Nov. 18, 2007

By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com

CARBONDALE, Ill.-Nick Hill and Craig Turner earned Gateway Conference Player-of-the-Week honors this week. Hill was named Offensive Player-of-the-Week for the second time this season, while Turner garnered his first Special Teams weekly award.

Hill, from nearby DuQuoin, Ill., completed 24-of-28 passes for 282 yards and three touchdowns in another remarkable effort against Hampton Saturday. He threw TD passes to three different receivers en route to finishing with 250 or more passing yards for the fourth time this season. Hill also rushed for 67 yards on 10 carries. Hill moved to second all-time with 41 career passing touchdowns at SIU.

After going two games without returning a punt, Turner moved closer to breaking the all-time Gateway Conference record in punt return yards. A native of Boutte, La., Turner returned four punts for 40 yards, pushing his career total to 1,064 punt return yards. He needs just 18 more yards to surpass Northern Iowa's Kenny Shedd (1,081 yards from 1989-92) for the new Gateway mark. Turner also returned four kickoffs for 85 yards. He is now second all-time at SIU with 1,409 kick return yards in his career.