CARBONDALE, Ill. (AP) _ Sherard Poteete threw for 399 yards and six touchdowns Saturday and Southern Illinois held off a furious second-half rally by Murray State for a 58-51 victory.

The loss overshadowed the outstanding performance of Murray's Justin Fuente, who completed 35-of-55 passes for 553 yards and three touchdowns. He was intercepted twice and sacked four times.

The Salukis (1-0) scored 34 points in the second quarter for a 41-12 halftime lead. They scored again early in the third quarter to go ahead 48-12.

But the Racers (0-1), who opened the season with a loss to Big Ten Wisconsin, came back to outscore Southern Illinois 39-10 the rest of the way.

Southern's Tom Koutos ran 25 times for 91 yards and two TDs.

Murray's Shadrach Jackson had 17 carries for 93 yards and three TDs.

The Racers outgained the Salukis 665 to 553 yards in total offense and had 33 first downs to 25 for Southern.