News | Football hosts Youngstown State on Military Appreciation Day

CARBONDALE, Ill. — Southern Illinois hosts Youngstown State on Military Appreciation Day on Saturday at 12 p.m. at Saluki Stadium. Veterans and active-duty military can receive a free ticket by showing their military ID.

Fans can purchase $10 tickets with the promo code "FLAG" and receive a red, white and blue Saluki car decal with their purchase, sponsored by Heartland HVAC. Additional decals will be available to purchase for $5. The first 500 fans will receive a Military Appreciation rally towel. The team store will feature patriotic-themed SIU gear.

Series versus Youngstown State
The Penguins have won the last three meetings between the teams and six of the last eight. The last time SIU beat Youngstown was in the 2021 spring season. Southern rallied from an early 12-point deficit to beat YSU, 30-22, on a cold, blustery day in northeast Ohio. The game was played on March 6, and the No. 11-ranked Salukis improved to 5-1 on the season.

Salukis have played toughest schedule in the FCS
The Salukis have played the toughest schedule in the nation, according to WarrenNolan.com and the third-toughest according to the Massey power ratings. Youngstown State has played the second-toughest schedule, according to WarrenNolan.com. SIU played a stretch of five-straight games against ranked, FCS opponents, finishing 1-4 with a win versus No. 12 Incarnate Word. Only twice in school history (1999 and 2005) has SIU played five-straight ranked teams. In addition, SIU's FBS opponent this season, BYU, is currently 8-0 and ranked No. 9.

True freshman Jake Curry takes over at quarterback
True freshman quarterback Jake Curry has started the last three games for SIU, making his first-career start versus No. 2 North Dakota State on Oct. 12. 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 Edwardsville, Ill. native is the third quarterback to start for SIU this season. Both DJ Williams (3 starts, broken hand) and backup Hunter Simmons (3 starts, broken tibia) are sidelined with major injuries.

Salukis activate QB Michael Lindauer
With three of the team's four quarterbacks out with injuries (freshman ET Harris suffered a season-ending injury during training camp), the Salukis received an NCAA waiver to activate quarterback Michael Lindauer. The Evansville, Ind. native retired from football after the 2024 spring ball season to become a graduate assistant coach for Southern. In three seasons at SIU (2021-23), Lindauer played in one game and did not attempt a pass in the game at Western Illinois in 2023. In the last two games, Lindauer has come off the bench to complete 5-of-10 passes for 33 yards and 1 TD. He has also rushed five times for 71 yards.

Missouri State recap

The Salukis trailed, 24-0, before rallying to cut the deficit to 24-14.
P Paul Geelen scored a touchdown on a 9-yard faked field goal. He also completed a pass for 3 yards on a fake punt.
CB Jeremiah McClendon made his first start. He forced a fumble and had two pass breakups, including one that resulted in an interception by Shane Roth.
The defense had 4 sacks in the game, the second-most in a game this season.
TE Aidan Quinn returned to play in his first game this season.

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 ranks 36th in the nation in sacks with 5.5. 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 (67 tackles) and S Iverson Brown (62 tackles) rank second and third on the team in tackles this season. Brown has one interception and four pass breakups, while Steed has two forced fumbles.

Dawg bytes

Paul Geelen handles both the kicking and punting duties for SIU and is ranked 17th in the nation in punting (43.8). On kickoffs, 19 of his 33 kicks have gone for touchbacks.
The Salukis rank 39th in the nation in sacks per game (2.22)

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