A record and a loss for HU at SIU

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Quarterback Herbert Bynes' passing yards aren't enough for the Pirates against Southern Illinois.

CARBONDALE, Ill. - Herbert Bynes just ran out of time Saturday night. Hampton's sophomore quarterback threw for a school-record 403 yards and three touchdowns at Southern Illinois, but the Pirates fell 37-31 at McAndrew Stadium. SIU is ranked 12th in the Championship Subdivision. Bynes completed 30 of 47 passes, leading the Pirates to three second-half scores, but he was picked off three times in his third career start.

Hampton (1-1) made it easy for Saluki starter Chris Dieker, who finished his first career start with 216 yards and three scores. Two lost fumbles gave SIU short fields in the opening half, and the Salukis turned the fumbles into a 20-0 lead. Dieker hit Damian Sherman for two touchdowns in the first half and put SIU up nearly three scores with a 27-yard connection to Jeff Evans.

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Attendance: 10,051 (58%) @McAndrew Stadium, Carbondale, IL (Capacity: 17,324)

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Hampton (1-0) at Southern Illinois (0-0).
WHERE: McAndrew Stadium, Carbondale, Ill.
WHEN: 7 p.m. ET
RADIO: 88.1FM.

The SIU football team heads into its first game under new head coach Dale Lennon with a slight disadvantage. It hasn't played a game yet.SIU opens its season against Hampton University (1-0) Saturday at 6 p.m. in McAndrew Stadium. And while the team remains confident in its abilities to execute a solid game plan, there are concerns that Hampton's one game experience could give them a slight edge.

"That they have had that first game under their belt is a concern for me," Lennon said. "Anytime they have that first game, they can identify those first game mistakes and it is just a luxury that we don't have." Typically, coaches agree that teams make the most improvements between week one and week two of a given season. Besides getting first game jitters out of the way, teams are also given a chance to identify strengths and weaknesses and improve upon them during the following week of practice.

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UAPB vs. Southern Illinois

By Robert Crow, the southern

Salukis eye 4-0 start

CARBONDALE - The numbers seem to say it all.

A 3-0 record for No. 6 Southern Illinois, compared to 1-2 for Arkansas-Pine Bluff. SIU has scored 137 points, the Golden Lions 40. Last year, the Salukis pulled away in the second half and cruised to a 48-16 win at Pine Bluff.

And then, there's two - as in, the number of games until the Salukis host Youngstown State. And with today's game against UAPB and next week's contest at Indiana State as those two games, it seems like the Salukis may not receive a serious challenge before that key matchup with YSU.

But SIU is trying not to think that way. Otherwise, today's game may become more of a challenge than the Salukis hope for.

"It's kind of tough, but you can't let that happen," SIU quarterback Nick Hill said. "That's when people sneak up on you. Pine Bluff is a team that can do that to you."

The Golden Lions nearly did that last year, putting a brief scare into the Salukis. UAPB took a 10-7 lead early in the second quarter, and were within five points early in the third quarter, before the Salukis scored the game's final 27 points.

Whether the Golden Lions will be able to put another scare into the Salukis, however, remains to be seen.

UAPB's defense has been superb for much of this season, allowing just 10.3 points per game. But no offense the Golden Lions have faced has been as explosive as the Salukis'.

Hill is playing better than at any point during his two-year career as a starter. He should also get a boost from the probable return of tailback John Randle, who missed last week's game with a high ankle sprain. Randle is the anchor in a deep, explosive backfield, one that has seen six different running backs score touchdowns this year.

"All of our backs that we've got right now, we can all do damage," said running back Lucien Walker, who caught a touchdown last week. "We've got a lot of utility and versatility in our backs."

But much like in the Salukis' 44-10 win over Southern Utah last weekend, today could give SIU's defense another chance to shine.


The Salukis have forced turnovers at an incredible rate this season, averaging four takeaways a game. If the Salukis can force one turnover today, they'll match the number of turnovers they had all of last season.

"If we can continue on that pace, we're going to win a lot of football games," SIU coach Jerry Kill said. "?I've got to give credit to our coaches and players. They've been talking about it, they've been preaching it, they've been teaching it, and it seems like the players listen to what you emphasize."

Kill said he believes the Salukis are significantly better in certain phases than at the same point last year. But there's still plenty of work to do, and the Salukis expect to see even more improvement this week.

With Gateway Football Conference play starting next week, and a potentially huge game against Youngstown looming the week after that, that improvement could be necessary.

"It's a big week, because we've got to get better," Kill said. "We've got to get better every week, and we feel like we have so far. We played better at Southern Utah, but we still have a long, long way to go to be the kind of team we want to be."

UAPB Moore slated to start against Southern Illinois University

By Mike Marzelli, Pine Bluff Commercial

Johnathan Moore will remain as Arkansas-Pine Bluff's starting quarterback for Saturday's game at Southern Illinois and it appears as though the job will belong to the former Dollarway star for the foreseeable future.
Moore, who replaced Southwestern Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year Chris Wallace under center in Saturday's 12-10 loss to Alabama State after Wallace had missed the previous week of practice with exhaustion, completed 8-of-25 passes for 83 yards and also ran for a score against the Hornets. His start this weekend will be the fourth of his three-year college career.

“Johnathan Moore is still our guy,” Forte said. “The thing he has to do is look at some more film and really study some film of himself and our opponents and just increase his knowledge of the position and what we need from him. We don't need him to go out there and win the game for us, he just needs to play within himself and manage the game and make good decisions.”

Wallace, who spent Saturday on the sidelines in street clothes, has returned to full practice this week and got a number of snaps with the first-team offense on Tuesday. The senior looks to have regained his strength and is slated to be Moore's backup.

“It is great to have Chris back out here,” Forte said. “Any time a member of our UAPB family is sick or hurt or has anything wrong you just pray for him and you want him back out here so it's good to see him back.”

Continued struggles up front

Forte continues to be frustrated by the ongoing struggles of his offensive line, which was unable to hold the line of scrimmage in either facet of the offense for the third straight contest Saturday.

Offensive coordinator and line coach Jonathan Cannon, a former UAPB offensive lineman himself, continues to work long and hard with the group but Forte says there is only so much a coach can do.

“There isn't one thing that we need to focus on or spend extra time on, they just need to keep working and keep getting better and they can't quit,” he said. “It's really just the whole thing that offensive lines work on throughout the season that they need to spend their time in practice doing because we just haven't been good enough.”

Tough loss

The Golden Lions are still stung by their last-second loss in Saturday's Arkansas Classic but the coaching staff has made sure to emphasize the need to move on.

Practice has been crisp to begin the week, especially on Tuesday when UAPB has its longest workout of the week, but the disappointment from the loss still lingers.

“It's been rough,” Forte said. “That's as tough a loss as any right here but these kids are resilient and they know we need to look ahead and never look back anymore.”

A tough test

Southern Illinois will be as tough an opponent as UAPB faces all season. The Salukis are currently ranked sixth in the Football Championship Subdivision after reaching the national semifinals a year ago.

It's a challenge UAPB is welcoming for the second straight year.

“Some teams don't get the chance to play a top ten team but we do and we're going to make the most of it,” Forte said. “They're an outstanding football team with so many talented athletes and they're going to be very tough but we're a good football team and we like challenges.

Last season UAPB hung with SIU for a little over a half and trailed 21-16 early in the third quarter before the Salukis ripped off five straight scores and 27 consecutive points to close the game.

“We were right there in a tough game and then they just broke it open,” Forte said. “It gives our kids confidence that they can compete with them if we play every play and we all know it would be great to go in there and pull an upset.”