SIU football Salukis hunt for a Homecoming win The Dawgs welcome Youngstown State after a hard loss to the Illinois State Redbirds last week at home

The SIU football team's collective head is spinning heading into the Homecoming game tomorrow with Youngstown State (2 p.m., Saluki Stadium).

SIU has lost three games in a row, including last weekend's sack-athon, a 21-7 home loss to the Illinois State Redbirds.

The Dawgs, who had prided themselves on protecting their quarterback in their first four games, have given up 14 in the last two contests, including nine to an ISU front four that kept SIU quarterback Kare' Lyles practicing "duck and cover" the whole game.

"They (ISU) pressured us quite a bit, but we've got to get the ball out (quicker)," said SIU coach Nick Hill. "It was a combination of our QB hanging on to the ball too long, our O-Line getting beat up front, lack of running back protection and us coaches setting our protections incorrectly."

Well, that about says it all, doesn't it? It was a team loss for sure. Now that the Saluki defense is playing better, it is the Saluki offense that is out of kilter. That's what happens to losing teams: inconsistency.

The Saluki offense has only scored one touchdown in the last six quarters and are four for 28 on third down attempts.The Dawgs had their chances, driving into ISU's red zone three times without scoring any points.

SIU's defense was not bad. In fact, SIU held the Birds to one of eight third down conversions. But you can only hold guys like ISU's James Robinson (150 rushing yards) away from the end zone so long.

"Our offense is better than that. I take pride in having a good offense," Hill said. "It's my job as head coach to get our little skid on offense corrected."

It is also true that SIU had little luck in their loss to the Birds. In one sequence, SIU faked a field goal and had a receiver wide open, only to have a pass by the SIU holder hit an ISU defender square in his back.

In another sequence, SIU quarterback Lyles (190 yards passing) had Sam Bonasinga wide open for a possible touchdown but underthrew him, and Bonasinga had to circle back to catch it while falling to the turf.

Perhaps another factor may be the absence of several starters for the second (or in some cases more) games. SIU has lost its starting quarterback, Stone Labanowitz, linebacker Bryce Notree), running back D.J. Davis and strong safety Jeremy Chinn.

Although true freshman Romier Elliott had a great game with 111 rushing yards, a mysteriously underused Javon Williams Jr. had 48 yards on only 10 carries, and the Dawgs' emphasis on the power running modus operandi has suddenly disappeared in favor of an air attack.

For example, Williams did not get into the game before late in the first quarter and responded with 24 yards on only four carries. Then, he surprisingly did not show up again until the 7:41 mark of the second quarter, and got only one carry.

That sequence repeated itself in the third quarter, when Williams had four carries for 16 more yards but then had no carries the entire fourth quarter.

The Salukis must get back to what won them games: controlling the line of scrimmage with a running game that, in turn, sets up the pass.