News | Curry named Player of the Week, Football preps for No. 3 South Dakota State

Saturday, November 16

Brookings, SD

2 PM

Southern Illinois University

South Dakota State

News | Curry named Player of the Week, Football preps for No. 3 South Dakota State

11/11/2024 | 10:58:00 | Football

Game Notes Coach Hill Press Conference

By: Tom Weber, SIUSalukis.com

CARBONDALE, Ill. — Southern Illinois quarterback Jake Curry was named the Stats Perform FCS National Freshman of the Week, as well as the Missouri Valley Football Conference Newcomer of the Week on Monday.

The true freshman QB rallied SIU from a 28-0 deficit to beat Youngstown State, 37-33, on Saturday. It was the largest comeback in school history and tied for the largest in conference history. Curry completed 19-of-26 passes for 322 yards and three touchdowns and also led the team in rushing with 10 carries for 78 yards and one TD. He threw two touchdown passes in the final three minutes — an 18-yard fade route to TE Colton Hoag, and a 20-yard TD to Bradley Clark for the game-winner with 1:09 remaining.

Curry has started the last four games for SIU after both DJ Williams (3 starts, broken hand) and backup Hunter Simmons (3 starts, broken tibia) were sidelined with major injuries. It has been 35 years since the Salukis started a true freshman at quarterback. The last player to do it was Brendon Prenger, a true freshman walk-on QB, who started at Northern Iowa on Nov. 11, 1989.

The Salukis play at No. 3 South Dakota State on Saturday. The game will be Southern's seventh contest against ranked FCS teams this season.

Series versus South Dakota State
The last three meetings between the schools have been decided by a touchdown or less. In 2020, SDSU won a home playoff game over Southern, 31-26. The Salukis returned to Brookings in 2021 and beat the Jackrabbits, 42-41, in overtime. In 2023, South Dakota State prevailed in Carbondale, 17-10. In the overtime win, SIU rallied from a 20-point deficit, as Nic Baker passed for 359 yards and four touchdowns. A two-point conversion pass was broken up in the end zone by SIU linebacker Branson Combs.

Youngstown State recap

The Salukis trailed, 28-0, before scoring their first touchdown with 2:12 remaining in the 2nd quarter. SIU trailed, 30-12, at halftime.
Redshirt freshman WR Allen Middleton Jr. had a career-high 7 catches for 102 yards and a touchdown.
WR Bradley Clark caught his first TD at Southern — the game-winner with 1:02 remaining.
Freshman running backs Jimmy Athans and Jerrian Parker recorded their first-career rushing TDs.
LB Chris Presto had a career-high 16 tackles.

Dawg bytes

QB Jake Curry has led SIU in rushing in the last two games.
S Ubayd Steed has 43 tackles in the last four games, including 3.0 tackles for loss
Paul Geelen handles both the kicking and punting duties for SIU and is ranked 20th in the nation in punting (43.1). On kickoffs, 20 of his 40 kicks have gone for touchbacks. He also has 1 rushing TD and 1 pass completion.

Salukis have played toughest schedule in the FCS
The Salukis have played the toughest schedule in the nation, according to WarrenNolan.com and the fourth-toughest according to the Massey power ratings. SIU played a stretch of five-straight games against ranked, FCS opponents, finishing 1-4 with a win versus No. 12 Incarnate Word. In addition, SIU's FBS opponent this season, BYU, is currently 9-0 and ranked No. 7.

LB Ben Bogle leads league in TFL
Sophomore LB Ben Bogle leads the MVFC and ranks 7th in the the nation with 14.0 tackles for loss. He also has two interceptions in the last three games. 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).

Steed, Brown headline secondary
S Ubayd Steed (77 tackles) and S Iverson Brown (69 tackles) rank first and third on the team in tackles this season. Brown has 1 interception and 5 pass breakups, while Steed has 2 forced fumbles and 3 PBU.

WR Keontez Lewis among FCS leaders
Playing with a broken bone in his left hand, WR Keontez Lewis still ranks 2nd in the MVFC in receiving yards per game (72.2). Through 10 games, he has 38 catches, including 3 touchdowns. He also has seven carries for 102 yards and a TD. The Wisconsin transfer recorded a career-high 153 receiving yards versus Illinois State.