Southern Illinois Salukis – Official Athletics Website

CARBONDALE, Ill. – Southern Illinois hosts second-ranked North Dakota State in a homecoming matchup at Saluki Stadium on Saturday at 2 p.m. in a game televised on ESPN+.

For the first time in 35 years, the Salukis (2-4) will start a true freshman at quarterback. Jake Curry will make his starting debut for Southern on Saturday.

The Edwardsville, Illinois native came off the bench against Illinois State last week to replace the injured starter Hunter Simmons in the third quarter. Curry completed 8 of 19 passes for 133 yards and two interceptions. At Edwardsville High School, he was a Class 8A first-team all-state pick in 2023 and passed for 5,042 career yards and 62 TDs, as well as 25 rushing TDs.

The last true freshman to start for SIU was Brendon Prenger, a walk-on QB who started at Northern Iowa on November 11, 1989. He passed for 159 yards in a 38-14 loss to the Panthers.

Simmons started the last three games for the Salukis as a backup DJ Williamswho underwent surgery on his throwing hand after injuring it in a victory over Incarnate Word on September 14th.

Hall of Fame Day
The 2024 Saluki Hall of Fame Class will include Jorge Delgado (swimming), Korey Lindsey (football), Rick Murray (baseball), Rishonda Napier (women's basketball), Sally Perkins (athletic coach) and Rick Walker (swimming and diving coach). honored in the first quarter of the game.

Basketball posters and autographs for men
The 2024-25 Men's Basketball Schedule posters will be available and the team will be on hand to sign the posters at the Saluki Plaza at the south entrance of Saluki Stadium from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.

series against North Dakota State
The Salukis are 4-12 all-time against the Bison, including a 4-5 mark at home. NDSU has won 11 of the last 12 meetings, with Southern's lone win coming in 2020. This Saluki win was the quarterback's first career start Nick Baker and the 38-14 victory ended a 39-game winning streak for the Bison, who were ranked No. 1 at the time.

Five consecutive ranked opponents
The Salukis are in the middle of a five-game stretch against ranked FCS opponents. This has only happened twice in school history – 1999 and 2005. Additionally, SIU's FBS opponent this season, BYU, is currently 5-0 and ranked 19th. So far, Southern has faced the third-toughest schedule in the FCS.

WR Keontez Lewis heads MVFC
After recording a career-high 153 receiving yards last week against Illinois State, WR Keontez Lewis leads the MVFC and ranks third nationally in receiving yards (575). The Wisconsin transfer also leads the league and ranks 10th nationally in receiving yards per game (95.8).

L.B Ben Bogle is 2nd in the nation in TFL, 13th in sacks
Second semester LB Ben Bogle ranks second in the nation with 12.5 tackles for loss. He also ranks 13th nationally in sacks with a rating of 5.5. Both brands lead the MVFC. Bogle recorded a school-record 3.5 sacks in Week 2 at Austin Peay, earning him FCS National Player of the Week honors. The SIU season record for TFL is 18.0 (Bart Scott, 2001) and for sacks is 12.0 (James Phillips, 1978).

Illinois State Summary

• The Salukis defeated Illinois State 487-407.
• SIU had seven drives that ended inside the Illinois State 30. The drives resulted in 1 TD, 1 FG, 2 missed FGs, 2 INTs and 1 turnover on downs.
• Keontez Lewis' 153 receiving yards were the most by a Saluki since Avante' Cox had 187 at SEMO in 2021.
• Jake Currys The 60-yard completion to Lewis was SIU's longest play from scrimmage this season.

Salukis in the national rankings

For the first time since the end of the 2022 season, the Salukis are not ranked in the national rankings, breaking a streak of 19 consecutive weeks. They ranked in all 13 surveys published in 2023 (up to #5) and in the first six surveys released in 2024 (up to #7).

Buddy Bytes

• The Salukis are one of only eight FCS teams that haven't lost a fumble in their first six games.
• The Salukis rank 17th nationally in passing offense (259.3), 24th in total offense (401.2), 92nd in scoring offense (20.5) and 121st in scoring offense in the red zone (.583).
• Three of SIU's four captains have missed the last four games due to injury – TE Aidan QuinnEN Dewey Greene and L.B Colin Bohanek. The only captain who played was C Chase Evans.
• Simmons did not throw an interception in 128 pass attempts before suffering a season-ending fracture of his left tibia on October 5 against Illinois State

Salukis on active NFL rosters

• SIU currently has three players on the NFL roster – S Jeremy Chinn (Washington), TE MyCole Pruitt (Pittsburgh) and S PJ Jules (Cincinnati, Practice Group).
• Chinn was a second-round draft pick (64th overall) in the 2020 draft and runner-up for Defensive Rookie of the Year.
• Pruitt is in his 10th NFL season with 71 catches and 12 TDs.