Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
West Florida
Salukis open 2026 football season at West Florida
08/25/2026 | 6:10:00 | Football, General
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Southern Illinois University football team opens the 2026 season at West Florida Thursday night.
It will be the first meeting between the Salukis and Argonauts. SIU was ranked 16th in the Stats Perform and American Football Coaches Association preseason top 25 polls. UWF, a Division II power, is in the first year of a three-year transition into the FCS.Â
  Kickoff at PenAir Field in Pensacola, Fla., is set for 6 p.m. The game is scheduled to air on ESPN+. Fans can catch the game on The Varsity Network, WCIL-FM 101.5 with Luke Martin, Mike Trude and Pat Poore, and on the SIU Salukis mobile app. Â
A Look Back At 2025
SIU went 3-1 in the non-conference portion of the 2025 schedule, toppling Thomas More, UT Martin and Southeast Missouri State heading into conference play. The Salukis went 4-4 in MVFC play, including 2-2 on the road, to finish 7-5.
   The season turned in the final three games of the year. SIU led No. 21/22 Youngstown State 24-14 at the half on the road, but eventually fell 48-38. Saluki quarterback D.J. Williams threw for 361 yards and three TDs and added a rushing score. YSU quarterback Beau Brungard, who went on to win the Walter Payton Award, threw for 365 and four scores, and added two rushing TDs.   Â
   The Salukis lost their first-ever five-overtime game against No. 17/22 South Dakota in a barnburner, 53-51. It was the sixth-highest combined scoring game in school history and the most points since SIU and Mississippi combined for 117 in 2018 (UM 76, SIU 41, Sept. 8, 2018). Paul Geelen's 36-yard field goal right before the end of regulation sent the game to overtime at Saluki Stadium. The Salukis finished the game with 455 yards of total offense, 307 through the air and 148 on the ground. USD had 524.
   SIU closed the season with a punctuating 37-7 domination of 11th-ranked Illinois State in Normal. The Salukis never trailed and put up 455 yards in the win. Williams and running back Edward Robinson became the first duo to rush for at least 100 yards in the same game since quarterback Javon Williams Jr. (145) and Justin Strong (159) both had over 100 yards rushing against SE Louisiana on April 17, 2021.Â
   Defensive end Jake Parrella, one of five returning starters on the defense this season, had two sacks, a forced fumble and a blocked field goal attempt in the win. Former linebacker Colin Bohanek had a team-high 11 tackles. Bohanek led the team with 87 tackles in his final season.
Road Warriors in 2026
For the second straight year, SIU will play seven road games, beginning in Pensacola, Fla., against the Argonauts.Â
   The Salukis went 4-3 away from home last season. It was the fourth time in the last five years they went at least .500 away from Carbondale. SIU went 1-5 on the road in 2024, 4-3 in 2023, 3-3 in 2022 and 5-3 in 2021.Â
   The Salukis play four of their first five games on the road. SIU opens at West Florida, then travels to Samford in Alabama before hosting Southeast Missouri State Sept. 12. The Salukis then play Illinois in Champaign Sept. 19 before opening MVFC play at Murray State Sept. 26.
Looking at the Argonauts
West Florida, a Div. II powerhouse, announced its plans to go Div. I just over eight months ago. The Argonauts won the 2019 Div. II national championship and lost in the 2017 title game. They went 81-30 in nine years in Div. II with six postseason appearances.Â
   UWF will compete in the United Athletic Conference in football. The Argonauts were picked eighth in the UAC preseason coaches poll. They are in the first of a three-year NCAA reclassification period, which will allow them to compete for the UAC championship but not the FCS postseason until 2029. A 10,000-seat stadium is set to open in the fall of 2027.Â
   UWF is coached by former Argonauts quarterback Kaleb Nobles. Nobles, who also played at Div. II Valdosta State (Ga.), was the quarterbacks coach at UWF from 2017-20. He served under Dabo Swinney at Clemson as the Tigers' offensive player development coach in 2021 and 2022 before returning to UWF in December 2022.Â
   The Argonauts' other sports will compete in the Atlantic Sun Conference.
Williams Back For Another Run
Williams returns after one of the best offensive seasons in history in 2025. The Harvey, Ill., native rushed for 847 yards, an SIU record for quarterbacks in a season, and 18 touchdowns, which tied for the fourth-most of any Saluki in history for one year. His 2,846 passing yards ranked 11th in the country in the FCS, and his 22 passing touchdowns ranked 18th.Â
   Williams finished third in voting for the MVFC Offensive Player of the Year Award and eighth in the Walter Payton Award, which is given to the FCS' best player. This season, he was a second team preseason All-American by Phil Steele and a third team preseason All-American by Stats Perform.
   Williams surpassed 300 passing yards three times, including a 361-yard performance at Youngstown State on Nov. 8. He also threw at least three touchdown passes in four games. He rushed for more than 100 yards three times during the season. He recorded 128 yards and three touchdowns Sept. 13 at UT Martin, 151 yards and two touchdowns Sept. 20 at SEMO, and 134 yards and four touchdowns at Illinois State Nov. 22. His four rushing touchdowns against the Redbirds tied for the third-most in a single game in program history.
Triple Threat in the Backfield
One reason SIU averaged 36.4 points per game, the most since 2007 (37.9 ppg.), was its vaunted rushing attack.Â
   The Salukis had five different running backs rush for at least one touchdown last season, and return two starters from the backfield to go with Williams. Edward Robinson (5-foot-11, 195 pounds, Jr.) started three of the last four games and finished the season with his biggest effort of the year. Robinson rushed for 145 yards on 19 carries in SIU's win at No. 11 Illinois State to end the season.Â
   Backfield mate Chandler Chapman (5-11, 210, Jr.) started five games last season and finished the year with 465 yards and six touchdowns off 78 carries. While Williams led the Salukis with 18 rushing touchdowns last season, look for Robinson and Chapman to be big contributors out of the backfield.Â
Oh Captain, My Captain
Four seniors and one junior were elected team captains this season by the players. Senior linebacker Andrew Behm, senior guard Derek Harden Jr., senior linebacker Chris Presto and Williams joined junior defensive lineman Amir Dwight as captains.
   Williams, a preseason third team All-American by Stats Perform, is coming off one of the best offensive seasons by a Saluki quarterback in history. Behm (61 tackles last season) and Presto (59 stops) are two of the team's leading returning tacklers and two of five returning starters on defense. Harden Jr. started the first 11 games last season and was a preseason first team All-American by Phil Steele this year.Â
   Dwight, a 6-1, 272-pound junior from Cordele, Ga., finished third on the team last season with 3.0 sacks. His four quarterback hurries led the Saluki defense.Â
Salukis Land 13 Players on MVFC Preseason Watch List
SIU was picked sixth in the MVFC preseason poll and had 13 players on the league's preseason watch list.Â
   Williams, Harden Jr., offensive lineman Blaine Halley, wide receiver Allen Middleton and running backs Edward Robinson and Chandler Chapman made the list. Behm, Presto, Dwight, defensive end Jake Parrella and defensive back Vinny Pierre Jr. were SIU's defensive selections.Â
   Long snapper Ryan Algrim, a preseason first team All-American by Phil Steele, also made the list. Algrim was a five-star long snapper and the 16th-ranked player at that position in the country by Rubio Long Snapping coming out of Kaneland High School (Maple Park, Ill.). Algrim snapped all 12 games last season for the Salukis and is attempting to become the program's first All-American long snapper.Â
   Five other specialists have been honored:Â
* K Craig Coffin (First Team 2006, Second Team 2004)
* P Mark Gagliano (First Team 1996)
* P Tom Striegel (Third Team 1981)
* P Scott Ravanesi (Honorable Mention 2007)
* P Lane Reazin (FCS Sophomore All-America Honorable Mention 2017)
Postseason success under HillÂ
Of SIU's 11 playoff appearances in school history, Hill was the quarterback of two teams (2006, 2007) and head coach of three (2020, 2021, 2023). The Salukis have won 11 playoff games in school history and Hill was a part of six of them (quarterbacked three wins and coached three more).
   Since 2019, only three FCS programs have won three or more playoff games (South Dakota State, North Dakota State and Southern Illinois).
