It’s the second straight win for the Salukis (6-1, 3-0 Gateway) over the Hilltoppers (4-2, 2-1 Gateway), the first time that has happened since the 1994 and ’95 seasons — Western still leads the all-time series, 8-5.
“We got beat in all three phases of the game tonight,” said WKU head coach David Elson. “I told our team afterward than when you play a team like Southern Illinois, you can’t turn the ball over, you can’t have silly penalties, and you have to tackle better on defense. We just have to take a look at this and move forward.”
The Salukis turned four Hilltopper turnovers into 21 points. It’s the first time this season that Western has had a negative turnover margin.
Jacobs — who rushed for 103 yards on 10 carries against the Toppers for Auburn last fall — reached the end zone three times from 1 yard out, leading all players with 97 yards on 19 rushes. Terry Jackson added 86 yards, Arkee Whitlock had 61 and Joel Sambursky 51 as SIU held a 310-150 advantage on the ground.
Two of Jacobs’ touchdowns came in the second half as the Salukis built on a 14-3 halftime advantage.
WKU came out of the break and moved 59 yards, but facing 3rd-and-8 from the SIU-25 Justin Haddix’ pass hit Montaze Trumbo in the chest — Yemi Akisanya intercepted the deflected ball at the SIU-10 to preserve the Salukis’ 11-point advantage. Instead, SIU took a 21-3 lead when Jacobs’ 1-yard run with 5:31 remaining in the third quarter made the score 21-3. The Salukis used a 39-yard pass to Brent Little on 3rd-and-7 to set up first-and goal at the WKU-4 two plays before the touchdown, capping a drive that covered 90 yards in 10 plays.
Jacobs scored again from 1 yard out just over four minutes later as SIU increased its advantage to 28-3. The Salukis needed to go only 26 yards after Alexis Moreland returned an interception 29 yards.
Sambursky completed 13-of-18 pass attempts as well for 163 yards, finishing with 214 yards of total offense.
Haddix countered with a season-high of 202 yards, completing a career-best 16-of-25 attempts. Aaron Scott paced the Toppers with career highs of five receptions for 68 yards, while Maurice Perkins added four catches for another 62. Curtis Hamilton also posted a personal-best three receptions for 29 yards.
Porter led the Hilltoppers with a career-high 92 yards on 17 attempts as well. Western had 352 yards of total offense against a defense that allowed 271.2 per contest coming into the game.
Moreland and Royal Whitaker led SIU with 11 tackles apiece. WKU’s Marion Rumph paced all players with a career-best 14 stops — the first time he has reached double digits — while Deont Smith added a career-high-tying 12.
WKU picked up the game’s first turnover when Dennis Mitchell intercepted a Sambursky pass at the SIU-48, however the Salukis forced a three-and-out and instead took the first lead of the night by responding with a 12-play, 88-yard drive. SIU picked up five first downs on the possession, with three plays of 10 yards or more. Jacobs capped the march with a 1-yard touchdown run at 13:16 of the second quarter, completing a drive in which he rushed seven times for 45 yards.
On the ensuing kickoff, Marlon Heaston forced a Mitchell fumble that was recovered by Phillip Doyle at the WKU-25. Four plays later, a 10-yard scoring pass from Sambursky to Micah Turner gave the Salukis a 14-0 lead with 11:39 to go before the half.
The Hilltoppers put their first points of the game on the board six seconds before halftime, when Chris James’ 29-yard field goal ended a 78-yard drive that lasted 13 plays and four minutes, 40 seconds. Western only faced two third downs on the possession.
Porter ran for a 2-yard touchdown midway through the final period, but SIU answered with a 24-yard Craig Coffin field goal and a 12-yard touchdown pass from Sambursky to Little for the final margin of victory.
Little ended the game with a team-leading four catches for 75 yards.
Western will return home to play host Indiana State at 4 p.m. (CST) Saturday on Homecoming weekend.
