News | Football hosts #18 Illinois State on Bobblehead Night on Saturday

CARBONDALE, Ill. — In the midst of a five-game stretch against ranked, FCS opponents, No. 19 Southern Illinois hosts No. 18 Illinois State on Saturday at 6 p.m. Tickets prices start at $10.

The first 1,000 fans to enter Saluki Stadium will receive a Brandon Jacobs bobblehead (gates open at 5 p.m.), as SIU continues its bobblehead series of Saluki NFL greats. Twenty years ago, Jacobs led the Salukis in rushing as the team went undefeated in the Gateway Conference and spent 10-consecutive weeks ranked No. 1 in the nation. Jacobs was drafted in the fourth round by the New York Giants in 2004, where he went on to set the franchise record for rushing touchdowns and won two Super Bowl rings.

Last year's bobblehead featured Jeremy Chinn, a second-round draft pick in 2019, who is currently a starting safety for the Washington Commanders.

Fans encouraged to wear black for 14th Annual Blackout Cancer game
Saluki Athletics and the Southern Illinois Healthcare (SIH) Foundation are teaming up on Saturday for the 14th annual Salukis Blackout Cancer game. Since the inaugural Salukis Blackout Cancer game in 2011, the initiative has been a way for Saluki fans and community members to raise awareness and support cancer patients in the Southern Illinois region. The SIH Foundation has designated all proceeds from the Blackout Cancer events to a fund that assists cancer patients in need throughout the southern 16 counties. The fund helps with expenses such as prescriptions, nutritional needs, transportation and fuel costs, and treatment-related medical bills.

Series versus Illinois State
Head coach Nick Hill is 3-3 lifetime against Illinois State including wins in 2021 and 2022. The teams did not play each other in 2023. In the 2022 matchup, the Salukis jumped out to a 19-0 halftime lead and held on for a 19-14 victory at Illinois State. Richie Hagarty sacked ISU quarterback Zack Annextad on 4th-and-8 at the SIU 13 with less than two minutes remaining in the game to preserve the win.

Eight-straight wins versus in-state rivals
SIU has won its last eight games against in-state schools (Northern Illinois, Northwestern, Illinois State twice, Western Illinois four times)

QB Hunter Simmons debuts with back-to-back 300+ passing games
QB Hunter Simmons is the second quarterback in school history to pass for 300+ yards in his first-two career starts (joining Scott Gabbert, 1989). He had 341 versus SEMO on Sept. 21 and 304 at South Dakota on Sept. 28. The school-record for consecutive 300+ passing games is three — Sherard Poteete (1999), Sam Straub (2016) and Sam Straub (2018).

LB Ben Bogle is 2nd in nation in TFL, 10th in sacks
Sophomore LB Ben Bogle ranks second in the the nation with 12.5 tackles for loss. He also ranks 10th 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).

South Dakota recap

Four players made their first-career starts on offense — RT Cameron Dye, LG Blaine Halley, WR Jay Jones and TE Colton Hoag.
Hoag led the team with a career-high six catches for 52 yards and a TD, and Jones had a career-best two catches.
S Iverson Brown, an Illinois State transfer, had a career-high 14 tackles.

Salukis in the national rankings
The Salukis have been nationally ranked for 19-consecutive weeks. They were ranked in all 13 polls released in 2023 (as high as #5), and have been ranked in all six polls released in 2024 (as high as #7).

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.

Salukis set attendance mark
The 13,421 fans in attendance on Family Weekend versus SEMO were the second-most in stadium history, behind only the standing-room crowd of 15,276 that attended the opening of the stadium in 2010 versus Division II Quincy. Saluki Stadium seats approximately 14,000 in its horseshoe-shaped seating bowl, with an official stadium capacity of 15,774 that includes the standing-room area of the berm.

Dawg bytes

Three of SIU's four captains have missed the last three games due to injuries — TE Aidan Quinn, DE Dewey Greene and LB Colin Bohanek. The only captain to play was C Chase Evans.
SIU ranks 16th in the nation in sacks with 14.0
Hunter Simmons has not thrown an interception in 100 pass attempts this season.
The Salukis have not lost a fumble through the first five games.

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