Salvage time is here, that time of year when playoff chances for some have gone away and the final games are for purposes other than extending a disappointing season.
The goal now is to finish on an up note “and salvage what’s left of the season,” said Eastern Illinois coach Bob Spoo, working to get his Panthers (4-6, 2-4) past a manhandling by Tennessee State and finish well against Austin Peay (1-8, 1-5) and Tennessee Tech (3-8, 1-6) these last two weeks.
Eastern Illinois
The Panthers averaged 191 yards per game last season and 187 in 2006. This season they are wobbling along with 127 per game, down to sixth in the conference from No. 2 two years ago.
“When you don’t stop the run and get a good ground game going, you’re going to be in this position,” Spoo said.
Illinois State/Western Illinois
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Illinois State, crushed last week 52-21 by South Dakota State and brutal Dakota winds, has lost four of its last five to fall out of any postseason discussion. “There’s always something to play for,” said coach Denver Johnson. “We’re a very disappointed and frustrated football team in many ways. “But we’re not discouraged or dispirited and I’m very proud of the way the players keep coming back and putting their hands on the plow.”
That plow will be pointing west Saturday when the Redbirds go to Macomb for a meeting with Western Illinois (5-4, 3-3). The No. 25 Leathernecks are dealing with their own disappointments, losing two straight and scoring only 20 points total in those losses to fall out of the MVC title hunt.
For the Leathernecks, the season is now about their 17 seniors. “It’s not about next year,” said coach Don Patterson. “We owe those seniors a strong finish and I know our younger players all understand that.”
The Redbirds (3-6, 2-4) suffered from an ongoing defensive collapse that has seen the last five opponents each pile up at least 400 yards of offense, four of the games ending in defeats. Western Illinois and Illinois State are both scoring, 31 ppg. for the Leathernecks, 28.6 for the Redbirds. The difference has been on defense where WIU yields 18.1 per game vs. ISU’s 30.6 average.
Injuries are never allowed to be an excuse, the reality has been that Illinois State has been hit hard and often on defense but “it’s just seemed that we get one guy back and lose two more,” Johnson said.
Southern Illinois
The Salukis need to fend off a South Dakota State team coming to Carbondale looking to stay in contention for a share of the Missouri Valley. Southern Illinois (7-2, 5-1) has won five straight and given up fewer than 12 points per game in that stretch.
“Coach [Dale] Lennon’s teams have always been good on defense, ‘unpredictable,’ if you will,” said South Dakota State coach John Stiegelmeier.