Game Preview: Southern Illinois Salukis




The Jackrabbits (3-1) are set to face the Southern Illinois Salukis (2-2) in their second game of the MVFC conference season.  Last year the Jacks and Salukis put on an impressive offensive display with over 1,000 yards of total offense in the Jacks 45-39 win.





Both teams are coming off tough opening losses.  SDSU fell to Youngstown 19-7 in a game that saw there offense sputter and their defense unable to get off the field on 3rd down.  SIU lost to University of Northern Iowa 24-17 in a lower scoring game than was expected.

Their Head Coach, Nick Hill, is back for his second season.  SIU was a once proud program that has fallen on tough times in the past five years.  Hill is an offensive mind forsure and was the quarterback for SIU during the 2006 and 2007 seasons.  The defense is led by former Montana defensive coordinator, Kraig Paulson who helped lead Montana to the 1995 National Championship.   


Offense
SIU has outscored it's opponents 138 to 88 this season.  There offense has been pretty balanced but they do favor the pass, much like the Jackrabbits.  They have gained 162 yards per game on the ground and 252 per game through the air. UNI allowed them to exceed both of these averages, SIU just couldn't find the end zone.

The quarterback position is lead by #4 Sam Straub.  Straub, a junior, made three starts at the end of 2016 and has so far completed 53% of his passes for 963 yards and 12 touchdowns and only 4 interceptions (2 of which came against UNI).   Straub is not much of a threat to run but did have 25 yards on the ground against UNI.

At the running back position, #5 Daquan Isom is small but mighty, listed at 5'8 186.  Isom has ran for 301 yards on the season including 126 against UNI which featured a 52 yard home run.   The other running backs don't get much action but #9 D.J. Davis has rushed for 98 yards on only 19 attempts this season and did make the HERO freshman Honorable Mention All-American team last year. 

At wide receiver the Salukis are loaded with options.  #6 Connor Iwema already has 20 receptions for 310 yards and 2 touchdowns.  He was an Honorable Mention MVFC pick last year.  He is joined by #8 Darrell James (17, 267, and 5 tds), #11 Raphael Leonard (12, 143, and 2 tds) in the starting lineup.  These three have all hauled in a pass of at least 30 yards on the season.  #83 Jake Varble is the starter at tight end (10, 94, and 2).   Isom and Davis are also capable receivers out of the backfield having 6 and 7 receptions so far.

The Jackrabbit quest for more sacks and pressure on the quarterback might hit a road block against the SIU Offensive line who has only allowed one, yes one, sack on the season.

The Saluki's return 3 starters on the offensive line and appear to have really good depth and experience.  The unit is anchored by it's senior tackles #70 DeVondre Seymour (6'6, 305) and #75 Austin Olsen (6'5, 320). The interior is lead by returning starter #61 Josh Podzielinski (6'2 291).  The new starers are left guard #64 Aaron Harris (6'4, 332), who played as a "super sub" in previous seasons, and #53 Jack White (6'1, 322), who is a transfer from Co-Lin Community College.  This is easily the biggest line that SDSU has faced this season with an average weight of 314 pounds.

Defense
The Saluki defense graduated it's best player from 2016 in Chase Allen.  However, this appears to be an overall stronger unit is 2017.  So far they are only giving up 22 points per game to go with just 99.8 yards per game rushing and 260 yards passing per game.  Their 3rd down defense has been stout only allowing a 33% conversion rate.  

The unit is anchored by MLB #32 Kyron Watson.  Watson transferred from Kansas and was a four star recruit coming out of high school.  Watson had a big week against UNI.  On the season he has 32 tackles.
 
He is joined in the linebacking core by #29 Cody Crider and #3 Airan Reed.  Crider and Reed started 3 and 6 games respectfully in 2016 and this year have accumulated 28 and 16 tackles a piece.

The safety position also appears to be a strong unit for SIU.  #21 Ryan Neal leads the team with 36 total tackles to go with an interception, 3 pass break-ups and 1 fumble recovery.  #2 Jeremy Chinn is also an active defender having made 25 stops, 2 interceptions, and 3 pass breakups.  Chinn was a preseason Honorable Mention MVFC selection following a strong freshman campaign.

At cornerback, SIU returns starter #1 Craig James.  James had 2 interceptions in 2016 but has failed to corral one in 2017, although he does have 6 break-ups.  The other starting cornerback is #14 Tory Lewis who missed all of 2016 after injury but played as a true freshmen in 2015.  Lewis has 14 tackles and break up on the season.  The other cornerback, #11 ShawnTrez Spates is small at 5'9 but has 2 breakups in limited action.


Along the defensive line the Salukis are very inexperienced but posses decent size.  Against UNI they started 3 red-shirt freshmen and a sophomore. #95 Anthony Knighton (6'2, 246) and #92 Jordan Berner (6'6, 260) are the starting defensive ends.  Knighton has recorded 3 sacks and 9 tackles and Berner has .5 sack and 8 tackles.  On the interior #52 Malik Haynes (6'0, 330) and #59 ZeVeyon Furcron (6'0 310) possess ideal size.  Hayes has 1 sack and 7 tackles and Furcron only has 2 tackles this year.  Backup defensive end #58 Chucky Sullivan is a true freshmen and was an early enrollee and has one sack that forced a fumble this season.

Special Teams
SIU is solid at punter with #98 Lane Reazin averaging 45 yards per kick with zero touchbacks and 5 placed inside the 20.  The coverage also appears to be really solid as SIU has only allowed 2.36 yards per return attempt.  The kicking game is a bit of a struggle for SIU.  #97 Matt Sotiropoulos is 2-6 on field goals with one being blocked. Kickoff specialist #99 Nico Gualdoni has kicked off 25 times but only has 5 touchbacks.  This could be a game where Cade Johnson gets some action for the Jacks.

Prediction
The Jacks have to be angry about the performance they had in Younstown.  The team knows it can perform at a much higher level in all phases.  However, Southern Illinois is far from a pushover.  Coach Hill has this team on the up-and-up.  Still I predict the SDSU offense finds its grove and the defense does enough including an interception of Hill.  Jacks win 34-17.

Go Jacks!
-Matt      



 

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