Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Football Hosts Illinois State on Homecoming Saturday
10/06/2009 | 12:00:00 | Football
Oct. 6, 2009
By Jason Clay
www.SIUSalukis.com
Click Here For Complete Game Notes 
Game Day Quick Facts
TELEVISION: None
RADIO: Saluki Sports Network with Mike Reis (play-by-play), Gene Green (color analyst) and Joel Sambursky (sideline) on WVZA-FM 105.1 in Carbondale. Other radio affiliates on P. 2.
INTERNET VIDEO & AUDIO: Saluki All-Access (sign up at www.siusalukis.com).
LIVE STATS: www.siusalukis.com
The sixth-ranked Southern Illinois Salukis (3-1, 2-0 MVFC) host Illinois State (2-3, 1-1) in its 2009 Homecoming game this Saturday at McAndrew Stadium where kickoff is set for 2 p.m. ... Southern Illinois is seeking its ninth-straight Missouri Valley Football Conference victory and its eighth-consecutive win in its final Homecoming at McAndrew Stadium... Fans can listen to all the action with "Voice of the Salukis" Mike Reis, color analyst Gene Green and sideline reporter Joel Sambursky on the Saluki Sports Network beginning at 1 p.m. on WVZA-FM 105.1 in Carbondale... Live stats as well as video and radio streaming of the game is available at www.SIUSalukis.com... The Dawgs are allowing just 15.5 points per game and are facing a Redbird squad that scores only 21.0 a game and averages 78.2 yards running the ball... The Saluki defense has recorded the second most sacks in the league and their eight interceptions in four games are tied for the most... Offensively, senior running back Deji Karim continues to lead the Saluki attack. He is the nation's top kickoff return man and is second in the FCS in both rushing and all-purpose yards per game... This is just the second afternoon game for the Salukis, as the past three have all kicked off at 6 p.m. Last season the Dawgs had a 7-3 record in day games... SIU jumped up to No. 6 in both the Coaches and Sports Network Polls, which is its highest ranking since the final 2007 poll when the Salukis reached the Final Four... After Saturday's game, the Salukis play four of their last six games on the road...
Saluki Headlines
• Southern Illinois seeks its eighth-straight Homecoming victory and its ninth-straight MVFC win.
• The Salukis have at least one interception in all four games this season and have picked off three passes in two different games.
• SIU seeks its first 3-0 start in conference play since 2004.
The Illinois State Redbirds
Illinois State travels to Carbondale with a 2-3 overall record and is 1-1 in the Missouri Valley Football Conference after going into the Fargodome and beating North Dakota State, 27-24, last weekend. The Redbirds are 1-2 on the road this season and have been outscored by a combined 50 points in the three games. This will be ISU's third game against an Illinois school, as they fell at both Eastern Illinois (31-6) and Illinois (45-17) in the first two weeks of the season. In the win at NDSU, the Redbirds had 436 yards of total offense and quarterback Matt Brown threw for 320 yards with two touchdowns. Wide receiver Eyad Salem is the reining MVFC Player of the Week after catching 14 passes for 172 yards and a score against the Bison. His 14 receptions tied a school record.
The Redbird passing attack averages 255 yards a game, which ranks No. 15 nationally and second in the conference. Salem's 7.6 receptions per game is tied for seventh in the FCS and he averages 82 yards a game with three touchdowns on the year. Brown completes 64.4 percent of his passes and has five touchdowns against four interceptions. Geno Blow is ISU's leading rusher, but he only averages 50 yards a game. Cliffton Gordon has four of the Redbirds six rushing touchdowns and he adds 35.4 yards per game. The team as a whole only averages 78.2 yards on the ground.
Defensively, Illinois State's seven interceptions have led to a +4 turnover margin for the team. The Redbirds give up 367.8 yards of total offense per game and 201.8 of that comes on the ground. ISU has allowed a 100-yard rusher in each of its last two games, where they have given up 394 yards and five touchdowns on the ground. Junior safety Kelvyn Hemphill leads the Redbirds with 26.5 tackles and he has five tackles for a loss and two sacks. Cornerbacks E.J. Jones and Chris Garrett have five of ISU's seven interceptions this year.
SIU vs. ISU - The Series
Saturday's game versus Illinois State will be the 72nd meeting between the two schools. Southeast Missouri State (74 games) is the only school that SIU has faced more than the Redbirds. The Dawgs lead the all-time series 36-32-3 and are 21-14-1 versus Illinois State at home. Southern Illinois has won the last two games in the series, but both contests were decided by 10 points or less and SIU won 17-10 last year in overtime on the road.
Homecoming
Saturday marks SIU's annual Homecoming game where Dawgs are seeking their eighth-straight win. Dating back to 1963, the Salukis have a 24-22 record on Homecoming. Last year Southern Illinois pounded Indiana State, 60-7, and 10 different Salukis scored in the game. SIU put up 50 points in the first half, including 36 in the second quarter. It was SIU's second-most first half and second quarter points scored in a game in school history.
Looking for Ninth- and 15th-Straight
Southern Illinois enters Saturday's game against Illinois State with a eight-game conference winning streak. SIU's last MVFC loss came on Oct. 4, 2008 at North Dakota State. Since then the Salukis have won eight-straight by an average of 17.8 points. Southern Illinois has also won its last 14 league home games. The Dawgs' last home loss to a Valley member was the Illinois State Redbirds in 2005. Southern Illinois' eight-game league winning streak is tied with Northern Iowa for the longest in the Missouri Valley Football Conference.
Impenetrable Force
SIU's defense had yet another good day at the office in the 30-10 win at Western Illinois last weekend. The Salukis only gave up 243 yards and just 10 points to the Leathernecks. WIU only got 103 yards on the ground and completed just 42 percent of its passes. The Dawgs picked off three passes in the game and had four sacks for the third-straight game. Southern Illinois is averaging 3.5 sacks per game, which is tied for No. 6 nationally. Linebacker Kyle Walker (four sacks) is third in the nation in sacks per game and 13 different Salukis have had a hand in on a sack this year. Opponents average just 15.5 points per game against the Dawgs (ranks No. 14 nationally) and average just 4.3 yards per play. The Salukis have not allowed a run to go over 19 yards and have given up just seven passes that have gone over 20 yards, but only allow 5.5 yards per pass attempt.
Mr. All-Purpose
Senior running back Deji Karim continues to prove that he can do it all for the Salukis. This past weekend, Karim had his third-straight 100-yard rushing game and his second game of the season with over 250 all-purpose yards. He ranks No. 2 nationally in rushing yards per game (140.3), second in all-purpose yards (207.3) and is first in kickoff returns. Last week at Western Illinois, Karim returned two kicks for 84 yards with a long of 69. He has returned five kicks in 2009 and averages 42.60 yards per return with one 82-yard touchdown. The one aspect that had been missing from his game was catching the ball out of the backfield. However, this past week Karim caught a career-long 42 yard pass from Chris Dieker on a third-and-10. He has five catches on the year for 55 yards.
His back-to-back-to-back 100-yard rushing games are the first by a Saluki back since Arkee Whitlock had four-straight 100-yard games in 2006. Karim is just one of nine Saluki running backs ever to have three-straight 100-yard rushing games.
Going the Distance
On SIU's first offensive play of the game at Western Illinois, Deji Karim set a new school record for the longest play from scrimmage (run or pass) with a 92-yard touchdown run. The previous long was an 85-yard run by Andre Herrera in 1976 against Northern Illinois and Karim's run was the first SIU offensive play (run or pass) that was longer than 90 yards in the program's 97-year history. His rush tied for the third longest in Valley Football history and is the second longest run in the FCS this season. Taiwan Jones from Eastern Washington had a 96-yard run against Idaho State on the same night Karim hit his home run, so to speak.
Karim also added a 42-yard reception and a 69-yard kickoff return against Western Illinois. He now has three runs over 50 yards this season and eight plays that have been good for 20 or more yards (not including his kickoff returns).
Complete Coverage
Southern Illinois has not allowed a passing touchdown in the last 11 quarters. Southwest Baptist got an 18-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter on Sept. 19, but the Dawgs have not given up a scoring toss since then. In the mean time, SIU's eight interceptions on the season is tied for first in the conference and the Dawgs rank No. 11 nationally in passing efficiency defense at 99.28. Opponents only get 192.8 yards per game through the air and a meager 5.5 yards per pass. Four different Salukis have interceptions and Korey Lindsey and Mike McElroy each have three, trying them for sixth in the nation. SIU also has 17 pass breakups and has received help up front with a pass rush that has 14 sacks and 11 quarterback hurries. Southern Illinois has had at least one interception in every game this season and have a pick in five-straight going back to the 2008 playoff game versus New Hampshire.
