Kobe spearheads offensive revival

MACOMB The SIU football team lost a game Saturday, but it may have found a quarterback.

Junior Kevin Kobe replaced Madei Williams at quarterback in the second quarter, and wound up 17-for-30 for 218 passing yards. Kobe engineered three touchdown drives in the middle quarters before throwing a pair of interceptions in the fourth quarter when the Salukis were desperate to quickly put points on the board.

There were segments of the game where Kobe expertly picked apart the Leathernecks, reading plays shrewdly and utilizing crisp, timing passes to march the Salukis through Western’s defense.

I just had so much fun out there, Kobe said. I haven’t really been able to get in a rhythm. The offensive line deserves so much credit because they helped me be comfortable back there.

Kobe has seen little action so far in his SIU career, and although head coach Jerry Kill has touted his improvement, the arrival of Williams from Syracuse seemed sure to delay Kobe’s opportunity to show his stuff. But with Williams so far unable to ignite the offense, it seems that Kobe may be in line to show the coaching staff he is worthy of an opportunity to lead the offense.

I thought Kevin did a great job, Kill said. I thought the tempo on our team picked up when he went in. We needed a change. It wasn’t that Madei was doing a bad job. We just needed a change and something to get going.

Kevin seemed to spark us. He came in and did what we asked him to and gave us an opportunity to win the game in the fourth quarter, and we just didn’t do it.

In addition to Kobe’s emergence, the Saluki passing game also benefited from improved play from several of its receivers. Mark Shasteen caught five balls, Kevin Gleeson and Justin George each had four catches and Tom Koutsos and Steron Davidson hauled in three passes apiece.

Those guys really stepped it up, Kobe said. They made some big catches and they ran better routes against some of the best corners we’re going to see this year. They got open and they were patient.

INJURY WOES:The Leathernecks are a physically imposing bunch, and their brawn took a toll on the health of several SIU players. Tight end Ryan McAllister hurt his knee, wide receiver Steron Davidson was relegated to crutches on the sidelines after injuring an ankle and safety Andre Rockwell and defensive lineman Ron Doyle were also limping noticeably by game’s end.

While it was too early for Kill to judge the severity of the injuries after the game, he placed particular concern on McAllister’s condition.

That one concerns me because we’ve done a good job of using the tight end and he’s a good football player, Kill said. We can’t afford to lose anybody right now because we’re very thin.

ALL FINISHED:Despite closing the game with a relatively comfortable 38-21 victory, Western Illinois head coach Don Patterson wasn’t pleased with the way SIU crept back into the game. The Leathernecks scored the game’s first three touchdowns, but were unable to put the game out of reach after that point until the game’s closing minutes.

This was the first opportunity we’ve had this year to [blow out] someone, and we didn’t do it, Patterson said. Hopefully they’ll learn from it.

It’s not all just deficiencies on our part, it’s a credit to SIU. We had some players that relaxed a little bit, and they had some players that were determined.

Reporter Jay Schwab can be reached at [email protected]