So, just what happened to the Southern Illinois University offense in the third quarter this season?

The Salukis, who finished an excellent 9-3 campaign with a 29-20 loss to New Hampshire on Saturday, scored just one third-quarter touchdown all season.

SIU tacked a few field goals on the board in the third quarter. The Salukis even produced a third quarter safety against Youngstown State. However, through 12 games the Salukis could only dent the end zone once in the third quarter.

For the record, the lone touchdown was a 3-yard run by Richard White against North Dakota in a 40-21 win against North Dakota on Nov. 1.

The phenomenon was probably more coincidental than anything. Coincidence or not, the trend became problematic. And it was never any more problematic than in yesterday's loss to New Hampshire.

After leading for most of the first half, the Salukis gave up 10 points in just more than two minutes late in the half, allowing New Hampshire to take the momentum as well as a 16-13 lead at intermission.

The Salukis received the second-half kickoff and had an excellent opportunity to regain both the lead and momentum.

The prospects looked even brighter when Richard White returned the kickoff to the New Hampshire 45. Larry Warner tacked on an additional 10 yards on the first play from scrimmage, almost allowing fans to hope the regular season trend would disappear in the playoffs.

However, apparently the Salukis had taken no extraordinary steps at halftime to change the third quarter karma.

Three plays later, Kyle Dougherty missed a 47-yard field goal. Although he had hit from that distance earlier in the game, the attempt was wide right.

A Korey Lindsey interception three plays later at the New Hampshire 42 gave the offense another excellent opportunity to break the third-quarter jinx.

Nothing doing. The Salukis managed another first down, but the drive resulted in Dougherty missing wide left from 46 yards.

The Salukis started another drive at their own 49 midway through the third quarter, but again, the offense sputtered. The inability to move the football during the third quarter all season defies logic.

Perhaps it became a mental thing.

Ironically, or perhaps coincidentally - it's hard to determine which is the fitting term in an illogical situation - the Salukis scored on their fifth play of the fourth quarter when Chris Dieker connected with Kyle Harruff for a 30-yard touchdown.

If the Salukis had been able to make a similar play in the third quarter, they might be playing next Saturday.

LES WINKELER is the sports editor for The Southern Illinoisan. Contact him at les.winkeler@thesouthern.com, or call 351-5088.