Freshman quarterback Jake Curry was 8-for-19 passing Saturday for 133 yards and two interceptions. Curry will take over the starting job from injured junior Hunter Simmons. (Photo by SIUSalukis.com)
By Barry Bottino
CARBONDALE — In his six-year career at Southern Illinois, quarterback Nic Baker played in 44 games and set six career passing records.
When the Salukis kick off at 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 12 in the seventh game of the post-Baker era, they’ll be starting their third quarterback.
True freshman Jake Curry will take over the job for the Salukis (2-4 overall, 0-2 Missouri Valley Football Conference) for Hunter Simmons, who sustained a broken left leg in last weekend’s 45-10 loss to Illinois State. The injury will end Simmons’ season.
“I feel bad for Hunter,” SIU head coach Nick Hill said Saturday. “I met with him last week and told him each game you stack on top of each other and you’re going to feel more comfortable. He was playing good football. He never threw a pick (in 128 attempts).”
In his first two starts, Simmons had back-to-back 300-yard passing games, becoming only the second SIU player to accomplish that feat.
He was injured Saturday midway through the third quarter on a tackle after a 6-yard run. Simmons’ injured leg was placed in an air cast on the 10-yard line, and he was carted off the field.
“That was tough,” SIU defensive back Jamir Conn said. “All the quarterbacks are my guys, even though we go at it in practice all the time. We have a connection.”
Hill said Saturday that Curry is the only healthy quarterback currently on the roster.
Another week, another player lost
Murray State transfer D.J. Williams, who opened the season as the starter at QB, was injured Sept. 14 in a victory against Incarnate Word. He had surgery on his right hand and will be out “for the foreseeable future,” Hill said last month.
During fall camp in August, true freshman Ethan Harris sustained a season-ending injury.
In June, fifth-year junior quarterback Michael Lindauer joined the coaching staff as a graduate assistant.
The Simmons injury marks nearly 10 starters who have been lost this season.
“You can get frustrated,” Hill said. “As the leader, you don’t have much time to stay frustrated. You’ve got to get quickly to work and lead the best way you know how and motivate the best way you know how.
“It all happened pretty quickly, but we will show up Saturday (against NDSU) and compete.”
Who’s next?
Curry, who played prep football at Edwardsville High School, was a first-team all-state QB as a senior. He passed for more than 5,000 yards and scored 87 touchdowns in his career. Twenty-five of his TDs were rushing scores.
“We’ll rally behind Jake,” Hill said. “He’s got a good demeanor. I told him, ‘Just got out there and have fun. You’re not coming out.’ He competed.”
Conn said he was impressed with Curry soon after the quarterback enrolled for the spring semester.
“In practice, he’s shown so many flashes,” Conn said. “The guy showed he can play. Even (against Illinois State), he was avoiding sacks over and over again.”
Barry Bottino is a co-founder of Prairie State Pigskin and a 19-year veteran of three Illinois newspapers. He has covered college athletics since 1995.
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