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."

Saluki Classic

The result: Luckily, it still ended in a first-round bye, meaning they had the week of Thanksgiving week off before taking on Indiana State. The Salukis could still look back at a terrific season after dropping from I-A to dominate the junior circuit.

Says then-DE football beat writer Jim Lexa: SIU won the championship so long ago, Lexa does not remember most of this week. The game to come, though, would leave an impression.

Carbondale this week in 1983: * Joe Walsh played at Shryock Auditorium * For Thanksgiving break, students could ride a bus roundtrip to Chicago-land for $39.75. * Staff writer Lisa Nichols gave Paul McCartney's new album a bad review. * The Watering Hole on The Strip was selling 10 cent drafts and showing new-fangled MTV videos. * You could get a pork loin sandwich, fries and a drink for $1.69 at Dairy Queen. * Staff writer Mike Nelson gave U2's album a bad review.

Salukis given bye, home game

Saturday's 28-6 loss to Wichita State dropped the Salukis down to only second in the NCAA I-AA football poll. The loss also did not severely damage the Salukis' playoff hopes.

SIUC was notified Monday by the NCAA playoff selection committee that it had received a playoff bid, a first-round bye and would host a home game on Dec. 3.

Saluki Coach Rey Dempsey, in Charleston, S.C., to help promote the I-AA playoffs, said he was "ecstatic" with the playoff information.

"I'm very pleased," Dempsey said. "Even though you know you'll probably be there, it's a great feeling when you finally find out."

The final seedings for the playoffs will not be announced until Sunday. Dempsey said if his squad is not the top-seeded team in the playoffs, it would not bother him too much.

"Just as long as we're one of the top four-seeded team," Dempsey said. "Then we won't have to stay until Dec. 3."

The playoff bye is especially important, Dempsey said, because it will give his squad an extra week in which to heal a lot of the injuries that have affected his team. Instead of playing their first playoff game in one and a half weeks, the Salukis have more than two weeks to prepare.

Holy Cross, ranked No. 1 in the I-AA poll this week, was also awarded a bye and a home game for Dec. 3.

No. 4-ranked Eastern Kentucky earned an automatic playoff spot by clinching the Ohio Valley Conference Saturday. Boston University, rated No. 15, won the Yankee Conference and secured an automatic playoff bid. No. 14 Nevada-Reno, winner of the Big Sky Conference, also earned an automatic playoff bid.

Seven playoff bids remain, two of them automatically going to the champions of the Southern and the Southland conferences. No. 2 Furman and No. 5 North Texas State can wrap up the two remaining automatic bids with wins Saturday.

Missouri Valley Conference member Indiana State, ranked No. 6, will be seeking one of the five at-large and independent bids left, along with Eastern Illinois, rated No. 10.

Wichita State Coach Willie Jeffries fired six of his nine assistant coaches Monday. Jeffries kept Dirk Wedd, offensive line coach; Fayne Henson, offensive coordinator; and Ben Blacknall, defensive coordinator. Blacknall, though, is not expected to keep his present position.

Against the Salukis, Wichita State converted on 13 of 22 third-down plays, including three on its game-opening touchdown drive.

The Salukis could convert on just four of 11 third-down tries and held the football during the game for only 23-02.

Salukis await playoffs; key plays mark year

The second season has begun for the Salukis, 10-1, and so has the waiting game. It will not be known whom the No. 2 I-AA Salukis will play in the quarterfinal game they will host on Dec. 3 for more than a week. The winner of one of the four preliminary games on Nov. 26 will advance to play the Salukis.

Since seven of the 12 playoff bids are still open and will not be officially awarded until Sunday, just about the only options available to the Salukis are to wait, practice and get healthy.

Injuries have plagued the Salukis from game one, while big plays have helped make the season bearable, and winnable, for Saluki Coach Rey Dempsey.

Western Illinois: In the season opener in Macomb, the salukis won 38-7 but lost quarterback Rick Johnson in the third quarter and for the next two games after being carried off the field with knee and ankle injuries.

Fullback Corky Field re-injured his shoulder against Western and would miss the next two games.

Eastern Illinois: Junior quarterback Darren Dixon started the first game of his University career against Eastern the following week. In a game that was going to set the tempo for the Saluki season, Dixon completed only 13 of 37 passes, but threw for 232 yards as the Salukis won 17-14.

After falling behind 14-7, Mike Brascia recovered a blocked punt in the end zone to tie the game. After Ron Miller kicked a 28-yard field goal, the Salukis led 17-14.

Eastern drove down to the SIUC 3-yard line with :20 left to play. The Panthers elected to go for the game-tying field goal on fourth down. Terry Taylor rushed past the line, blocked the kick and preserved the Saluki win.

Southeast Missouri State: SIUC routed SEMO 56-7 in the Salukis' third game of the season. The Saluki ground attack ran for 302 yards and six touchdowns. Granville Butler, with a 68-yard interception for a touchdown and 10 tackles, led a defense that gave up just 138 yards to SEMO.

The first I-AA poll of the season came out, and the Salukis were ranked No. 8.

Northern Iowa: Another rout was in store for SIUC as it ran its record to 4-0 against NIU, 52-9. Johnson received a little game action for the first time since he was injured.

Strong guard John Hietbrink was lost for the season when he suffered a separated shoulder on his first play of the game. Dempsey's offensive line was just beginning to shuffle around. By the end of the season, he was playing four linemen who were promoted to the starting rank because of injuries to others.

Backup split end Tony Adams suffered a concussion in a car accident the night before the Northern Iowa game, which marked the first of two games that he would miss. SIUC moved up to the No. 5 ranking with the win.

Arkansas State: Taking a 4-0 record to Arkansas State brought back memories of last year for the Salukis. In 1982, SIUC lost to Arkansas State on a last-second pass after being 3-0.

This year, Johnson brought the Salukis from behind three times while completing 18 of 33 passes for 222 yards and three touchdowns, leading SIUC to a 35-28 win. He scored the game-winning touchdown on a 1-yard run with just less than five minutes left to play. Safety Greg Shipp made a game-ending interception near the goal line to preserve the Saluki win.

A third climb in the I-AA poll in three weeks moved the Salukis to the No. 3 ranking.

Drake: Playing at home, the Salukis beat Drake 28-9. SIUC hurt its own cause with five turnovers, a season-long problem with the Salukis.

Fabray Collins blocked a punt and returned it for a touchdown just seconds into the game to give the Salukis a 7-0 lead. Johnson's 87-yard touchdown pass to Cecil Ratliff, the longest in SIUC history, provided SIUC with enough points for the win.

SIUC moved to the No. 2 ranking, a position it would hold for two weeks.

Southwest Missouri State: The Salukis ran their record to 7-0 with a 24-6 win over SMSU. SIUC gained 247 yards rushing against a defense that had not given up more than 148 yards on the ground.

SIUC found itself behind 6-0 until Derrick Taylor broke a 26-yard run with less than a minute left in the first half to give the Salukis a 7-6 lead. Terry Green scored on a 21-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter, while the defense gave up just 65 yards in the second half.

Indiana State: At ISU, the Salukis stunned the Sycamores by taking a 31-0 lead with 11:35 left in the second quarter, but had to hang on in the second half for a 34-21 win,

The Salukis found themselves No. 1 after Eastern Kentucky was tied that weekend.

New Mexico State: A 41-3 rout over I-A the Aggies had the fans tearing down the goal posts at McAndrew Stadium for the first time in 17 years.

Interceptions marked the game, as the Saluki secondary came up with eight, bringing its season total to 25.

Illinois State: In its regular-season home finale against ISU, SIUC produced one of its most exciting games of the season with a 28-26 win. The No. 1-ranked Salukis came from behind twice. Donnell Daniel returned an interception 22 yards for a touchdown to give the Salukis their first lead of the game oat 21-14.

Beating Illinois State gave the Salukis their 10th win of the year, a school season record.

Wichita State: At WSU, SIUC's undefeated season came apart at the seams. Eric Denson tore through the Saluki defense for 179 yards and a touchdown as the Shockers lived up to their name and won their third game of the year, 28-6.