By Ryan Keith 20

The SIUC football team is treating Saturday’s Homecoming game against Southwest Missouri State University as the perfect opportunity to end a two-game losing streak.

But regardless of Saturday’s outcome, several team members agree that a loss to the Bears in the Homecoming battle, which begins at 1:30 p.m. at McAndrew Stadium, should not defeat the team’s positive attitude for the rest of the season.

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Left guard Walter Skeate said Homecoming is the best opportunity for the Salukis to establish a winning streak.

After the way we’ve been playing, I think we can compete with anybody in the league, Skeate said. It’s always important to win at home. You always want to win Homecoming. We all want to have a good game, and we all want to win.

The Salukis enter play Saturday with a 1-3 mark overall and an 0-2 start in the Gateway Football Conference. SIUC is coming off a 28-27 loss to defending conference champion the University of Northern Iowa Saturday, which included a chance to win in the game’s final seconds that came up one yard short.

A come-from-behind 24-20 win over Murray State University Sept. 6 and a near repeat of those heroics in a 19-14 loss to Indiana State University one week later have given SIUC coach Jan Quarless reason to be optimistic.

I think the second half of the last three ball games really speaks for the way they have responded, Quarless said. These losses are becoming tougher for them, which I appreciate.

We’ve asked this football team to stop streaks, and obviously this is one we’ve got to stop this Saturday.

Although the team’s resilience has been a positive, left tackle Jason Krivis said the biggest difference between losing and winning during the last two weeks has been a poor first-half effort offensively.

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We finally got our rushing game going, and that was something we needed to do, Krivis said. We’re going to have to play four quarters of football the way we have been playing, and we’ve got to play the first half like we’ve been playing the second half.

The Bears enter Saturday’s conference-opener with a 2-2 record on the season. Southwest defeated the University of Tennessee-Martin 27-14 in Springfield, Mo., two weeks ago and is returning to action after a one-week layoff.

Southwest ranks fifth in the conference in rushing and second in passing under coach Del Miller, who is 13-13 in his third season with the Bears. Southwest also ranks fourth in the league in total and scoring defense.

The Bears have had their way with the Salukis since the mid-1980s. Southwest, who holds an 11-8 advantage in the all-time series with SIUC, has won nine of the last 10 matchups with the Salukis, including a 24-17 win at home last season.

The Salukis took a 17-0 lead into halftime last season, only to watch Southwest score 21 points in the third quarter and add a field goal in the fourth for a seven-point win. That loss began a five-game losing streak that dropped the Salukis from 4-1 to 4-6 overall.

But Krivis and Skeate, returning starters from last year’s squad, both agree that this year’s team is more prepared to handle success and defeat under Quarless’ leadership.

I don’t think any one game is more important than the others for us right now, Krivis said. I really don’t think you could compare last year to this year because the character is so different. We’re not going to let one game ruin our season.

Skeate said there is a difference between this year’s team and last year’s team.

I believe last year’s team wouldn’t have come back the way we did, the way we’ve been doing all season, Skeate said. It could have been 45-0, instead of 28-27 with us having a chance to win the game.

Even though an extra week of preparation may give the Bears the advantage Saturday, and a win would boost the Salukis’ spirits, Quarless does not see a repeat of last year’s struggles in the future.

Does the season hang in the balance? Absolutely not, Quarless said. I think that we’ll be all right. I just think that anytime you can go 2-3, rather than the other situation, your football team still believes you can go out and be winners for the season.

The Salukis and the Bears square off for the SIUC Homecoming contest at 1:30 p.m. at McAndrew Stadium.