Southern Illinois coach Jan Quarless fashioned an NCAA Div. I-AA offensive juggernaut last season.
The Salukis rang up points like a gasoline pump. Unfortunately, so did SIU’s foes. In fact, Southern Illinois football scores looked more like basketball scores.
Check these 1999 numbers:
SIU 58, Murray State 51
Western Illinois 68, SIU 27
Illinois State 55, SIU 48
SIU 52, Southwest Missouri State 49
Indiana State 66, SIU 45
In an attempt to turn things around, Quarless is bringing in 10 transfers from NCAA Div. I-A schools. Eight arrived during the summer.
Linebacker Teddy Sims, who played on bowl teams at Florida in 1998 and 1999, should help the porous defense. Former teammate Ian Skinner, a wide receiver and former starter for the Gators, could help ease the loss of All-American wide receiver Cornell Craig.
Not every big-college transfer becomes a success, however.
Former Kansas running back Paul Davis, for example, transferred to SIU a couple of years ago and didn’t produce. Neither did former Missouri quarterback Ryan Douglass who couldn’t beat out Sherard Poteete last season.
Then again, Poteete was something else.
A 6-foot-1, 222-pound junior from Webbers Falls, Okla., Poteete passed for 2,751 yards and 24 touchdowns last season. Poteete also rushed for 553 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Returning, too, is Tom Koutsos, a 5-10, 218-pound running back from Oswego, Ill., who ran for 1,052 yards as a freshman in 1999.
Offensively, the Salukis should be loaded again. Everything hinges on the defense, though.
