SIU vs. MVSU Notes & Links

Saturday, September 9

Carbondale, Ill.

6 p.m.

Southern Illinois University

Mississippi Valley State

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Photo by: Madison Case

09/05/2017 | 3:59:00 | Football

Southern Illinois (0-0, 0-0 MVFC) vs. Mississippi Valley State (0-1, 0-0 SWAC)
Date & Time	Sept. 9, 2017 \| 6 p.m. CT
Location	Carbondale, Ill. \| Saluki Stadium (15,000 // FieldTurf) \| Weather
Run With Us	877-SALUKIS \| SIUSalukis.com \| Promotions \| Hometown Heroes \| Scout Night \| Postgame Fireworks
Video Stream	ESPN3 with Darren Kinnard (play-by-play), Mike Trude (analysis) and Connor Onion (sideline)
Live Stats	Sidearm Stats
Radio	Saluki Sports Network with Mike Reis (play-by-play), Gene Green (analysis) and Connor James (analysis)
Audio Stream	Saluki All-Access (Free all season)
Southern Illinois	Game Notes \| 2016 Stats \| Media Guide
MVSU	Game Notes \| Stats
MVFC	Weekly Notes \| Stats
All-Time Series	First Meeting
Social Media	@SIU_Football \| @SIUSalukis \| Saluki Football

QUICK HITS

Southern Illinois opens the season against Mississippi Valley State on Saturday, Sept. 9, in Saluki Stadium.
SIU and MVSU have never met before in football.
SIU is 14-1 in its last 15 home openers.
The Salukis were picked eighth in the MVFC in the preseason poll.
Austin Olsen was named preseason first-team All-MVFC. Hans Carmien, Jeremy Chinn, D.J. Davis, Connor Iwema and Craig James were all named preseason honorable mention All-MVFC.
Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. The Salukis are 30-8 (.789) under the lights in Carbondale since 2002.
Southern Illinois has led the MVFC in total offense and passing offense in each of the last two seaons. Last year, SIU set program records for passing attempts, completions and yards in a season.

SEASON OPENER

Southern Illinois hosts Mississippi Valley State to open the 2017 season. The Salukis and Delta Devils are meeting for the first time in football.
SIU is 14-1 in its last 15 home openers. The lone loss was in overtime against Jimmy Garoppolo and 14th-ranked Eastern Illinois in 2013.
Southern has lost four of its last five season openers, but three of those losses were against FBS programs. Since 2002, SIU is 12-3 against its first non-FBS opponent of the season.
Since lights were reinstalled at McAndrew Stadium in 2002, Southern Illinois is 30-8 (78.9 win percentage) in home night games (6 p.m. kickoff or later).
Against non-ranked opponents, SIU is 26-4 in home night games since 2002 (86.7 win percentage).
Over the last three seasons, SIU is 11-6 at home (.647) and 2-15 on the road (.118).
In regular season games since 2003, Southern Illinois is 33-4 against non-FBS, non-conference opponents.

PRESEASON SALUKIS

Head coach Nick Hill begins his second season as the head coach of the Salukis.
SIU is picked eighth in the preseason MVFC poll of coaches, sports information directors and media.
Six players were named to the preseason All-MVFC team:
- Austin Olsen (First Team)
- Hans Carmien (Honorable Mention)
- Jeremy Chinn (Honorable Mention)
- D.J. Davis (Honorable Mention)
- Connor Iwema (Honorable Mention)
- Craig James (Honorable Mention)
Four returning players earned postseason honors after the 2016 season:
- Craig James (MVFC All-Newcomer Team)
- Jeremy Chinn (MVFC All-Newcomer Team and first-team Freshman All-American)
- D.J. Davis (Honorable mention All-MVFC, MVFC All-Newcomer Team and honorable mention Freshman All-American)
- Austin Olsen (honorable mention All-MVFC)

PICKING UP WHERE 2016 LEFT OFF

Southern Illinois was 4-7 overall and 2-6 in the Missouri Valley Football Conference last season, but the Salukis won two of the final three games of the season to take momentum into 2017.
Sam Straub started those final three games at quarterback for SIU. He averaged 385 passing yards per game in his three starts.
Southern erased a 17-point second-half deficit in the season finale to beat No. 23 Western Illinois, 44-34.
Straub set a program record with 450 passing yards in the win. He broke Nick Hill's 10-year-old school record for passing yards in a game.
The 17-point comeback was also the biggest comeback for SIU since Hill led SIU to a 21-point comeback win at Northern Illinois in 2007.
The win over #23 WIU gave SIU a win over a ranked opponent for a 15th consecutive season.
Former WR Israel Lamprakes summed up the state of the program after the emotional win: "Everyone who is going to be here next year saw it; they saw what we're capable of. And just to end it that way, it is more than just tonight. This is going to go for the next few years. Everything is changing; and unfortunately, it didn't change fast enough for me, but it is changing. And that is all I've ever wanted. And it is happening. It's a blessing. It's a beautiful thing, and I'm just thankful."
Even before the season-ending win, SIU had gained momentum the previous two weeks. SIU beat South Dakota and lost a narrow 21-14 decision at Youngstown State.
SIU dominated the second half against Youngstown State, which went on to play the national championship game. SIU outgained the Penguins 301-124 after halftime and erased a 14-0 deficit.
YSU entered that game allowing 159 yards passing per game through the first nine games. Straub put up 366 yards through the air in the Ice House.

YOUNG GUNS

Southern Illinois only has 14 seniors on its 102-man roster.
Only six of the 22 projected starters are seniors.
Eight of the 11 projected starters on defense are freshmen or sophomores.
Including the entire offensive and defensive two-deep (44 players), only 10 are seniors.
Most of the youth is on the defensive side of the ball. Thirteen of the 22 players on the defensive two-deep are freshmen or sophomores.
Head coach Nick Hill announced that true freshmen Chucky Sullivan, Dan Heilbron, Sam Skinner and Jaylin Wilson will play in 2017. Last year, SIU played six true freshmen.
Seventeen of the team's 19 defensive linemen are freshmen or sophomores. The only two upper-classmen on the D-Line--Quadarius Reed and Javon Webster--are first-year transfers.