D.W. Norris, For The Southern

CARBONDALE - The quiet guy from Rock Hill, S.C., did it again.

Arkee Whitlock was the difference in Southern Illinois University's 36-30 win Saturday over the University of Tennessee-Martin.

It is an old script but by no means tired. Four touchdowns and 207 yards on 28 carries. Ten rushes that netted SIU first downs. Whitlock was the Salukis' offense until the waning moments of the game.

"He's unbelievable," SIU head coach Jerry Kill said. "I've never seen anything like it in my life and I can tell you (SIU quarterback) Nick (Hill) has never seen anything like it."

And it had to happen for SIU to stay alive in the chase for its first national championship since 1983.

His first touchdown run, a 1-yarder, cut a UTM lead in half, 14-7, but it was only a warm-up act. Whitlock's next trip to the end zone, this time from 11 yards out, kept SIU in the game at 27-14.

His third score, a 47-yard run, brought SIU to within a touchdown, 27-21, with 3:41 remaining in the third quarter. The run was the longest rushing score of the season.

Whitlock was not done. He still had time for a 1-yard encore that gave the Salukis their first lead, 28-27, with less than 10 minutes left in the game.

"He's as good as advertised, no question about it," UTM head coach Jason Simpson said. "He's a guy that you can look forward to seeing at the next level because you stop him, you stop him, you stop him and all of a sudden he comes out and makes a big play."

Kill called Whitlock, a Saluki since 2004, the best player not just running back in college football but he wanted to make sure he was clear.

"Write that in big print so everybody in the country knows it," Kill said.

With 294 all-purpose yards, 87 of which came on kickoff returns, Whitlock's numbers do the talking at a record-setting pace.

Whitlock tied former running back Tom Koutsos for SIU's top mark in career rushing touchdowns, with 52. His 5,494 career all-purpose yards stand alone atop SIU's record book.

Whitlock's 140 points this season, 24 of which came in Saturday's win, pushed him past former running back Mohammad Abdulqaadir for SIU's single-season scoring record.

And his 5,494 career all-purpose yards place him second in Gateway Football Conference history, 89 yards behind Eastern Illinois' Jamie Jones for the top spot.

Look out Jones, Arkee gets another week.

"Every week I'm coming and I'm willing to take the load," Whitlock said. "Coach is willing to feed me and I'm willing to eat."

l Credit where credit is due: The Saluki line - senior center Will Justice, junior tackles Darren Marquez and Andrew Kernes, and guards Shawn Smith and Aaron Lockwood - continued their strong play in 2006.

They are the foundation of a 9-3 team boasting the nation's second-highest scoring average, at 37.2 points per game, and third-best rushing yards per game total, with 247.5. Whitlock pointed to the line as the reason for his success.

"That's my job. Don't give me all the credit for it. My (offensive) line is there everyday, all day working and those guys don't get enough credit," Whitlock said. "I wish you could put every one of those guys under every stat that I get."

lCredit due, too: Aside from a couple of big plays, SIU's oft-maligned defense did more than enough, especially when it needed to get UTM off the field. The Salukis held the Skyhawks to four-of-11 on third-down conversions.

Linebackers Patrick Jordan, a senior, and Trevor Moe, a junior, played lights out with 10 tackles apiece for the Salukis. Moe also forced a fumble.

Micah King, a senior end-linebacker hybrid, came up with his biggest sack of the season in the third quarter.

And then there was the defensive line.

"Larry Luster and Andre Tillman, they came to play today," SIU quarterback Nick Hill said.

lThe first time: Mario Moccia, in his first season as athletic director at SIU, got his first taste of tournament football Saturday and said it was worth the effort to secure a home game.

"I'm not so sure we win that game on the road so it was huge for us to get that crowd that turned up," Moccia said. "You couldn't ask for a better atmosphere than we had (Saturday)."

A crowd of 5,694 attended the game.

lNot the first time: Saturday's win was SIU's first home playoff win since its national championship season of 1983.

SIU beat the University of Nevada-Reno 23-7 in the semifinal game at McAndrew Stadium.

The Salukis stumbled in their next home playoff game, a 35-31 loss to Eastern Washington in 2004.

lStill streaking: Junior wide receiver Alan Turner (26 games) and senior tight end Braden Jones (17 games) kept their consecutive-game receiving streaks alive Saturday.

It was suspenseful, to say the least.

Jones, SIU's leading receiver, did not catch his first pass until the third quarter. Turner waited until SIU's final pass of the game, a 45-yard, game-winning scoring strike from Hill.