CARBONDALE, Ill. (SIU ATHLETICS) --South Dakota State rushed for 392 yards and used a 24-point third quarter to pull away from Southern Illinois for a 44-3 victory on Saturday afternoon at Saluki Stadium.
The No. 6-ranked Jackrabbits (4-1, 4-1) moved into a three-way tie with North Dakota State and North Dakota in the Missouri Valley Football Conference standings, as every team now has at least one loss with three weeks left in the regular season.
The No. 5-ranked Salukis (4-2, 3-2) were pitching a 3-0 shutout until late in the first half when South Dakota State finally punched across a touchdown on an 18-play, 91-yard drive to take a 7-3 lead with 4:04 to go in the second quarter. Southern gave the ball right back to SDSU on the ensuing kickoff after a fumble by  was recovered at the SIU 17. The Jackrabbits scored three plays later on an Isaiah Davis 3-yard TD run to make it 14-3.
 made the start at quarterback for Southern and completed 8-of-9 passes in the first half, but threw an interception at the SDSU 36 with 39 seconds left in the half that ended a promising drive. The throw was high and went through the hands of running back  along the right boundary. That turnover allowed the Jackrabbits one more possession before halftime, and they cashed in with a 31-yard field goal by Cole Frahm to take a 17-3 lead at intermission.
SIU head coach  turned to Kare Lyles at quarterback to begin the second half. The senior started SIU's first two games this season before suffering two broken ribs against North Dakota on Feb. 20. His first pass of the game was intercepted by SDSU cornerback Don Gardner at the SIU 30 after wide receiver  slipped on his route. Lyles ended the day 3-of-8 passing for 35 yards and two interceptions.
The Jackrabbits ran the ball 61 times with an average gain of 6.4 yards per carry, wearing down the Saluki defense in the second half. Davis finished with 150 yards and three touchdowns, while quarterback Mark Gronowski added 103 yards and a pair of rushing TDs.
"This game will humble you pretty quick," said Hill. "You have to give a lot of credit to South Dakota State. They've had our number, they've beaten us five times in a row. That makes you sick to your stomach to even say that out loud, but that's the truth. You have to take ownership of that. They haven't just beat us, they've beat us pretty soundly."
Including running back , the Salukis have used five players at quarterback this season and shown the ability to win with any of them. However, the offense was just starting to hit its stride in recent weeks behind , before he hurt his foot and was lost for the season. Labanowitz rallied the team to a comeback win last week versus Northern Iowa, but Hill said he was looking for a spark for the offense when he replaced Labanowitz with Lyles.
"I felt like with us being down, we were going to have to push the ball a little bit," Hill explained. We didn't have any explosive plays. I'm not a guy who wants to rotate quarterbacks. I've played that position and that stinks, but right now, that's where we're at. As a head coach, when decisions go good, everybody's behind it, and when they don't go good, you have to stand up here and take ownership. I love both of those guys and I love this team still � I told them that. We have to regroup and come back to work."
For a Saluki team that has already beaten No. 1 North Dakota State and No. 4 Northern Iowa, today's outcome was a reminder of how deep the conference known as the "SEC of the FCS" really is.
"You have to be mentally, physically, emotionally ready to play � week after week after week," Hill said. "Missouri State will be a very good opponent next week. Anybody on our schedule can beat us if we don't come to play."
Southern turned the ball over four times on the day and was held to a season-low 213 yards of total offense.Â
"We've been through a lot of ups and downs," Hill said. "I know what their attitude will be. I'm confident this group will show up tomorrow, take ownership and put together a great week of practice to give us our best chance to go on the road and win (at Missouri State)."
