CARBONDALE - Kyle Walker wasn't a newcomer to the Southern Illinois University defense Saturday.

Primarily a special teams player, Walker had seen a few plays as an outside linebacker earlier this season. He saw a little more as starters Brandin Jordan and Chauncey Mixon were benched after being late to chapel earlier this week, and made the most of his opportunity.

Walker, a former running back and defensive back at Herrin High School, led SIU with seven tackles in its 60-7 win at McAndrew Stadium. He also had a sack, a forced fumble and an 8-yard fumble return for a touchdown in the second quarter.

"Everybody wants to play. Today was a fun day," Walker said. "It felt like my first game, I think it was against Quincy, whenever I came in on the reverse for the touchdown. It was fun. It was a good atmosphere. Hopefully, I show today, being out there on the field, I can help out wherever I can, but we've got two real good outside linebackers that play in front of me. If they're healthy, then they need to be in there playing."

Walker's two plays nearly came in succession when Indiana State began from its own 1-yard line with 8:20 to go in the first half. On a first-and-5 from its own 24, Walker caught Matt Seliger for a nine-yard loss. Seliger then came up empty on a pass to Bryant Kent to force a third-and-14 from the 15. Following a timeout, quarterback Calvin Schmidtke was sacked from behind by James Cloud and lost the football. Walker just seemed to be at the right place at the right time, and scooped it up as if it was scripted that way.

Walker's touchdown was the second defensive score of the day for SIU, which hadn't scored on defense all season entering the game. Safety Lance Caldwell added to his punt block by picking up the loose football and returning it three yards for his first career touchdown.

Two other locals had an impact Saturday.

West Frankfort native Ryan Patton had four tackles. Former Mount Carmel standout Scott Cole had a tackle for loss in the second half.

Indiana State finished with 238 yards and three lost fumbles to fall to 0-6.

"Today was just a big day for us, overall, as a football team," Walker said. "We did everything we talked about all week in practice, carrying through the second half and staying at a certain level."

todd.hefferman@thesouthern.com / 351-5087@thesouthern.com / 351-5087