>>Illinois Falls At Wisconsin
Joel Stave threw two touchdown passes and Wisconsin's running game showed signs of life as the Badgers defeated Illinois 31-14 on Saturday.
Stave threw for 254 yards for the Badgers (4-2, 1-1 Big Ten), who rushed for 173 yards - 96 in the fourth quarter.
The offensive struggles of the Illini (2-4, 0-2) continued, with quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase the only positive. He finished with 178 yards passing and 84 rushing as Illinois gained 287 yards overall.
Scheelhaase ran for a 5-yard touchdown in the first quarter and threw for an 8-yard touchdown to Ryan Lankford to make it 24-14 late in the game.
But Jared Abberdaris fielded the ensuing onside kick, and Montee Ball scored his second touchdown of the game to snuff any hopes of an Illinois comeback.
Ball has 59 rushing TDs in his career, nine shy of the NCAA record. He finished with 19 carries for 116 yards.
>>Southern Illinois Shuts Out ISU
Anthony Thompson returned a blocked punt for a touchdown, and Southern Illinois intercepted four passes en route to a 17-0 victory against Illinois State on Saturday.
The Salukis (3-3, 2-1 Missouri Valley), who had just 182 yards of offense, recorded their first shutout since 2009.
Cameron James blocked Patrick Wright's punt, and Thompson ran it 16 yards to the end zone with 5:38 remaining in the first quarter.
Matt Brown was 21 of 40 for 216 yards for the Redbirds (5-1, 2-1), but all 4 of his interceptions thwarted drives inside the Southern Illinois 35-yard line.
The Salukis salted it away with their most sustained offense of the game, driving 91 yards in 10 plays to Mika'il McCall's 1-yard TD run midway through the fourth quarter.
Tyler Williamson had seven tackles, a sack and interception for Southern Illinois.
>>Western Beats South Dakota
Wil Lunt connected with Fredson Salomon on a 66-yard touchdown midway through the fourth quarter Saturday and Western Illinois held on to beat South Dakota 24-17.
The Leathernecks (3-2, 1-1 Missouri Valley) trailed 10-3 at halftime but Kieron James blocked a punt to set Western Illinois up in Coyotes territory, and Lunt threw a 25-yard TD pass to Salomon to tie it. Lunt later hit Charles Chestnut for 39 yards to the South Dakota 1 and Caulton Ray ran it in on the next play to make it 17-10 WIU late in the third quarter.
South Dakota (1-4, 0-2) tied it up quickly. After Jasper Sanders returned the kickoff 55 yards, three plays later Josh Vander Maten found Anthony Williams for 41 yards and the tying score. But Lunt and Salomon answered for the winning points with 7:40 left.
Nikko Watson ran for 138 yards for the Leathernecks.
