As Division I-AA’s No. 4-ranked Salukis approached Saturday’s home game against William Penn, coach Jerry Kill and his players cited the positive carryover benefits they felt they gained from last week’s close-but-no-cigar 23-22 loss at I-A Northern Illinois.
First and foremost, Kill was upbeat about and grateful for the performance of senior QB Joel Sambursky. Sambursky’s attempted two-point conversion pass for an upset victory barely misfired with 1 minute 29 seconds to play. But Sambursky had rallied his team with two late TD passes.
“Joel’s idol is Joe Montana,” said Kill, “and he plays like Joe played. Joel is the reason Jerry Kill has his job. I love him like a son. And he’s a better person than he is a player.”
“We’ll take a lot of positives out of this game,” Sambursky said. “It was a very physical game. Northern hit me a lot. But we showed a lot of toughness. I can’t imagine any Northern fans who don’t have respect for the Salukis.”
More Top Picks Best Oneplus Phones
– Next: Sat. vs. William Penn, 6 p.m.