First-ranked Southern Illinois scored four first-half touchdowns on plays that each covered at least 47 yards and held the Youngstown State offense scoreless en route to a 37-2 victory on Saturday night at Stambaugh Stadium.

With the win, the Salukis improve to 5-1 overall and 2-0 in the Gateway while YSU falls to 2-4 and 0-2 in the conference.

After forcing the Salukis to a three-and-out on the game's opening possession, YSU marched 58 yards down to the SIU 7 on a drive that featured a 25-yard pass from Tom Zetts to Kyle Smith and a 15-yard SIU penalty. But on third-and-goal, SIU's Alexis Moreland came up with an interception on a bobbled pass and raced 95 yards to the endzone to put the Salukis up 7-0.

On SIU's next drive, Joel Sambursky found Craig Turner for a 56-yard touchdown pass with 3:04 remaining in the opening quarter to cap an eight-play, 84-yard drive.

The Saluki defense and special teams chipped in to force a Penguin safety early in the second quarter. A 53-yard punt by Zack Kettelkamp pinned the Penguins at their own 2 and on the third play of the drive, Mark Philipp sacked Zetts in the end zone for a safety with 11:19 remaining to make the score 16-0.

Sambursky then found Brent Little on a 47-yard scoring strike on the ensuing possession to put the Salukis up 23-0. Arkee Whitlock completed the first half scoring on a 49-yard scoring scamper with 1:42 remaining.

YSU got on the board late in the third quarter when Justin Martin pressured Sambursky into intentional grounding in the end zone that resulted in a safety.

SIU's final score came on a 19-yard pass from Jon Cairns to Alan Turner with 2:11 remaining in the fourth.

Whitlock rushed for a game-high 97 yards on 14 carries while Brandon Jacobs scampered for 87 yards on 16 rushes. Sambursky completed 11-of-19 passes for 215 yards and two touchdowns. He was also intercepted by Mike Bracken in the third quarter.

Regis Edgerson rushed for 47 yards on 11 rushes to lead a 92-yard Penguin rushing attack while Tom Zetts was 10-of-23 for 112 yards. Kyle Smith had four catches for 64 yards.

The Penguins will play host to Northern Iowa in their annual Homecoming game on Oct. 16 at 4 p.m.