Saturday, October 12
Carbondale, IL
2 PM
Southern Illinois University
vs
North Dakota State
News | Football hosts #2 North Dakota State on Homecoming
10/07/2024 | 10:43:00 | Football
The 2024 Saluki Hall of Fame class will be recognized during the game.
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Southern Illinois hosts No. 2-ranked North Dakota State in a Homecoming matchup on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Saluki Stadium in a game televised on ESPN+.
For the first time in 35 years, the Salukis (2-4) will start a true freshman at quarterback. Jake Curry will make his starting debut for Southern on Saturday.
The Edwardsville, Ill. native came off the bench last week versus Illinois State, replacing injured starter Hunter Simmons in the third quarter. Curry completed 8-of-19 passes for 133 yards and two interceptions. At Edwardsville High School, he was a Class 8A First-Team All-State pick in 2023, and passed for 5,042 career yards and 62 TDs, plus 25 rushing TDs.
The last true freshman to start for SIU was Brendon Prenger, a walk-on QB, who started at Northern Iowa on Nov. 11, 1989. He passed for 159 yards in a 38-14 loss to the Panthers.
Simmons started the last three games for the Salukis, replacing DJ Williams, who had surgery on his throwing hand after injuring it during the win over Incarnate Word on Sept. 14.
Hall of Fame Day
The 2024 Saluki Hall of Fame class featuring Jorge Delgado (Swimming), Korey Lindsey (Football), Rick Murray (Baseball), Rishonda Napier (Women's Basketball), Sally Perkins (Athletic Trainer) and Rick Walker (Swimming & Diving Coach) will be honored during the first quarter of the game.
Men's Basketball posters and autographs
The 2024-25 men's basketball schedule posters will be available, and the team will be on-hand to sign the posters from 12:30-1:30 p.m. in the Saluki Plaza by the south entrance to Saluki Stadium.
Series versus North Dakota State
The Salukis are 4-12 all-time versus the Bison, including a 4-5 mark at home. NDSU has won 11 of the last 12 meetings, with Southern's lone win coming in 2020. That Saluki victory was the first-career start for quarterback Nic Baker and the 38-14 win ended a 39-game winning streak for the Bison, which was ranked No. 1 at the time.
Five-straight ranked opponents
The Salukis are in the midst of a five-game stretch against ranked, FCS opponents. That's only happened twice in school history — 1999 and 2005. In addition, SIU's FBS opponent this season, BYU, is currently 5-0 and ranked No. 19. To date, Southern has faced the third-toughest schedule in the FCS.
WR Keontez Lewis leads MVFC
After recording a career-high 153 receiving yards last week versus Illinois State, WR Keontez Lewis leads the MVFC and ranks third in the nation in receiving yards (575). The Wisconsin transfer also leads the league and ranks 10th in the nation in receiving yards per game (95.8)
LB Ben Bogle is 2nd in nation in TFL, 13th in sacks
Sophomore LB Ben Bogle ranks second in the the nation with 12.5 tackles for loss. He also ranks 13th in the nation in sacks with 5.5. Both marks lead the MVFC. Bogle had a school-record 3.5 sacks at Austin Peay in Week 2, in which he earned FCS national player-of-the-week honors. SIU's single-game season record for TFL is 18.0 (Bart Scott, 2001) and for sacks is 12.0 (James Phillips, 1978).
Illinois State recap
For the first time since the end of the 2022 season, the Salukis are not nationally ranked, breaking a streak of 19-consecutive weeks. They were ranked in all 13 polls released in 2023 (as high as #5), and were ranked in the first six polls released in 2024 (as high as #7).
Dawg bytes
For the first time in 35 years, the Salukis (2-4) will start a true freshman at quarterback. Jake Curry will make his starting debut for Southern on Saturday.
The Edwardsville, Ill. native came off the bench last week versus Illinois State, replacing injured starter Hunter Simmons in the third quarter. Curry completed 8-of-19 passes for 133 yards and two interceptions. At Edwardsville High School, he was a Class 8A First-Team All-State pick in 2023, and passed for 5,042 career yards and 62 TDs, plus 25 rushing TDs.
The last true freshman to start for SIU was Brendon Prenger, a walk-on QB, who started at Northern Iowa on Nov. 11, 1989. He passed for 159 yards in a 38-14 loss to the Panthers.
Simmons started the last three games for the Salukis, replacing DJ Williams, who had surgery on his throwing hand after injuring it during the win over Incarnate Word on Sept. 14.
Hall of Fame Day
The 2024 Saluki Hall of Fame class featuring Jorge Delgado (Swimming), Korey Lindsey (Football), Rick Murray (Baseball), Rishonda Napier (Women's Basketball), Sally Perkins (Athletic Trainer) and Rick Walker (Swimming & Diving Coach) will be honored during the first quarter of the game.
Men's Basketball posters and autographs
The 2024-25 men's basketball schedule posters will be available, and the team will be on-hand to sign the posters from 12:30-1:30 p.m. in the Saluki Plaza by the south entrance to Saluki Stadium.
Series versus North Dakota State
The Salukis are 4-12 all-time versus the Bison, including a 4-5 mark at home. NDSU has won 11 of the last 12 meetings, with Southern's lone win coming in 2020. That Saluki victory was the first-career start for quarterback Nic Baker and the 38-14 win ended a 39-game winning streak for the Bison, which was ranked No. 1 at the time.
Five-straight ranked opponents
The Salukis are in the midst of a five-game stretch against ranked, FCS opponents. That's only happened twice in school history — 1999 and 2005. In addition, SIU's FBS opponent this season, BYU, is currently 5-0 and ranked No. 19. To date, Southern has faced the third-toughest schedule in the FCS.
WR Keontez Lewis leads MVFC
After recording a career-high 153 receiving yards last week versus Illinois State, WR Keontez Lewis leads the MVFC and ranks third in the nation in receiving yards (575). The Wisconsin transfer also leads the league and ranks 10th in the nation in receiving yards per game (95.8)
LB Ben Bogle is 2nd in nation in TFL, 13th in sacks
Sophomore LB Ben Bogle ranks second in the the nation with 12.5 tackles for loss. He also ranks 13th in the nation in sacks with 5.5. Both marks lead the MVFC. Bogle had a school-record 3.5 sacks at Austin Peay in Week 2, in which he earned FCS national player-of-the-week honors. SIU's single-game season record for TFL is 18.0 (Bart Scott, 2001) and for sacks is 12.0 (James Phillips, 1978).
Illinois State recap
- The Salukis out-gained Illinois State, 487-407.
- SIU had seven drives that ended inside the Illinois State 30. The drives resulted in 1 TD, 1 FG, 2 missed FG, 2 INTs and 1 turnover on downs.
- Keontez Lewis' 153 receiving yards were the most by a Saluki since Avante' Cox had 187 at SEMO in 2021.
- Jake Curry's 60-yard completion to Lewis was SIU's longest play from scrimmage this season.
For the first time since the end of the 2022 season, the Salukis are not nationally ranked, breaking a streak of 19-consecutive weeks. They were ranked in all 13 polls released in 2023 (as high as #5), and were ranked in the first six polls released in 2024 (as high as #7).
Dawg bytes
- The Salukis are one of only eight FCS team who have not lost a fumble through the first six games.
- The Salukis rank 17th in the nation in passing offense (259.3), 24th in total offense (401.2), 92nd in scoring offense (20.5) and 121st in red zone scoring (0.583).
- Three of SIU's four captains have missed the last four games due to injuries — TE Aidan Quinn, DE Dewey Greene and LB Colin Bohanek. The only captain to play was C Chase Evans.
- Simmons did not throw an interception in 128 pass attempts before suffering a season-ending broken left tibia versus Illinois State on Oct. 5
- SIU currently has three players on NFL rosters — S Jeremy Chinn (Washington), TE MyCole Pruitt (Pittsburgh) and S PJ Jules (Cincinnati, practice squad).
- Chinn was a second-round draft pick (64th overall) in the 2020 draft and runner-up for Defensive Rookie of the Year.
- Pruitt is in his 10th NFL season with 71 catches and 12 TDs.
Players Mentioned
QB
/ Football
LB
/ Football
QB
/ Football
G
/ Football
DE
/ Football
WR
/ Football
TE
/ Football
QB
/ Football9.10.25 | Saluki Radio Football Podcast - UT Martin
Wednesday, September 10
9.9.25 | Coach Nick Hill Weekly Press Conference
Tuesday, September 09
Inside Saluki Athletics - September 9th
Tuesday, September 09
9.7.25 | Saluki Radio Postgame Purdue- Vinson Davis and Andrew Behm
Sunday, September 07