Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Football Announces 2004 Schedule
03/02/2004 | 12:00:00 | Football
March 2, 2004
CARBONDALE, Ill. - When the Southern Illinois University football team plays at Northern Illinois on Sept. 11, 2004, it will feature a matchup of the two, most successful Division I schools in the state last year.
Both teams spent much of the season ranked in the Top 25 and both finished with 10-2 records.
"We may have been the two best teams in the state of Illinois a year ago," Southern Illinois head coach Jerry Kill said. "They're a program on the rise, very similar to ours. Coach (Joe) Novak took it from scratch and built a tremendous program, and we've taken ours and done the same thing. But it's still a I-AA versus I-A situation."
While the Salukis plowed through a tough I-AA slate, beating the likes of defending champion Western Kentucky, Northern Illinois was beating established I-A powerhouses such as Maryland, Alabama and Iowa State. Thus, the Salukis will be decided underdogs at DeKalb, Ill., next fall.
"Who knows what could happen," Kill said. "But it's a good game for the state of Illinois. If you're going to play a I-A game, why not stay in the state and do it?"
Southern has not played a I-A opponent since losing at Eastern Michigan, 48-45, on Sept. 28, 2002. But it's not like Southern and Northern Illinois are strangers. The schools met 38 times between 1931 and 1980. Since then, they've met three times with NIU winning in 1988, 1989 and 1993. Overall Northern leads the series 27-13-1.
The Salukis will kick off the 2004 season on Thursday, Sept. 2, when they host Ohio Valley Conference foe Southeast Missouri State at 7 p.m. It is a renewal of the oldest rivalry in school history, which dates back to 1913, Southern's first year of football. SEMO holds a 36-28-8 edge in the series, although Southern won at Cape Girardeau, Mo. last year.
The rest of the non-conference slate features a home game with NAIA opponent William Penn on Sept. 18 and a road trip to I-AA foe Delaware State on Sept. 25. Delaware State competes in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
Homecoming will be on Oct. 2, versus Northern Iowa, while Family Weekend will take place on Oct. 30, when SIU hosts Western Illinois.
2004 Southern Illinois University Football Schedule
Sept. 2, SEMO, 7 p.m.
Sept. 11, at Northern Illinois, 3:05 p.m.
Sept. 18, WILLIAM PENN, 6 p.m.
Sept. 25, at Delaware State, 12 p.m.
Oct. 2, NORTHERN IOWA (Homecoming), 1:30 p.m.
Oct. 9, at Youngstown State, 5 p.m.
Oct. 16, WESTERN KENTUCKY, 6 p.m.
Oct. 23, at SMS, 1:30 p.m.
Oct. 30, WESTERN ILLINOIS (Family Weekend), 6 p.m.
Nov. 6, at Illinois State, 1:30 p.m.
Nov. 13, INDIANA STATE, 6 p.m.
All times Central
