ISU had a banner day offensively; with senior quarterback Blayne Baggett tossing for 289 yards, hitting 32-of-45 attempts. He passed for two scores, finding Carl Berman on a pair of touchdown strikes in the contest. Berman scored on catches of 10 and 42 yards.

Southern Illinois took the opening kickoff and drove the ball 81 yards in 13 plays as Antoine Jackson scored on fourth-and-goal from the Sycamore one-yard line with 9:11 remaining in the first quarter to stake Southern to a quick 7-0 advantage. The Sycamores answered as Baggett found Berman on a 10-yard TD with 6:10 showing in the first period, to even the score at seven.

SIU opened up the space in the score that it would need at the end with a pair of TD strikes from quarterback Joel Sambursky – a 21-yarder to Brent Little and a 7-yarder to J.T. Wise – which put the Salukis up 21-7 with 4:29 left in the first half.

Baggett hit Berman in stride for a 42-yard pitch with 2:38 left before the half to inch ISU closer at 21-14. The halftime spread would prove to be 14 points when Alan Turner caught a 10-yard pass from Sambursky with just over 30 seconds left in the half for the 28-14 lead at the break.

ISU used a pair of Kyle Hooper field goals, one from 27 and one a career-long from 47, to get the margin within one score at 28-20 with 10:23 left in the game. SIU’s Arkee Whitlock took control over the final 10 minutes, scoring on a two-yard run and a 19-yard run to boost Southern to a 42-20 victory.

On defense, ISU senior defensive end Kyle Mitchell recorded seven tackles, including four solos and 3.5 tackles for loss as well as a sack in the effort. Mitchell’s fourth quarter sack of Sambursky, gave him 24.5 for his career – which is a new ISU record. He added a forced fumble and fumble recovery in the game.

Berman had nine catches for 102 yards and two TDs in the contest. This was the second time this season that Berman has reached the 100-yard receiving mark. Andre Forte rushed for 104 yards in the contest, going over 100 for the second time as well this season.

Hooper was 2-of-4 kicking on the day, hitting from 47 and 27 while missing from 42 and 33 yards. He had his string of 14 consecutive made field goals broken in the game’s second quarter, but has hit 16 of his last 18 attempts.

Sam Logan caught six passes for 79 yards in the contest, giving him 52 pass receptions for the season. He needs just three more to tie his own school record of 55 receptions set last year.

Indiana State will hit the road looking for its first win of the season next Saturday, October 29, when they travel to Missouri State. ISU dropped a heartbreaking 31-28 decision to the Bears on season ago. Kickoff is set for 1:30 p.m. (CDT).