Confidence building for 3-0 Salukis

CARBONDALE, Ill. – The Salukis are 3-0 for the first time since 2007 after a four-touchdown win over SEMO on Saturday. Next up is Purdue, as Southern Illinois takes its high-powered offense to a Big Ten venue.

1. How good has Southern been on offense this year? It ranks fourth in the nation in scoring (44.3 points) and 13th in total offense (463.3). Coordinator Bill O’Boyle has this unit firing on all-cylinders early.

2. QB Mark Iannotti continues to impress. He ranks third in the nation in passing and has 10 touchdown strikes already, second only to Eastern Washington’s Vernon Adams. Against SEMO, he did something that Saluki greats Joel SamburskyNick HillChris Dieker and Kory Faulkner never did — throw six TD passes in a game.

3. His biggest throw of the night against SEMO was a 60-yard touchdown to WR Tay Willis in the second quarter on 3rd-and-9. On the previous possession, Iannotti had thrown a pick-six that allowed the Redhawks to cut the deficit to 21-13. He misfired on his next two passes, and you had to wonder if he was beginning to crack? Hardly. Iannotti threw a perfect deep ball, hitting Willis in stride, and tossed three more touchdown passes from that point forward. You can almost see his confidence growing with each game.

4. Five different receivers caught touchdowns for Southern. That’s a first in Saluki history. As a defensive coordinator, you have so many weapons to defend besides All-American TE MyCole Pruitt. Wideouts Willis and LaSteven McKinney are scary one-on-one match ups. Then you can bring RB Malcolm Agnew out of the backfield. With TE Adam Fuehne back from mono, Southern has the potential to field an elite offense.

5. It’s no secret Pruitt wants to play in the National Football League. He has made several amazing catches this season that must have NFL scouts excited. At Eastern Illinois last week, he leaped high in the air and snatched a ball in traffic for what could have been a touchdown, though he was ruled out of bounds. Against SEMO, he made a fingertip catch of a fastball from Iannotti for a TD. He also made one catch in the third quarter in which he dragged four defenders along for an extra nine yards. He’s doing everything you’d expect of a pro prospect.

6. The offensive line deserves credit for its performance so far this season. Not only is the running game averaging 6.0 yards per carry, but the unit has allowed only two sacks in 83 pass attempts this season. They are doing it without arguably their best tackle — LT Ethan Wirth. Senior Corey Boemer has played admirably on the left side. After the game, Lennon said Wirth, who has an ankle sprain, might play next week.

7. Ok. I admit I was a bit nervous watching Agnew run the ball eight times in the fourth quarter with the Salukis up by four TDs. Of course, you don’t want to risk losing the nation’s sixth-leading rusher when the game is in hand. However, there was good rationale for playing Agnew early in the fourth. SIU was backed up to its own one-yardline after a brilliant goal-line stand by the defense. The Salukis were presented with the opportunity to work on their power running game with their backs against the wall, and they were successful, as Agnew ripped off gains of 6, 4, 8, 5, 3, 6, 12 and 1 yard. It was a confidence-builder for the offense and who knows when they’ll find themselves in a similar situation? Mika’il McCall finished off the drive for Southern.

8. Speaking of the goal-line stand by SIU’s defense, SEMO attempted six-straight power running plays from the 15-yardline early in the fourth quarter in a test of wills between the teams. The Salukis were up to the challenge, stopping the Redhawks on four-consecutive plays from inside the 3. Yet another confidence-builder for this team.

9. SIU’s secondary had their hands full with WR Paul McRoberts, who caught seven passes for 86 yards. After the game, Lennon told me McRoberts is a BCS-caliber player. CB Keith Suggs did an admirable job on McRoberts. Suggs was also robbed of a touchdown in the third quarter after he scooped up a fumble and was on his way to the end zone before an inadvertent whistle ended the play.

10. The Salukis are getting good pressure on the QB with 11 sacks and 14 quarterback hurries so far in three games. OLB Tyler Williamson has been on a tear with 3.0 sacks, but eight other players have had a hand in on at least one sack.

11. I loved Southern’s clock management with a big lead late in the game. You might have found it odd to see them in the no-huddle during the third quarter, but they never snapped the ball with more than 5-or-6 seconds on the play clock.They had a matchup they liked and made it difficult for SEMO to substitute. In the fourth quarter, the offense ran like clock-work, with Iannotti breaking the huddle with 12 seconds on the play clock and the ball being snapped with 2-or-3 seconds to go.

12. Before you get too far ahead in predicting a 4-0 start for SIU, remember that the Missouri Valley Football Conference is 2-49 all-time against the Big Ten. Purdue is coming off a solid performance in a loss to No. 11 Notre Dame. They have more scholarships and more resources, not to mention home-field advantage. The Salukis will have to play a near-perfect game to be competitive. Of course, SIU has one of those two Big Ten wins, knocking off Indiana in 2006. North Dakota State has the other win — beating downtrodden Minnesota in 2011. If you can’t be there in person, the game will be televised on the Big Ten Network.

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