, did not play because of a hamstring injury.

Whitlock scored SIU's three touchdowns and was finding his holes and cutback lanes all day. He shrugged off, and sometimes spun out of, arm tackles all day long, as did Jacobs.

Jacobs drug SMS defenders around on a few plays, and the effort to tackle Jacobs looked comical at times. Jacobs' Achilles heel seemed to be his shirt Saturday, which was one of the only ways the Bears could seem to tackle him.

He would have broken a 98-yard run in the second quarter, but after about 30 yards one SMS defender got a handful of shirt, and held him up long enough for another player to swipe at his ankle.

The Bears seemed to have only three answers for Jacobs - gang tackle, shirt tackle or low tackle.

"We tell him every time - if he just hits the hole and just runs like he wants to run, it's impossible to stop," Whitlock said. "Impossible."

Whitlock and Jacobs, as usual, credited their performances to the offensive line, but the running backs were not the only ones who noticed the dominating performance.

Kellen Allen, who had a team-high and career-high 49 receiving yards on four catches, was lost for words when talking about the offensive line's performance.

"The offensive line was just...it was unexplainable," Allen said. "The defensive line as well, too. They were just pushing people off the ball."

SIU's defensive front was all over SMS quarterback A.J. Porter, recording two sacks and keeping him on his toes the entire game. The defense also stuffed running back Cody Pratt, who had been averaging 4.6 yards per carry and was nearing 1,000 yards for the season. Pratt gained 57 yards on 19 carries Saturday.

"I thought our defense all day played very well," SIU head coach Jerry Kill said. "That's a very good offensive football team, and one that's been very productive all year."

The Salukis would have forced a few turnovers as well, but the secondary came away with only one interception after dropping several easy picks.

One of those drops was by Alexis Moreland, but he managed to knock the ball up before it was secured by Jamarquis Jordan for the only interception by either team.

Moreland had yet another tremendous game, also getting a piece of a punt. The punter kicked him in the chest as he blocked the kick, and Moreland was shaken up, but he stayed in the game.

The win kept SIU in first place in the Gateway, one game ahead of Western Kentucky, which defeated Indiana State 31-9 at home.

It also gave Kill a winning career record (22-21) for the first time in his four-year stint at SIU, as well as ending the Salukis' 8-game losing streak at SMS.

"Four years ago we were 1-10," Kill said. "This is one of the most remarkable situations or stories I've ever seen, and the credit goes to the kids, the way they work, and our assistant coaches."