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Southern Illinois graduate assistant Michael Lindauer made himself a school legend over the weekend when he led the Salukis to a 62-0 victory in his first and final start as a college football quarterback.
Lindauer, who transferred to SIU from Western Illinois (via Cincinnati) before medically retiring earlier this year, was called into emergency action after injuries to multiple Salukis quarterbacks. Despite the short notice, Lindauer went 20-of-33 for 283 yards and a school-record seven touchdowns in a 62-0 victory over the Murray State Racers.
His performance earned him Missouri Valley Conference Offensive Player of the Week honors.
“To go out like that…” Lindauer said of his performance. “Love everybody in that locker room. There’s a reason I want to stay here and work with this staff. This place is incredible, Coach Hill is incredible.”
After losing three starting quarterbacks to various injuries, SIU had to get creative. Prior to Week 8, head coach Nick Hill petitioned the NCAA for Lindauer to return to the team. The NCAA granted Lindauer a waiver giving the team some sort of depth at quarterback.
He primarily served as the backup and scout-team QB behind freshman Jake Curry. But Curry suffered a hamstring injury prior to the final game of the season against the Racers. So, in stepped Lindauer for his first, and last, start of his college football career. And the rest, as they say, is history.
“It’s a testament that if you stay committed, do the right things, have a great attitude, you’re going to get rewarded at some point, and he was rewarded in a big way today,” Hill said of Lindauer after the victory.
Lindauer was a three-star recruit in the 2019 class who committed to Cincinnati. He no doubthad dreams of making a name for himself at the college level. Five years later, he’s done just that. Although it probably didn’t happen in a fashion that he ever could have imagined.