SIU vs. ILS: Game Notes & Links

Nov. 10, 2015

Southern Illinois (3-6, 2-4 MVFC) vs. No. 6 Illinois State (7-2, 5-1 MVFC)
Date & Time	Nov. 14, 2015 \| 2 p.m. CT \| Buy Tickets \| Full Promotional List
Location	Carbondale, Ill. \| Saluki Stadium (15,000, FieldTurf) \| Weather
Video Stream	ESPN3 with Scott Warmann (play-by-play), Danan Hughes (analysis) and Kelly Burke (analysis)
Live Stats	GameTracker
Radio	Saluki Sports Network with Mike Reis (play-by-play), Gene Green (analysis) and Connor James (analysis)
Audio Stream	Saluki All-Access
Southern Illinois	Game Notes \| Stats \| Media Guide (PDF)
Illinois State	Game Notes \| Stats \| Media Guide
MVFC	Weekly Notes \| Stats
All-Time Series	SIU leads, 40-34-3 \| In Carbondale: SIU leads 23-15-1 \| Streak: ILS W1 \| Last Meeting: ILS 44, SIU 29 (11/22/14)
Social Media	@SIU_Football \| @SIUSalukis \| Saluki Football

QUICK HITS

SIU will host No. 6 Illinois State on Senior Day on Nov. 14. Kickoff from Saluki Stadium is set for 2 p.m. CT, and the game will be streamed nationally on ESPN3.
Southern Illinois will honor its 18 seniors plus junior Jake Notario before the game. The 2015 season will be Notario's final season of football due to chronic knee problems.
Mark Iannotti enters the game needing 368 yards to reach Nick Hill's school record for single-season total offense. Hill's 2007 mark ranks fourth in MVFC history.
SIU is facing its third top-10 opponent of the season. SIU is 1-1 this year against top-10 teams, beating then-No. 10 Liberty 34-13 and losing to then-No. 6 North Dakota State 35-29. SIU has won seven games against top-10 teams under head coach Dale Lennon, including a 17-0 win over No. 9 Illinois State in Normal, Ill., in 2012.
All six of SIU's losses have been by seven points or fewer, and five of those six losses have been by three points or fewer. Both marks are single-season highs in Saluki Football history.
Southern's six losses are by a combined 17 points.

SALUKIS HOST REDBIRDS ON SENIOR DAY

Southern Illinois will host Illinois State for Senior Day on Saturday, Nov. 14. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. CT from Saluki Stadium, and the game will be streamed nationally on ESPN3.
Southern will honor its 18 seniors plus junior Jake Notario before the game. The 2015 season will be Notario's final season of football due to chronic knee problems.
SIU holds a 40-34-3 lead in the all-time series and a 23-15-1 lead in games played in Carbondale. Illinois State won in Normal last year on its way to an appearance in the national championship game.
For the third time in the last four years, Illinois State is ranked in the top-10 for its game against SIU. The Salukis beat No. 9 Illinois State 17-0 in 2012 and dropped a 44-29 decision to No. 7 Illinois State last year.
SIU has won 12 of its last 13 Senior Day games, with the lone exception being last year's loss to Northern Iowa.

IANNOTTI APPROACHING HILL'S TOTAL OFFENSE RECORD

Southern Illinois quarterback Nick Hill is 368 yards shy of Nick Hill's record for single-season total offense. Hill had 3,532 yards in 2007.
Iannotti enters the game with 3,164 yards in just nine games. His 351.6 yards per game average ranks third nationally.
After only nine games, Iannotti already ranks 14th in MVFC history in single-season total offense. Nine of the 14 players in front of him played in at least 13 games to reach their mark.
Iannotti has 995 yards total offense more than anyone else in the conference.
Hill's record currently ranks fourth in MVFC history.
Iannotti needs to average 348 yards over the final two games to reach second place on the MVFC's all-time list, and he needs to average 418 yards per game to become the first player in conference history with 4,000 yards in a regular season.
Iannotti already topped Hill's school record for single-game total offense. Hill had 443 yards at UNI in 2007. Iannotti had 517 yards at Indiana and 471 at Indiana State.

SALUKI OFFENSE AMONG NATION'S BEST

The Southern Illinois offense leads the conference total offense, scoring offense and passing offense. The Salukis also rank in the top-11 nationally in all three categories.
If SIU's worst total offense game this season (390 yards) was its average, the Salukis would still rank in the top half of the country in total offense per game.
The 2015 Salukis own two of the top four yardage games in school history. SIU had 659 yards of total offense at Indiana (4th) and 673 yards of total offense vs. Missouri State (3rd).
SIU has recorded at least 200 yards of total offense in 15 of 18 halves this year, including 394 yards of total offense in the first half at Indiana and 408 in the first half vs. Missouri State.
Both Youngstown State and North Dakota State entered their games against SIU ranked No. 1 in the MVFC in total defense. SIU averaged 430 yards and 33.5 points over the two game.
North Dakota State had given up 29 points just twice in its previous 68 games before SIU scored that many last weekend.

IANNOTTI PLAYING LIKE A PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Southern Illinois quarterback Mark Iannotti leads the MVFC in total offense, passing yards, passing touchdowns, completion percentage, and points responsible for per game.
Iannotti has nearly 1,000 yards total offense more than anyone else in the conference.
He ranks in the top-10 nationally in total offense (3rd), passing yards (7th), completion percentage (11th), and points responsible for (6th).
Iannotti ranks 13th nationally among quarterbacks (2nd in MVFC) in rushing yards per game (62.4).
Iannotti averages more yards individually than 48 FCS teams as a whole (of 123).
Iannotti put up 517 yards of total offense at Indiana, a school record and second in MVFC history, earning him National and MVFC Offensive Player of the Week honors.
Iannotti broke the previous school record of 443 set by co-offensive coordinator Nick Hill in 2007.
He put up 411 yards passing and 106 yards rushing against Indiana, becoming the first player in school history with more than 300 yards passing and 100 yards rushing in the same game.
He also had 471 yards at Indiana State, second-most in school history.
Iannotti's 517 yards at Indiana rank second in MVFC history, and his 471 at Indiana State rank 10th in MVFC history. He is the only player with two of the top-10 total offense games in MVFC history.
In both games, Iannotti threw for more than 400 yards. Before this season, that feat had only been accomplished once in SIU history (Hill in `07 vs. UNI).
Iannotti threw for 427 yards at Indiana State, just nine yards shy of Hill's school record.
Iannotti's 427 yards at INS were the most in the MVFC since 2012.
Iannotti's total offense and passing yardage totals from both games are the top two such games in the MVFC this year.

JAMES, ALLEN AND JACKSON AMONG MVFC TACKLE LEADERS

Junior Chase Allen and sophomores Kenny James and Markese Jackson are all among the MVFC and national tackle leaders.
James and Allen both have more than 100 tackles. They are tied for 12th nationally and third in the MVFC in tackles per game (11.3).
Jackson is averaging 10.0 tackles per game, which ranks 25th nationally and fifth in the MVFC.
James, Allen and Jackson are all on pace to record 100 tackles in 2015. For perspective, SIU has only had one player in the last seven years record 100 tackles in a season (Bryan Presume, 2013).
Against Southeast Missouri, Chase Allen had 19 tackles and Kenny James and 15 tackles. Allen's 19 tackles are the most in the MVFC this season and the most by a Saluki since All-American Alexis Moreland in 2002.
James followed that game up with 16 tackles against No. 10 Liberty. James' back-to-back 15+ tackle games were also a first since Moreland in 2002.
James had 16 more tackles against Youngstown State. He's the first Saluki with three 15+ tackle games since Moreland in `02.

SPECIAL TEAMS, SPECIAL PLAYS

SIU ranks second nationally with seven blocked kicks in 2015.
Chase Allen and Brandon Williams are tied for third nationally with three blocked kicks apiece.
SIU has blocked four punts in 2015 and returned two for touchdowns.
Against Indiana, Chase Allen blocked a punt and Kenny James fell on it in the end zone for a TD. At Western Illinois, Brandon Williams blocked a punt, recovered it and ran in 27 yards for a touchdown.
Williams blocked another punt vs. Missouri State, and he blocked a field goal vs. Liberty.
Chase Allen blocked two kicks in the fourth quarter against Youngstown State.
Austin Johnson hit a 51-yard field goal at Western Illinois, tied for the fifth-longest field goal in SIU history.
Johnson became the seventh kicker in school history to hit a field goal from 50+ yards.
Johnson then hit a 50-yard field goal at South Dakota, becoming the second player in SIU history to hit two field goals of 50+ yards in a single season.

For a complete set of game notes in PDF format, click here.

Calendar

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Players Mentioned

Chase Allen

Mark Iannotti

Markese Jackson

Kenny James

Austin Johnson

Jake Notario

Bryan Presume

Brandon Williams

Scoreboard

Southern Illinoise University Athletics