Saturday, October 30
Cedar Falls, IA
4:00 PM
Southern Illinois University
at
Northern Iowa
No. 3-ranked Football at Northern Iowa on Saturday
10/27/2021 | 12:17:00 | Football
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Coming off a bye week, Southern Illinois moved up one spot in the national rankings to No. 3 and plays at No. 16 Northern Iowa on Saturday at 4 p.m. in a game televised on ESPN+. This is the first time SIU has been ranked in the Top 5 in three consecutive weeks since 2010. The 6-1 start overall record and 4-0 conference mark are the best since 2009.
Series versus the Panthers
• UNI leads the series, 20-17. The series has been home-centric. SIU is 13-6 vs. the Panthers in Carbondale, Il. and 4-14 vs. UNI in Cedar Falls, Ia.
• The Salukis won the last meeting between the two teams, 17-16, last spring when QB Stone Labanowitz passed three yards to WR Jerron Rollins for a TD with 9:43 remaining in the game in Carbondale.
• Though the two teams combined for just 33 points in the Mar. 3, 2021 game, they combined for 821 yards total offense. There were three turnovers in the game.
• SIU has not won consecutive games versus UNI since the 2012 and 2013 seasons.
• SIU's never won consecutive games at the UNI Dome.
• This is SIU's first game at the UNI since a, 42-21, loss in 2016.
• SIU's last win at the UNI Dome was a 24-17 overtime win Oct. 12, 2013.
• Saluki Coach Nick Hill set the-then SIU one game passing record when he passed for 436 yards in a 2007 loss at UNI.
• Hill and SIU's current QB, Nic Baker, broke that record when Baker passed for 460 yards at Southeast Missouri earlier this season.
Worth Noting — SIU
Head Coach Nick Hill's Weekly Press Conference – 10/11/21
Opening Statement:
"Our bye week was good and productive. We practiced on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, the guys got Friday and Saturday off, then we were back to practice on Sunday. Our coaches were able to hit the road out recruiting – some out early in the week – then the rest by Thursday and Friday to watch some high school football. I tell the guys, we can't control when our bye week is, but it's a process of trust that they are going to do the right things and take care of their bodies on their time.
That showed up yesterday, that was some of the most "juice" we've had in practice in a while. Not in just the energy but in their legs – some guys had freshness going around. With some rest and doing the right things, it's not going to make things easier. They have today [Monday] off, then back into a normal routine and good week of practice."
On Northern Iowa:
"Coach [Mark] Farley has a great team, always does. Physical, tough, playing in the Dome is always a tough place to play, but also a place that I look forward to playing in. It's a place you always remember playing in and excited to play in."
If you don't play with a sense of urgency and desperation in this league, you'll look up and lost a few in a row. It's not because you don't have a good team, it's because you don't have that sense of urgency or attention to detail and you'll get beat. Northern Iowa: they're a few drives away from being undefeated. UNI goes out on the road, it's never easy going out to California and they completely handled Sacramento State – who's a playoff team."
On backup linebackers:
"Zach [Burrola] and Kholbe [Coleman] have just been solid for us and playing really well, I wish we could find a way to get them more series. I really like the unselfishness and playing off each other with Jakari [Patterson] and Branson [Combs]. Both of them have made big plays for us in all the conference games. Branson came up big for several tackles-for-loss, some big-time tackles in space, Jakari had the pick (at SDSU) and (game-winning) tackle at Western Illinois. Those guys are playing huge for us."
On QB Stone Norton:
"As the #2, he gets quite a bit of reps in practice. Same with Zach Zebrowski – he gets some of those, too. We try to split those #2 reps up quite a bit, Stone gets the majority of them but Zach is right there coming along. During the bye week, we got a lot of reps with our redshirts. Hunter Simmons is a kid from Marion, that we dressed him for a couple games."
Series versus the Panthers
• UNI leads the series, 20-17. The series has been home-centric. SIU is 13-6 vs. the Panthers in Carbondale, Il. and 4-14 vs. UNI in Cedar Falls, Ia.
• The Salukis won the last meeting between the two teams, 17-16, last spring when QB Stone Labanowitz passed three yards to WR Jerron Rollins for a TD with 9:43 remaining in the game in Carbondale.
• Though the two teams combined for just 33 points in the Mar. 3, 2021 game, they combined for 821 yards total offense. There were three turnovers in the game.
• SIU has not won consecutive games versus UNI since the 2012 and 2013 seasons.
• SIU's never won consecutive games at the UNI Dome.
• This is SIU's first game at the UNI since a, 42-21, loss in 2016.
• SIU's last win at the UNI Dome was a 24-17 overtime win Oct. 12, 2013.
• Saluki Coach Nick Hill set the-then SIU one game passing record when he passed for 436 yards in a 2007 loss at UNI.
• Hill and SIU's current QB, Nic Baker, broke that record when Baker passed for 460 yards at Southeast Missouri earlier this season.
Worth Noting — SIU
- Is 7-2 in its last 9 games vs. ranked opponents.
- The seven wins are against #1, #2, #3, #4, #15, #22, and #25.
- Is an MVFC-best, 12-5 over its last 17 games.
- Is 17-5 in its last 22 games vs. FCS opponents.
- Is 41-12 lifetime when ranked in the Top 5.
- Is 1-2 following bye weeks under Coach Nick Hill.
- SIU built a 21-7 first half lead before the Fighting Hawks tied the game with two touchdowns in the final 47 seconds of the first half.
- SIU won the game on PK Nico Gualdoni's career-long 46-yard field goal with 5:21 remaining in the game.
- UND PK Brady Stevens missed a 47-yard field goal as time expired in the game.
- SIU DBs Qua Brown and David Miller combined for 21 total tackles in the game.
- In his first season-opening start as a college QB, Baker set the school record for passing yards in one game when he passed for 460 yards in the win at SEMO on Sept. 2, 2021.
- Is 9-1 as SIU's starting QB.
- Has quarterbacked just 13 career games, but is in 16th place in career passing yards with 2,571.
- Is tied for 13th in career TD passes with 21.
- Is 16th in career completions with 199.
- Has won the MVFC Player of the Week Award three times in his career, two times this season.
- Is in third place on SIU's career receptions list with 186.
- Is in third place on SIU's career receiving yardage list with 2,366.
- Is tied for fifth place on SIU's career receiving TDs list with 17.
- Has caught passes in 27 consecutive games.
- Caught a career-high 10 passes in the Oct. 9, 2021 win at #2 South Dakota St.
Head Coach Nick Hill's Weekly Press Conference – 10/11/21
Opening Statement:
"Our bye week was good and productive. We practiced on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, the guys got Friday and Saturday off, then we were back to practice on Sunday. Our coaches were able to hit the road out recruiting – some out early in the week – then the rest by Thursday and Friday to watch some high school football. I tell the guys, we can't control when our bye week is, but it's a process of trust that they are going to do the right things and take care of their bodies on their time.
That showed up yesterday, that was some of the most "juice" we've had in practice in a while. Not in just the energy but in their legs – some guys had freshness going around. With some rest and doing the right things, it's not going to make things easier. They have today [Monday] off, then back into a normal routine and good week of practice."
On Northern Iowa:
"Coach [Mark] Farley has a great team, always does. Physical, tough, playing in the Dome is always a tough place to play, but also a place that I look forward to playing in. It's a place you always remember playing in and excited to play in."
If you don't play with a sense of urgency and desperation in this league, you'll look up and lost a few in a row. It's not because you don't have a good team, it's because you don't have that sense of urgency or attention to detail and you'll get beat. Northern Iowa: they're a few drives away from being undefeated. UNI goes out on the road, it's never easy going out to California and they completely handled Sacramento State – who's a playoff team."
On backup linebackers:
"Zach [Burrola] and Kholbe [Coleman] have just been solid for us and playing really well, I wish we could find a way to get them more series. I really like the unselfishness and playing off each other with Jakari [Patterson] and Branson [Combs]. Both of them have made big plays for us in all the conference games. Branson came up big for several tackles-for-loss, some big-time tackles in space, Jakari had the pick (at SDSU) and (game-winning) tackle at Western Illinois. Those guys are playing huge for us."
On QB Stone Norton:
"As the #2, he gets quite a bit of reps in practice. Same with Zach Zebrowski – he gets some of those, too. We try to split those #2 reps up quite a bit, Stone gets the majority of them but Zach is right there coming along. During the bye week, we got a lot of reps with our redshirts. Hunter Simmons is a kid from Marion, that we dressed him for a couple games."
Players Mentioned
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