Countdown to Kickoff vs. Austin Peay

CARBONDALE, Ill. — Don't miss the season-opener for Saluki football on Saturday night versus Austin Peay!.

Home opener vs. Austin Peay on Sept. 2 at 6 PM

Jeremy Chinn Bobblehead Night: The first 1,000 fans to enter Saluki Stadium will receive a free Jeremy Chinn bobblehead! Gates open at 5 PM, kickoff at 6 PM.
Fans can sign-up under Section 12 to win a Jeremy Chinn autographed poster. Four drawings will take place during the game.
Faith & Family Night: Fans can purchase $10 sideline tickets online using the promo code "FAITH". Area churches and faith-based groups that purchase 10 or more tickets can receive video board recognition during the game by emailing a photo of their group to Saluki Athletics.
Hawgs & Dawgs: Saluki Athletics has partnered with Black Diamond Harley-Davidson to host Hawgs & Dawgs. To participate in Hawgs & Dawgs, riders must purchase a game ticket by entering the promo code "HAWGS".
$1 Hot Dogs, $2 Beer: While supplies last, we're offering $1 hot dogs and $2 beer! ($1 Hot Dogs on East Concourse only, $2 Beer (Coors Banquet) on West Concourse only — Cash only for these promotions.)
Saluki QB Nic Baker (#8): Needs two completions to break the school career record.

Saluki Football in the last 3 seasons...

10-7 record against FCS ranked teams.
Beat the No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 ranked teams
Power Five win at Northwestern (9/17/22)
Two FCS Playoff appearances
Spring 2021: FCS Playoffs Elite 8
Fall 2021: FCS Playoffs Sweet 16
Thirty-one weeks ranked in the Top 25 and as high as No. 3.

Preseason honors

Preseason All-American, Senior Bowl Watch List S PJ Jules
Preseason All-Conference: LB Branson Combs (1st), S PJ Jules (1st), WR D'Ante' Cox (2nd), QB Nic Baker (HM) and G Chase Evans (HM)
SIU ranked 29th in preseason Stats Perform poll and 34th in preseason Coaches poll

Series vs. Austin Peay

The Salukis have won the last five meetings versus Austin Peay in a series that dates back to 1938. The schools are separated by 162 miles.
SIU leads the series, 5-2
The most recent game between the schools came in 1992 — a 37-7 SIU win, in which Scott Gabbert passed for 2 TDs, and Yonel Jourdain rushed for 106 yards.
In 1991, SIU trailed, 17-0, in the second quarter in Clarksville, before rallying to win, 21-17.
In 1986, Bobby Sloan had a 37-yard fumble return for a TD, and Drew Morrison set the school record for longest punt (83 yards), in a 24-17 SIU win in its home opener.

Returning starters

SIU returns seven starters on offense — QB Nic Baker, RB Ro Elliott, WR D'Ante' Cox, G Chase Evans, C Jacob Caughell, G Jake Green and RT Abdou Toure. The offense also returns RB Justin Strong and WR Izaiah Hartrup, who missed most of last season due to injuries.
The Salukis have five starters back on defense — LB Branson Combs, S PJ Jules, CB DJ Johnson, LB Zach Burrola and DT Kam Bowdry.
All three starting specialists return — K Jake Baumgarte, P Nathan Torney and LS Ross Pedro. K Thomas Burks returns to handle kickoffs.

Salukis in close games in 2022

In the last 10 games of the 2022 season, SIU held a lead during the 4th quarter, but was 5-5 during those games.
The five wins were by an average of 13.8 points, the five losses by an average of 3.3 points.
All five of the losses were by a touchdown or less

QB Nic Baker

Has played in 31 games since making his debut in 2018
Is 16-11 as SIU's starting QB
Leads the team with 23-consecutive starts.
Needs 2 completions to break Joel Sambursky's school record for career completions (559).
Is a six-time MVFC Player of the Week Award winner, including 3X in 2022.
Broke his own single-game passing yards record versus Northern Iowa (485 yards) on Oct. 29, 2022.
Set the school completion percentage record vs. Western Illinois (25-of-28, .893) on Oct. 15, 2022.
Had a streak of 161-straight attempts without throwing an INT during a five-game stretch that ended at South Dakota.
Passed Nick Hill into second in career TD passes (50) at SIU
His first-career start came against No. 1 North Dakota State (2/27/21). He led SIU to a 38-14 upset that ended NDSU's FCS-record 39-game winning streak.
Was 27-1 as a starter at Rochester HS (IL) and passed for 54 TDs/2 INTs in senior year to lead team to state title.

Offensive playmakers

SIU has two rushers with more than 1,000-career rushing yards — RBs Ro Elliott (1,711) and Justin Strong (1,034).
Eastern Illinois transfer RB Jaelin Benefield had 1,198 rushing yards at EIU.
WR D'Ante Cox has caught at least one pass in 10-straight games. His twin brother, Avante Cox, holds the school-record at 43 games.
WR Izaiah Hartrup was injured during the 2022 opener vs. SEMO and missed the rest of the season, but he was SIU's second-leading receiver in 2021 with 43 catches.
Charleston Southern transfer WR Vinson Davis III led CSU with 56 catches in 2022.

S PJ Jules

Stats Perform Preseason All-American and Preseason 1st-Team All-MVFC
Has played in 43 career games
Led the team in tackles (61) in 2022
Is SIU's active career leader in tackles (166)
Ranks 13 in career PBUs (18)
Returned an interception for a TD at Kansas State in 2021

LB Branson Combs

Preseason 1st-Team All-MVFC
Originally played WR and caught 12 passes in 2020, including the game-winning TD in the playoff game at Weber State
Switched to LB in 2021 and has 91 career tackles, 6.5 TFL, 2.5 sacks and is the active interception leader (4) on the team

WR D'Ante' Cox

Preseason 2nd-Team All-MVFC
Missed the 2020 season with a knee injury sustained on the first day of training camp. Returned for the opener in 2021 at SEMO and re-injured the same knee on his first carry of the game.
Led the 2022 team in catches (46) and receiving yards (696)
Had back-to-back 100-yard receiving performances vs. ILS and MSU
His identical twin brother, Avante, finished his career at SIU in 2022 and is No. 4 all-time in catches (202) and No. 3 in receiving TDs (23).

G Chase Evans

Preseason All-MVFC honorable mention
Has started more games (26) and more consecutive games (13) than any active player except Nic Baker.
Can also play center, and started at that position in 2022 versus UNI.

Four Saluki DBs in the NFL

SIU currently has four of its former defensive backs on NFL rosters — S Jeremy Chinn (Carolina Panthers), CB Madre Harper (Pittsburgh Steelers), S Ryan Neal (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) and CB Craig James (New York Jets).
Chinn was a second-round draft pick (64th overall) in the 2020 draft and runner-up for Defensive Rookie of the Year.
Neal is a sixth-year pro who enters the 2023 season with 47 games, 19 starts, 160 tackles and 3 INTs to his credit.

Calendar

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Players Mentioned

Nic Baker

Jake Baumgarte

Jaelin Benefield

Kam Bowdry

Thomas Burks

Zach Burrola

Jacob Caughell

Branson Combs

Avante Cox

D’Ante’ Cox

Vinson Davis III

Ro Elliott

Chase Evans

Jake Green

Izaiah Hartrup

DJ Johnson

PJ Jules

Ross Pedro

Justin Strong

Nathan Torney

Abdou Toure

Scoreboard