CARBONDALE - What the offense couldn't do against South Dakota State, Southern Illinois University's other units were able to execute Saturday.

The Salukis defense picked off two Ryan Berry passes, returning one for a touchdown, and Larry Warner scored a historic six off an 89-yard kickoff return. It all added up to a 38-35 win over the Jackrabbits that brought No. 9/10 SIU one win away from the Missouri Valley Football Conference championship and the team's sixth straight playoff berth. If SIU (8-2 overall and 6-1 in the MVFC) beats 3-7 Illinois State on the road Saturday, it'll lock up the league title and the MVFC's automatic bid to the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.

"Next week becomes even bigger now, because this win doesn't matter if we don't go over to Illinois State and show up," SIU safety Mike McElroy said.

The big plays came quickly for SIU, which won its 16th game at McAndrew Stadium in its last 17 tries. Warner's return with 4:36 to go in the opening quarter set a new school record for career kickoff returns for touchdowns (3), and led to 269 all-purpose yards. Marty Rodgers later became the third Saluki to return an interception for a touchdown when he picked off Berry about halfway through the second quarter and outran everyone from 57 yards out.

"Any time you have quick scores, and a defensive score, too, that's all about momentum in the game," SIU coach Dale Lennon said. "The one thing that I did know about South Dakota State, they were behind 34-6 against Stephen F. Austin, so, being behind wasn't going to rattle them too much, but it was very important for us to keep the tempo of the game in our favor, especially in the first half."

The third-longest scoring play of the game proved to be the difference on a cold, cloudy and windy day. SIU kicker Kyle Dougherty's 28-yard field goal with 2:59 to play put the Salukis up to stay, but the defense needed a last-minute stop to finally turn away SDSU's air attack.

The Jackrabbits, the highest-scoring team in the MVFC this season, came back from 14 down at the break to tie the game on Kyle Minett's second 1-yard plunge of the game. Minett's third touchdown of the game capped another horrendous third quarter for the Salukis, who have now been outscored in that stanza 83-15.

SIU fumbled away its first possession of the third quarter and punted away its other two chances.

Down three with just under three minutes to go, Berry, the league's leader in total offense, hoped to make the Salukis pay for giving his team another chance. Earlier this season, SDSU rallied from a league-record-deficit of 28 points to beat Stephen F. Austin 50-48 on the road.

"We had no doubt that we were going to go down and score a touchdown," Berry said. "We didn't want to settle for a field goal. We were just trying to be aggressive. We knew we had a ton of time left. Over the past few years it seems like we've kind of had a knack for the drama at the end like that. Unfortunately, it just didn't go our way this time."

The Jackrabbits (6-5, 5-2) drove all the way to the SIU 23 before going to the well too many times against cornerback James Wheeler. Wheeler was seemingly targeted all day after giving up a 50-yard gain to SDSU wide receiver Glen Fox in the first period that set up a touchdown. When Berry went back on a second-and-10 from the 23, Wheeler bit back.

Berry was pressured from the blind side by a Saluki blitz, and kind of threw off his back foot when he aimed toward the right sideline. Trying to throw the ball out of bounds, he aimed his throw toward receiver Brandon Gant, but lifted it too high. Wheeler, playing behind Gant, easily made the catch to end the threat.

"When you're on your back foot because of pressure, that takes something away from your physical ability," SDSU coach John Stiegelmeier said. "There's no doubt in my mind that that's what happened on that play. He feels terrible about that, but we lost as a football team."

SIU clearly won as a football team, getting a career and season-high 245 passing yards from quarterback Chris Dieker and just enough stops from its defense on Senior Day. Warner and Dougherty combined for 14 points on special teams, as the Salukis pulled within a victory of stealing the conference title from No. 4 Northern Iowa.

UNI (9-2, 7-1) beat Indiana State 28-0 for a share of the conference crown, but by way of SIU's 27-24 win Sept. 27 in Carbondale, the Salukis will earn the league's automatic bid if they're able to get by the Redbirds this weekend.

todd.hefferman@thesouthern.com / 351-5087