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."

Disaster befalls 1983 team

Editors note: Every Thursday for the rest of the football season the Daily Egyptian will parallel the current season with the national championship season of 1983. The 1983 season offers historical perspective to this year's spectacular team and, many hope, the same result.

Life in Carbondale, the week of Nov. 12, 1983

* Stephen King's The Dead Zone and The Big Chill were showing at the Varsity Theatre for $2.
* Hairbenders in Carbondale was offering perms for half price.
* John Madden was selling Miller Lite in a DE ad.
* Pinch Penny pub offered a six-pack of Pabst Blue Ribbon for $2.29
* A student was selling a 1974 Ford Mustang for $800.
* ABC Liquor Mart was selling "nude beer" six-packs for $1.59

The situation:

SIU needed to defeat Wichita State, clearly a lesser team at the time, to finish the season undefeated and grab its first-ever Missouri Valley Conference title. SIU did not play in the Gateway Conference at the time, and Wichita State had a football team at the time.

The Salukis, along with Tulsa, were both 4-0 going into the final weekend of the regular season before the Division I-AA playoffs, which consisted of only 12 teams in 1983.

The result: SIU choked in a grand fashion, losing 28-6 at Wichita State and conceding the MVC title to Tulsa. The loss dropped SIU from its No. 1 spot in the nation and put its hopes of a decent playoff seed in doubt.

Two days later, the Salukis received terrific news - not only were they in the playoffs, they were receiving a first-round bye, given to the top four teams, along with a home game.

"I'm very pleased," said then SIU head coach Rey Dempsey upon hearing the news. "Even though you know you'll probably be there, it's a great feeling when you finally find out."

Says then-DE football beat writer Jim Lexa:

After the disappointing route, Dempsey tried to forget the game immediately.

The day after the loss, Dempsey held a pep rally at halftime during a men's basketball game to pump up the fans for the playoffs he hoped his team could take part in.

As Lexa talked to Dempsey that Sunday, the Saluki coach was already trying to bury Wichita State in the past.

"I remember on Sunday, the day after the game, I was talking with coach Dempsey, and just trying to figure out where things went wrong," said Lexa, who is now an assistant news editor for the Amarillo Globe News in Texas. "I think he was already trying to forget that game and get on with the playoffs."

When Lexa tried to question Dempsey about the details of what went wrong, the coach would not talk about them.

Lexa said the reason for the loss was simply a fired-up opposition.

"It was a road game - Wichita State was fired up playing an unbeaten, No. 1-ranked team," Lexa said.

What they wrote: The Wichita State preview as it appeared in the Daily Egyptian Nov. 11, 1983 follows.

MVC crown in Salukis' grasp

More than just an undefeated season rests in the I-AA No. 1 Salukis' last game of the regular season.

SIU-C, 10-0, needs to beat Wichita State on the road Saturday in order to take at least a share of the Missouri Valley Conference title this season. Tulsa and the Salukis are 4-0 in the MVC. The two teams will not play each other this year.

While chasing their first-ever MVC title, the Salukis are also trying to become the first 11-0 team in the 77-year history of the MVC. A win against Wichita State would also give the Salukis the distinction of being the first undefeated team in 38 years in the MVC.

In 1945, Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State) went 9-0. Only two other teams in the MVC have finished 10-1 in the MVC.

"To be undefeated in regular season play is a lifetime goal of coaches and the players," Saluki Coach Rey Dempsey said. "Eleven is a big number. We want it bad.

"We've had several seconds in the MVC since I've been here, and we want to be first. We feel we're the team that can do it this year."

If the Salukis finish with a win over Wichita State, Dempsey said an 11-0 record for his top-ranked squad would just about assure SIUC of a first-round bye and a home game. "I can't say that for sure," Dempsey said, "because the decision is made by the NCAA." The Salukis will not be looking at just the Shockers' record, Dempsey said.

"Anybody who watches the game films wouldn't take them lightly," Dempsey said. "I wish they had a better record, like 6-4, but had less talent than they have now. Their offense has been moving the ball the way they thought they would this year."

Wichita State's No. 1 ranked offense in the MVC will be going up against the MVC's NO. 1-ranked defense.

Wichita State has been averaging 405 yards and 22.9 points per game. Defensively, the Salukis have given up just 235 yards and 12.9 points per game.

Against the run, SIU-C has been giving up an average of only 109.8 yards, while the Shockers' main strength has been on the ground. They have rushed for an average of 239.6 yards, with their two lowest game totals being 247 and 166 yards.

Even though the Shocker offense has racked up some big numbers this season, it has not been enough to put some bigger numbers in the win column.

"It's just that their defense has been down with a lot of injuries and a lot of fumbles and miscues," Dempsey said.

Wichita State's defense has yielded an average of 372 yards per game this year, including 227.3 yards per game on the ground.

Offensively, the Salukis are probably hoping to match that average. SIUC's offensive attack has built its average up to 315.8 yards of total offense, with 158.7 coming on the ground.

The Salukis' scoring average of 35.3 is two points higher than what the Shocker defense has allowed for a game average.

Some of the 20 injuries that have wracked the Shocker squad have knocked out two defensive backs, two linebackers, two receivers and a starting quarterback.

"What's been amazing," Dempsey said, "is that so many of their guys have been hurt. They just have a lot of depth."

The Salukis, though, will not be a completely healthy squad either when it takes the field. Dempsey said his team is "hobbling" this week.

"There have been a lot of players taking treatment every day," Dempsey said.

Dempsey said he discounts the talk of people saying the Salukis would win because of a common opponent in New Mexico State. Last week, the Shockers lost 62-28 to the Aggies, while two weeks ago SIUC beat New Mexico State 41-3.

"It would never happen," Dempsey said. "The only way that could happen would be if they didn't show up. No one on this staff thinks that, nor do the players."

What happened: The Wichita State game recap as it appeared in the Daily Egyptian Nov. 14, 1983 follows.

Salukis handed shocking defeat

SIUC's three-week reign as king of the I-AA football poll probably has ended after the team was "shocked" Saturday in a 28-6 loss to Wichita State.

With the loss, the Saluki playoff picture remains in the dark. If SIUC had finished its season 11-0, the Salukis probably would have been told Monday by the NCAA playoff selection committee they would receive a first-round bye and a home game.

Now SIUC, 10-1, might not find out about its upcoming playoff role until Nov. 20.

Although Saluki Coach Rey Dempsey said he did not know how his team would figure onto the playoffs, he thinks his squad will stay in the top three in the poll, especially since No. 2-ranked Northeast Louisiana lost to North Texas State 27-7.

"We shouldn't slip any lower than third," Dempsey said. "We shouldn't be penalized that much. Nobody else has 10 wins anyway (in I-AA)."

The Shockers, finishing their season at 3-8, did not play like a squad headed nowhere while upsetting the Salukis.

Saluki hopes for SIUC's first-ever Missouri Valley Conference championship began going downhill when Wichita State took the opening kickoff and marched 87 yards on 11 straight runs to take a 7-0 lead.

It appeared the Salukis had halted the Shocker drive at the Wichita State 14-yard line on third down, but a facemask call in Ed Norman brought the Shockers new life.

On the next play, freshman quarterback Brian McDonald ran around right end for 16 yards and a first down. Wichita State converted on two more third downs in the drive, which was capped by sophomore tailback Eric Denson's 9-yard touchdown run.

The Shockers controlled the ground game, rushing for 333 yards on 77 carries. Denson led the Shocker attack with 179 yards and became the first Shocker to crack the 1,000-yard barrier in the team's history. He finished with 1,017 yards for the season.

Wichita State limited the Salukis to just 41 yards rushing.

McDonald gained 80 yards for the Shockers while directing an option-pitchout attack that sent the Salukis into disbelief on the game's first drive, Dempsey said.

"Emotionally, when we were down 7-0, our kids felt like they were down 21-0," Dempsey said. "They were disoriented for seven to eight minutes."

Dempsey said that McDonald did one of the best jobs at quarterback as Dempsey has seen in five to six years. Dempsey called Denson one of the two best running backs in the conference saying, "There's no question that he's good."

SIUC scored on field goals the first two times it had the ball to narrow the deficit to 7-6. Miller kicked the three-pointer from 39 and 41 yards out that ended what could have been touchdown drives.

A 22-yard touchdown pass was dropped by split end Tony Adams on the first play before Miller's first field goal.

B.T. Thomas set up a second Saluki drive by recovering a fumble at the Wichita State 23-yard line. But after a 7-yard loss on a quarterback sack, a 7-yard completion and incompletion, the Salukis were forced to kick their second field goal.

One of the biggest breaks the Shockers received was when SIUC faced a fourth-and-one from the Wichita State 4-yard line with just less than four minutes left in the half.

Running back Terry Green took the pitchout and followed fullback Corky Field around left end. Shocker defense back Glen Stewart, 5-foot-8, 182 pounds, fought off Field, and tackled Green just short of the first down.

A field goal attempt could have given the Salukis a 9-7 Lead, but Dempsey said he felt his team needed a touchdown to get it going again.

"I know how to play the field goal game pretty well," Dempsey said. "You could always second guess yourself, but I felt I had the right thing called.

Two more big breaks were still to follow for the Shockers, Saluki Tony Jackson fumbled a punt on the SIUC 8-yard line. Wichita State recovered the ball at the 1-yard line. On the next play, fullback Dwight Eaton scored, giving the Shockers a 14-6 Lead with 9:33 left in the third quarter.

Safety Darrell Whitely snapped the Salukis' next drive, then he intercepted quarterback Rick Johnson's pass at a Wichita State 24-yard line. From there the Shockers scored a 9-yard touchdown from McDonald to tight end Anthony Jones and increased their lead to 21-6 with :30 left in the third quarter.

Johnson tied a Saluki record with 47 attempts, while completing 21 passes for 291 yards, and threw four interceptions.

Dempsey said that he did not enter the game thinking his squad would pass so much, but that it would have more of a balanced attack.

"We thought we'd probably get 150-200 yards on the ground," Dempsey said. "And about 150-175 yards passing."

Wichita State put the game out of reach when it scored its last touchdown with11:39 left to play. McDonald operated the drive, which used nine straight running plays and took 3:44 off the clock.

A "term stronger than disappointed" described the Saluki locker room after the game, Dempsey said.

"Everybody wanted to be 11-0 so bad," Dempsey said. "They were a little bit bitter to lose that game. They played real hard."

At halftime of the Saluki basketball game Saturday night against the Turkish National team, the crowd of about 2,200 applauded the football team as it lined both ends of the court, while Dempsey spoke in front of the scorer's table near mid-court.

"I'm real proud of the players and the coaches," Dempsey said.

He said his squad was going to "get back after it" and was going to try to get healthy for the next game.

"We really can't bring the game back and play it over again," Dempsey said.