By Ryan Keith 21

SIUC football coach Jan Quarless knew his team had faith in his system, and the first-year head coach found out Saturday just how much his Salukis believe.

Trailing 29-18 to Illinois State University heading into the fourth quarter, the Salukis scored twice in the game’s final quarter. But for the first time in three weeks, the Salukis came out on top.

Advertisement

SIUC capped an 80-yard drive with five seconds left on a 26-yard pass from quarterback Kent Skornia to wide receiver Ray Barnes to give the Salukis their second comeback win of the season, 31-29, in front of 3,000 people at McAndrew Stadium.

The win boosts SIUC’s record to 2-4 overall and 1-3 in the Gateway Football Conference. Illinois State falls to 2-5 overall and 0-2 in conference play.

All the credit is due to them (the players), Quarless said. They keep battling back. They find a way. Unfortunately, we’ve come up short the last two weeks. I guess it was our turn. It evens out, they say.

With ISU leading 29-24 with 56 seconds left in the game, Skornia and the Saluki offense needed to drive 80 yards for the win. The team showed its faith in Quarless’ system as the Salukis took advantage of a porous Illinois State defense to drive down to the ISU 26-yard line.

The drive included three passes to wide receiver Cornell Craig, who set a school record with 219 yards receiving on 11 catches and two touchdowns.

Quarless saw Illinois State’s cautious defensive play as the perfect opportunity to complete short passes.

We felt we could get four vertical routes on them, Quarless said. We saw what they were playing. Someone has got to be open.

Advertisement*

On the game’s final play, Skornia scrambled to avoid a Redbird pass rush before finding Barnes in the back of the end zone for the game-winning score. Barnes, who narrowly missed falling out of the back of the end zone, said the final play was one that was not expected.

I just wanted to make sure and catch the ball, Barnes said. I was hoping for Kent to see me. It feels really good.

Skornia said he knew the play was successful, even though he was tackled by a Redbird lineman after the throw.

I didn’t see it, Skornia said. I got hit as I threw it, so all I heard was the crowd roar.

Basically, what we tried to do was get first downs on every play. We just moved the chains every time and the clock stopped, and that just helped us so much. The linemen did a great job of giving us some time to get open and throw the ball. It was fun.

After losing by a total of seven points in its last three games, the Salukis broke their longest losing streak since dropping five in a row last year.

The Salukis put themselves in a familiar position Saturday trailing in the fourth quarter. Illinois State overcame an early 18-3 deficit to close to within 18-16 at halftime. The Redbirds controlled the ball offensively in the first half, ending the half with a time of possession of 22:20, while SIUC had the ball for 7:40.

In the second half, Illinois State controlled the ball and the clock again. The Redbirds took the lead on a 1-yard run by quarterback Kevin Glenn, and they added another score on a 15-yard run by Darnell Jones for a 29-18 lead.

But SIUC grabbed the momentum early in the fourth quarter, as the Salukis rumbled 99 yards from their own 1-yard line in seven plays and scored on a 13-yard catch by Craig.

Illinois State had one last shot to take an eight-point lead as the Redbirds drove down to the Saluki 17-yard line, but place-kicker Jake Strader missed a 34-yard field goal attempt to set up the Salukis’ winning drive.

Skornia finished the game with 276 yards passing and three touchdowns. Karlton Carpenter led the Salukis on the ground with 84 yards rushing.

Glenn completed 23 of 42 pass attempts for 314 yards and a touchdown for the Redbirds. Centralia native Rick Garrett caught eight passes for 115 yards, while the Redbirds’ leading receiver, Marquis Mosely, caught six passes for 65 yards.

While the final statistics favored Illinois State, Craig said the win justified Quarless’ emphasis on hard work and perseverance.

It feels good to be on this end, Craig said. The last two weeks, we’ve come up short at the end. It’s good to pay back.

The Salukis travel to Tampa, Fla., to battle the University of South Florida at 6 p.m. Saturday.