Western Illinois quarterback Matt Morrissey (left) was sacked three times Saturday in a 63-0 loss to Southern Illinois at Hanson Field in Macomb. (Photo by Barry Bottino, PrairieStatePigskin.com)
By Barry Bottino
MACOMB – In less than 5 minutes Saturday at Hanson Field, Western Illinois forced a turnover against Southern Illinois.
By the time the Leathernecks forced another fumble late in the second quarter, No. 11 Southern Illinois was well on its way to 63-0 Missouri Valley Football Conference victory.
“The first half was extremely frustrating because we had huge takeaways against a really good offense,” Western head coach Myers Hendrickson said. “Playing the No. 11 team in the country, if you get two takeaways, you have to score off of those. They’re not going to make many mistakes. They’re not going to make unforced errors.”
The Leathernecks (0-8 overall, 0-5 MVFC) lost their 21st consecutive game, dating back to November 2021.
Part of the reason Western failed to cash in on the turnovers was their 4-for-18 performance on third downs and finishing 1-for-5 on fourth downs.
Western managed 152 yards of total offense and only 11 first downs. Quarterback Matt Morrissey was 11-for-26 passing for 48 yards.
For the game, Western had 16 total offensive possessions and averaged four plays per possession.
“For one, we had more drops than I can recall this season,” Hendrickson said of his team’s third-down performance. “That would be part of it. There’s no one play that changed this game. It was the culmination of a lot of things. We had our opportunities. We just did not make the plays.”
Southern piled up five offensive plays of 20 or more yards in the first half, when the Salukis roared to a 35-0 lead.
Saturday marked the final meeting for Western and Southern as conference opponents before the Leathernecks move to the Ohio Valley Conference next fall.
SIU head coach Nick Hill, a former Saluki quarterback, praised the Leatherneck program.
“When I first got to be on the team at SIU, Western was the standard,” he said. “They beat us 18 years in a row (from 1984 to 2001).”
Game changers
10:50, 1st quarter: Western linebacker Juan DelaCruz forced a fumble by SIU quarterback Nic Baker, which was recovered by WIU linebacker Ryan Crandall.
4:43, 2nd quarter: Safety Bradyn Smith forced another SIU fumble, this one recovered by WIU linebacker Noah Epley.
9:24, 4th quarter: SIU safety Desman Hearns picked up a fumble by Western RB Torrance Farmer and returned it 43 yards for the game’s final TD. The score made SIU’s 63-0 win the largest margin of victory in the history of the series between these two schools.
What it means
Despite the loss, Western leads the series 36-27-4 against the Salukis.
Nifty ‘Necks
Prairie State Pigskin chooses the top three Leatherneck players in the game:
Jay Parker, WR: He provided a team-best five catches for 23 yards, including the longest WIU play of the game, a 16-yard reception.
Ludovick Choquette, RB: Of his team-best 49 rushing yards Saturday, 40 came in the second half when SIU used numerous reserve players.
Ryan Crandall, LB: The sophomore had a team-leading six tackles and recovered a fumble.
What’s next?
Western travels to Northern Iowa for a 1 p.m. kickoff Nov. 4.
Prairie State Pigskin 
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