Southern Illinoise University Athletics
SIU at MSU: Game Notes and Links
Nov. 4, 2014
| No. 24/RV Southern Illinois (5-4, 2-3 MVFC) at No. --/RV Missouri State (4-5, 1-4 MVFC) | |
| Date | Nov. 8, 2014 |
| Time | 2 p.m. CDT |
| Location | Springfield, Mo. | Robert W. Plaster Stadium (17,500) |
| Radio | Saluki Sports Network with Mike Reis (play-by-play), Gene Green (analysis) and Connor James (analysis) |
| Audio Stream | Via SIUSalukis.com (Free) |
| Live Stats | GameTracker | Valley Scoreboard |
| Game Notes | Southern Illinois | Missouri State | MVC |
| Season Stats | Southern Illinois | Missouri State | MVC |
| All-Time Series | Series tied at 18 | MSU leads 10-7 in game played in Springfield, Mo. |
| Series Streak | MSU W1 |
| Social Media | @SIU_Football  | @SIUSalukis  | Saluki Football  |
QUICK HITS
- The Salukis travel to Missouri State for a 2 p.m. game with the Bears in Springfield, Mo.
- MyCole Pruitt is seven catches away from breaking Cornell Craig's school record for career receptions. Craig, the 1999 FCS Player of the Year, had 207 career receptions; Pruitt has 201.
- The Salukis had a bye week last weekend. SIU is 5-1 after a bye week under head coach Dale Lennon, including three-straight wins.
- SIU's schedule is among the hardest in the nation. Eight of the 10 FCS opponents on SIU's schedule are either currently ranked or have been ranked this year. The combined win percentage of SIU's opponents (44-23; .657) is the sixth-best in the FCS.
- Tay Willis is 25 yards away from breaking SIU's single-season kick return yardage record. Willis is averaging 26.1 yards per return this year.
SALUKIS HEAD TO MISSOURI STATE
- The Salukis travel to Missouri State for a 2 p.m. game with the Bears in Springfield, Mo.
- The all-time series with each of SIU's next two opponents is tied. The SIU/Missouri State series is tied at 18, and the SIU/UNI series is tied at 16.
- Southern Illinois has won nine of the last 11 games against Missouri State, including four of the last five in Springfield, Mo.
- The last time the Salukis played at Missouri State, SIU pulled out a 14-6 win. SIU jumped out to a 14-0 lead thanks to an Emmanuel Souarin interception return for a TD and held on at the end.
- MyCole Pruitt has caught at least one pass in 40 of 41 career games played. The lone game Pruitt was shut out was at Missouri State in 2012. He has recorded at least two receptions in all 26 games since that game.
- SIU had its bye week last Saturday. Under head coach Dale Lennon, SIU is 5-1 after a bye week, including three-straight wins. The lone loss was at Missouri State in 2010, but the Salukis beat Missouri State after a bye week the next year in 2011.
- SIU has lost its last three games, all of which came against ranked opponents. SIU has had a stretch of three-straight ranked opponents in three-straight seasons.
- Sophomore Ryan West is slated to start at quarterback for the first time this year. West is 28-for-44 with 276 yards and three touchdowns this year.
- West started the final four games of last season while Kory Faulkner was out with an injury. West has passed for 951 yards and nine touchdowns in his two seasons at SIU.
- West's career high for passing yards is 227 yards last year against Missouri State.
TEAM ROAD SUCCESS
- Since 2005, SIU has won 12 road games against ranked teams, which is three more than any other MVFC team.
- Southern Illinois has excelled in road games under head coach Dale Lennon. SIU is 19-17 overall on the road in Lennon's six-plus seasons. If you take out SIU's seven FBS opponents in that time-all of which were road losses-Lennon's squads have gone 19-11 in road games.
- SIU is 9-6 on the road against ranked teams in head coach Dale Lennon's tenure at SIU.
- SIU went 4-0 in road games against FCS opponents last year, including back-to-back road wins over top-10 opponents with a 27-24 win over No. 7 South Dakota State and a 24-17 overtime win over No. 4 Northern Iowa.
- The Salukis have won eight of their last 11 MVFC road games, and two of those losses have been to North Dakota State at the Fargodome.
- The Salukis shut out No. 9 Illinois State in Normal, Ill., 17-0 in 2012 and beat No. 15 Youngstown State by 17 on the road in 2012.
- Under Lennon, SIU is 16-10 in MVFC road games, and six of his 10 road losses were in the 2010 and 2011 seasons. In his other five seasons (2008, 09, 12, 13, 14), SIU is 14-4 in MVFC road games, with three of those four losses coming at the Fargodome against North Dakota State.
- Since 1997, the home team in the UNI-SIU rivalry is 15-2. Lennon has coached both teams that have won on the road. His 2009 squad beat No. 2 UNI at the UNI-Dome and last year's team topped No. 4 UNI on the road.
- SIU has won five games against top-10 teams on the road under Lennon and seven games against ranked opponents away from Carbondale.
TEAM DEFENSIVE NOTES
- SIU ranks 12th nationally in sacks per game (3.0). SIU had at least three sacks in each of the first six games of the season.
- The Salukis have three goal-line stands in 2014. Southern Illinois posted goalline stands against Southeast Missouri, Purdue and South Dakota. SIU also held Western Illinois to a field goal on their goal-to-go situation in the second half.
- The Salukis have recorded at least one sack in 59 of the last 61 games.
- Southern's diverse defense has already had 15 players record at least a half-TFL. Twelve players have been in on a sack.
- No SIU player is among the top 140 tacklers nationally.
- Eight players have at least 3.0 tackles for loss.
- Twenty-two players are averaging at least a tackle per game.
- Before facing North Dakota State on Oct. 11, only one SIU opponent in the last 45 had rushed for more than 200 yards. SIU's last three opponents have rushed for 252 (NDSU), 196 (YSU) and 220 (INS).
- While only three of SIU's last 48 opponents have rushed for more than 200 yards, the Saluki offense has eclipsed 200 yards rushing 17 times in that span, including three times this year.
- Twice this year (vs. Taylor and WIU), Southern has held its opponent under 100 yards rushing.
TEAM OFFENSIVE NOTES
- Southern ranks 11th in the FCS and second in the MVFC in third-down conversion percentage (48.8 percent).
- SIU scored 38 or more points in the first three games in 2014. The last time SIU scored 38+ points in three-straight games was 2009.
- SIU is averaging 41.6 points in its five wins.
- SIU's 50 points vs. SEMO were the most Southern has scored since hanging 70 on Quincy in 2010. The last time SIU put up 50 against a Division I opponent was 2008 vs. Indiana State.
- SIU has posted both 200 yards rushing and 200 yards passing against Taylor, Southeast Missouri and South Dakota.
- SIU also returns five offensive linemen who started at least six games last year, Corey Boemer (all 12 games), Tanner Crum (all 12 games), Jake Notario (6 games), Jamarcus Robinson (6 games), and Ethan Wirth (11 games).
INDIVIDUAL DEFENSIVE NOTES
- Linebacker Tyler Williamson broke SIU's 35-year-old record for career forced fumbles with one in Southern's 50-23 win over SEMO. Williamson now has eight forced fumbles in his career, two more than any other player in SIU history.
- Williamson has also blocked four kicks in his career, including a blocked punt at Youngstown State.
- Williamson also has 14.0 career sacks, just a half-sack away from tying Bart Scott for 11th on SIU's all-time list.
- D.J. Cameron intercepted his fifth career pass against SEMO and returned it to the one-yard line. He also had a pick-six get called back at EIU due to a penalty.
- Courtney Richmond is tied for sixth in SIU history with 18 career pass breakups.
- Anthony Thompson is sixth in SIU history with 133 career interception return yards. Thompson had a 100-yard interception return for a touchdown in 2012 at Youngstown State.
- Keith Suggs picked off his first pass of his SIU career at Youngstown State.
- Boo Rodgers leads SIU with two interceptions this year. He had one at Eastern Illinois and another at North Dakota State.
- Adam Brandt caught a tipped pass for an interception at EIU. Brandt is the first SIU defensive lineman with an interception since Kendrick Young against New Hampshire in 2008.
- Lamonte Edwards started his career as a running back at Minnesota. He had 11 yards and one touchdown on eight carries as an RB before changing positions and changing schools.
INDIVIDUAL OFFENSIVE NOTES
- Sophomore Ryan West is slated to start at quarterback for the first time this year. West is 28-for-44 with 276 yards and three touchdowns this year.
- West started the final four games of last season while Kory Faulkner was out with an injury.West has passed for 951 yards and nine touchdowns in his two seasons at SIU.
- West's career high for passing yards is 227 yards last year against Missouri State.
- MyCole Pruitt is the first tight end in MVFC history with 2,000 career receiving yards. For a complete list of Pruitt's notes, see the next section.
- LaSteven McKinney is third in SIU history in career receptions with 144, behind only Cornell Craig and MyCole Pruitt.
- McKinney also needs just 48 yards receiving to break into the top-10 in school history in career receiving yards.
- McCall is averaging 5.7 yards per rush this year, a career high after averaging south of 4.0 yards the last two years.
- Head coach Dale Lennon announced Monday that starting running back Malcolm Agnew is doubtful for the game against Missouri State with a foot injury suffered early in the first half against Youngstown State.
- Agnew scored on the first play of the season. After the opening kickoff vs. Taylor went out of bounds, Agnew took a handoff 65 yards for a touchdown. Agnew ended with 207 all-purpose yards and three TDs on just eight touches.
- Agnew has nine 100-yard rushing games in his Saluki career (four in 2013 and five in 2014), which ties him with Andre Herrera (1974-76) for eighth in SIU history.
- Agnew's next 100-yard rushing game will put him in a tie with Deji Karim (2007, 09) and Muhammad Abdulqaadir (2002-03) for sixth all-time.
- Agnew became a career 1,000-yard rusher at SIU in the season opener at Taylor.
- Agnew ranks fourth in SIU history in career rushing yards among two-year players. He is 83 yards away from passing his running backs coach, Larry Warner (2007-08), for third on that list. (See pages 11 and 12 in the PDF Game Notes link at the top of the page for Salukis in the record books).
- Including his 692 yards he had in two seasons at Oregon State, Agnew eclipsed the career 2,000-yard mark against Southeast Missouri. Counting both his Oregon State and SIU stats, Agnew has exactly 2,400 career rushing yards.
- Agnew was named to the MVFC's All-Newcomer team in 2013 after leading SIU in rushing last year with 888 yards.
- QB Mark Iannotti transferred from Eastern Michigan after last season and has been with SIU since the spring. He had not completed a collegiate pass before this season.
- Iannotti's 17 TD passes this year already rank him seventh on SIU's single-season list.
- He tied SIU's single-game touchdown passes record with six against Southeast Missouri.
- Iannotti was named the MVFC Newcomer of the Week after tying SIU's single-game passing TD record with six vs. SEMO.
MyCole Pruitt NOTES
- Southern Illinois All-American MyCole Pruitt is the first tight end in MVFC history with more than 2,000 career receiving yards.
- Pruitt is seven catches away from breaking Cornell Craig's school record for career receptions. Craig, the 1999 FCS Player of the Year, had 207 career receptions; Pruitt has 201.
- Pruitt was voted as the best tight end in MVFC history as part of the Valley's 30th anniversary.
PRUITT IN THE RECORD BOOKS
- Pruitt broke the MVFC record held by Missouri State's Clay Harbor (2006-09), who had 1,906 career yards.
- Pruitt ranks fifth in MVFC history in career receptions (201) and eighth in MVFC history in career receiving yards (2,434).
- Against North Dakota State, Pruitt passed Brent Little (2,303 yards; 2002-05) for second place on SIU's career receiving yardage list.
- Pruitt was a consensus first-team All-American last year and was an honorable mention All-American in 2012. If he earns All-America honors again in 2014, he will be the third three-time All-American in school history, joining Alexis Moreland (2002-04) and Korey Lindsey (2008-10).
- Among tight ends, Pruitt leads the FCS in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns.
- Among all receivers, Pruitt ranks seventh in the FCS in receiving touchdowns (9).
- Pruitt had 10 receptions and 136 yards at Purdue, becoming just the sixth player in program history with 10 or more catches in a game.
- Pruitt posted more than 100 receiving yards in three-straight games (PUR, WIU, USD), becoming the second player in program history with three-straight 100-yard games.
- 1999 FCS Player of the Year Cornell Craig had three-straight 100-yard games in both 1999 and 1997. No player in program history has had 100 yards receiving in four-straight games.
- Pruitt has 21 career receiving TDs, second-most in SIU history and tied for eighth in MVFC history.
- Pruitt has at least one reception in 40 of his 41 career games, and he has at least two catches in 26-straight games played.
INDIVIDUAL SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES
- Tay Willis was named to the CFPA Kick Returner Watch List for 2014. In 2013, he returned the opening kickoff against Missouri State 92 yards for a touchdown.
- Willis is 25 yards away from breaking SIU's single-season kickoff return yardage record. Willis has 732 kick return yards this year, trailing only Steve Strother's 2011 season (746 yards) and Craig Turner's 2007 season (756 yards) for most in school history.
- Willis has kick returns of 43, 60, 75 and 86 yards this year.
- Willis leads the MVFC in kick return average (26.1 yards per return).
- Willis' career kick return average (25.2 yards per return) ranks third in SIU history behind only Larry Warner (26.93, 2007-08) and JerMar Robinson (25.35, 1998-00)
- LaSteven McKinney busted a 62-yard punt return at Eastern Illinois and had a 25-yarder against Western Illinois.
- McKinney is averaging 17.3 yards per punt return in 2014, which leads the MVFC and ranks third nationally.
- McKinney has been an honorable mention All-MVFC return specialist in each of the past two seasons.
- McKinney is fourth in SIU history in career punt return yards with 629. He needs 51 yards to move into third.
- McKinney has averaged 9.10 yards per return on his 69 career punt returns. His 9.10 yards per return would place him third in SIU history.
- Placekicker Thomas Kinney was named MVFC Special Teams Player of the Week after hitting a 50-yard field goal against the wind at EIU, going a perfect 5-for-5 on extra points and booting three touchbacks on kickoffs.
- Kinney hit a 52-yard field goal against WIU last year. Combined with his 50-yarder at EIU, Kinney is only the second player in SIU history with two career 50+ yard field goals, joining Ken Seaman (1975).
- Kinney earned preseason first-team All-America and All-MVFC laurels after making 18 field goals in 2013, the second-highest single-season total in SIU history.
- Kinney is on the Fred Mitchell Award Watch List, which goes to the top placekicker in the nation after the season.
- This season, Kinney is 7-for-8 on field goals inside 40 yards but just 2-for-8 on FGs longer than 40 yards.
- Despite playing in only his second season at SIU, Kinney ranks seventh in SIU history in career field goals with 27.
- Kinney was a second-team All-MVFC selection in 2013 and was also named to the MVFC All-Newcomer team.
- Kinney is the most accurate PAT kicker in SIU history (72-for-73; 98.6%).
- Nick Neidig is in his first year as SIU's starting punter.
- Neidig boomed a 75-yard punt that was downed on the one-yard line against Western Illinois.
- Neidig's 75-yard punt was the fifth-longest punt in SIU history and the fourth-longest punt in the FCS this season.
- Neidig earned National Punter of the Week honors from the CFPA after averaging 51.8 yards on four punts vs. WIU, including three that were downed inside the 20.
- Only four of Neidig's 24 punts this year have been returned and for a total of just 13 return yards.
SEASON QUICK RECAP/TEAM NOTES
- SIU started 2-0 in MVFC play for the ninth time since the league started in 1985. Eight of those nine 2-0 league starts have been since 2002.
- The Salukis rank in the top-20 nationally (of 121 FCS teams) in 12 statistical categories. For a complete breakdown of where SIU ranks in the MVFC and national statistics, see pages 9 and 10 in the PDF Game Notes link at the top of the page.
- Southern Illinois started the season 3-0 overall for the first time under head coach Dale Lennon. It was Southern's first 3-0 start since 2007.
- SIU opened the season by blanking NAIA foe Taylor 45-0, pitching a shutout in the first game that head coach Dale Lennon also served as defensive coordinator at SIU.
- The Salukis upset then-No. 14 Eastern Illinois on the road thanks to a dominant second half. SIU trailed the Panthers 21-14 at halftime but outscored EIU 24-0 in the second half to win going away.
- Southern's defense forced five turnovers vs. Southeast Missouri and the offense turned those takeaways into 29 points in a 50-23 win that improved SIU to 3-0.
- SIU suffered its first loss of the season at Big Ten foe Purdue. SIU fell behind 25-0 and trailed 28-3 at halftime. The Salukis outscored and outgained Purdue in the second half but lost 35-13.
- SIU beat WIU 34-17 in front of 13,170 fans, the fourth-largest crowd in Saluki Stadium history (since 2010).
- SIU allowed South Dakota only three total first downs and 78 total yards after halftime. SIU changed a 10-10 halftime score into a 41-10 blowout win.
- SIU outgained North Dakota State in the first half but trailed 17-7 at the break. NDSU scored the game's final 21 points to win 38-10.
- The SIU at NDSU game drew 19,034, the fourth-largest crowd in Fargodome history.
- Southern fell into a 17-0 halftime hold at Youngstown State on the `Guins Homecoming and couldn't climb back. SIU got within 20-14 with the ball but fell 26-14.
- Indiana State jumped out to a 14-0 lead after the first six minutes and SIU never took the lead in a 41-26 loss before Southern's bye week last Saturday.
- SIU has 12 wins over top-25 teams under head coach Dale Lennon, including one this year at Eastern Illinois.
- The Salukis have won five games against top-10 opponents in the last six seasons, and all five have been on the road.
- Southern has won at least one game against a ranked team in all seven of Lennon's seasons in Carbondale.
- Lennon's next win will be the 150th of his career.
- The Salukis rank ninth nationally in fewest penalties per game (4.6) and fifth nationally in fewest penalty yards per game (38.0). SIU leads the MVFC in both categories.