Saturday, November 20
Carbondale, IL
12:00 PM
Southern Illinois University
vs
Youngstown St.
Fighting for playoff berth, Football hosts Youngstown on Saturday on Senior Day
11/16/2021 | 4:54:00 | Football
CARBONDALE, Ill. — No. 15-ranked Southern Illinois hosts Youngstown State on Saturday at noon in the regular-season finale for both teams. With an SIU win and a North Dakota State loss to South Dakota, the Salukis would earn their first conference championship since 2009.
The Salukis (7-3, 5-2) also need a win to enhance their case for a playoff berth and one of the top-8 seeds in the Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs, which begin on Nov. 27. With a win, Southern would post its best regular-season and conference record since 2009. The NCAA will unveil the FCS Playoffs bracket at 11:30 a.m. CT on Sunday on ESPNU.
It's also Senior Day and 25 seniors will be recognized during a pregame on-field ceremony, 20 minutes before kickoff.
Saluki Athletics is offering a special promotion for $10 tickets, for fans who buy online and enter the promo code "SENIOR". The deadline to use the code is 5 p.m. on Friday.
Head Coach Nick Hill's Weekly Press Conference – 11/15/21
Opening Statement:
"It was great to go to Indiana State and get a win. It was expected that our guys would go out and play hard – it hasn't been an issue all year, really. Every team has gone through some phase of adversity, we lost a couple of games but we have resilient, tough players in our locker room. I thought played well. There are still a few things we can work on and get better – that was the focus yesterday.
We're excited about getting home for senior day. Youngstown State is coming in, who I feel like is a really good football team. They obviously have a couple good wins this season – had a tough schedule, so they'll have our attention just like every single week. It's about resetting and re-preparing, there's a lot to play for in this game: our seniors, who have meant so much to us – honoring them before the game. The focus has to be on us playing well."
On Senior Day:
"It's tough for me to think about those guys, not only the nine guys who have been here for six years, but some of these fifth-year seniors who aren't going to come back as sixth-years. Even the transfers – there are so many guys who are committed to the vision of the program when we were 2-9 [2018] or had three straight losing seasons. They transferred in here and they believed what we were selling them, they changed the course of this program but there's so much ahead of this team. We can finish the regular season the right way, with a lot of positive momentum. We've got a locked in group now and I feel good where we are at."
On CB David Miller:
"He really never started playing defensive back until he played at Navy – he was more of an offensive player. That's a huge trait that some people take for granted: to be an elite corner, you have to catch the ball. PBU's [pass break-ups] are good, but picks change games. You have to catch the ball and David has incredible ball skills, he's really scratching the surface of what he can be. His confidence level – he came in here this summer and hit the ground running. He was so young in playing defense and hasn't seen a ton of snaps – he's a freshman on the field – so there are a ton of bright days ahead."
On potential playoff berth:
"I don't look at the numbers. Going into these last two weeks, it doesn't matter what anyone else does, I don't know how [mock playoff pairings, rankings] work. I just know that if you win eight games, we're in. I think we have a really good football team, not focused on who we're playing – that's what our administration is for. We've got a job to do, our players have a job to do. It's about being focused and doing that. I don't pay attention to it [playoff rankings] much, I couldn't tell you who needs to win and who needs to lose."
On Youngstown's rush game:
"They have one of the best [running] backs in the country – he's electrifying, he can score any time he touches the ball. Every time you watch him, and we've seen him quite a bit on film, he is something special. You think you have him wrapped up, and then you don't. Everything is going to be important in this game. Everything matters and this week it will, too."
The Salukis (7-3, 5-2) also need a win to enhance their case for a playoff berth and one of the top-8 seeds in the Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs, which begin on Nov. 27. With a win, Southern would post its best regular-season and conference record since 2009. The NCAA will unveil the FCS Playoffs bracket at 11:30 a.m. CT on Sunday on ESPNU.
It's also Senior Day and 25 seniors will be recognized during a pregame on-field ceremony, 20 minutes before kickoff.
Saluki Athletics is offering a special promotion for $10 tickets, for fans who buy online and enter the promo code "SENIOR". The deadline to use the code is 5 p.m. on Friday.
Head Coach Nick Hill's Weekly Press Conference – 11/15/21
Opening Statement:
"It was great to go to Indiana State and get a win. It was expected that our guys would go out and play hard – it hasn't been an issue all year, really. Every team has gone through some phase of adversity, we lost a couple of games but we have resilient, tough players in our locker room. I thought played well. There are still a few things we can work on and get better – that was the focus yesterday.
We're excited about getting home for senior day. Youngstown State is coming in, who I feel like is a really good football team. They obviously have a couple good wins this season – had a tough schedule, so they'll have our attention just like every single week. It's about resetting and re-preparing, there's a lot to play for in this game: our seniors, who have meant so much to us – honoring them before the game. The focus has to be on us playing well."
On Senior Day:
"It's tough for me to think about those guys, not only the nine guys who have been here for six years, but some of these fifth-year seniors who aren't going to come back as sixth-years. Even the transfers – there are so many guys who are committed to the vision of the program when we were 2-9 [2018] or had three straight losing seasons. They transferred in here and they believed what we were selling them, they changed the course of this program but there's so much ahead of this team. We can finish the regular season the right way, with a lot of positive momentum. We've got a locked in group now and I feel good where we are at."
On CB David Miller:
"He really never started playing defensive back until he played at Navy – he was more of an offensive player. That's a huge trait that some people take for granted: to be an elite corner, you have to catch the ball. PBU's [pass break-ups] are good, but picks change games. You have to catch the ball and David has incredible ball skills, he's really scratching the surface of what he can be. His confidence level – he came in here this summer and hit the ground running. He was so young in playing defense and hasn't seen a ton of snaps – he's a freshman on the field – so there are a ton of bright days ahead."
On potential playoff berth:
"I don't look at the numbers. Going into these last two weeks, it doesn't matter what anyone else does, I don't know how [mock playoff pairings, rankings] work. I just know that if you win eight games, we're in. I think we have a really good football team, not focused on who we're playing – that's what our administration is for. We've got a job to do, our players have a job to do. It's about being focused and doing that. I don't pay attention to it [playoff rankings] much, I couldn't tell you who needs to win and who needs to lose."
On Youngstown's rush game:
"They have one of the best [running] backs in the country – he's electrifying, he can score any time he touches the ball. Every time you watch him, and we've seen him quite a bit on film, he is something special. You think you have him wrapped up, and then you don't. Everything is going to be important in this game. Everything matters and this week it will, too."
Players Mentioned
CB
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