SIU at INS Game Preview: DJ Williams said bye week helped strengthen his injured knee
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Southern Illinois quarterback DJ Williams said the extra time off during the team’s bye week was exactly what his injured right knee needed.
Williams hurt the knee in the season opener at West Florida but has played through the injury, only missing one start in Week 2.
“During the bye week, I was able to take some days off from practicing for the first time since the injury and I can feel my knee getting some strength in it again,” Williams said.
The Salukis (4-5, 2-3) are coming off a dramatic walk-off win against Northern Iowa, in a game where Williams took the offense on his back with a season-high 89 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
“I think that you saw just a will to win from DJ,” said head coach Nick Hill. “Yeah, (the injury) has made it tougher for him, but I thought there was just a grittiness to go and do it.”
On the game-winning drive, Williams had two, clutch first-down runs, flashing the open-field running ability he showcased during his All-American season in 2025.
“DJ's been used to doing that his whole career,” Hill said. “That's what makes it scary for a defense to play DJ Williams. They know if they play man-to-man defense, he takes off, and it’s just a backbreaker. It was good to see him getting back to a little bit of that.”
While he rested the knee, Williams turned his focus to Saturday’s opponent, Indiana State (2-7, 0-5).
“It was a week of dialing back on some things on the field and then just dialing in on the game plan a little bit more,” he said.
Game Facts
Date: Saturday, November 7, 2026
Kickoff: 5 PM CT (6 PM ET)
Location: Terre Haute, IN
Facility: Memorial Stadium (12,764)
Radio: WCIL (101.5 FM), Varsity Network App
TV: ESPN+
Series: SIU leads, 32-29
Spread: SIU -4.5
Weather at kickoff: Cloudy, 46 degrees, 3 mph WNW
First and Ten
Saturday will be the 62nd meeting between the schools in a series that began in 1944.
SIU has won four of the last five meetings, including a 55-27 win in Carbondale last year.
In last year’s game, the Salukis ran for 430 yards — the eighth-most in school history. Ed Robinson (124), Chandler Chapman (93) and DJ Williams (70) were the rushing leaders. SIU averaged 9.2 yards per carry.
Southern’s 656 total yards vs. the Sycamores in 2025 was the seventh-most in school history.
SIU’s defense allowed 322 rushing yards in the game, including 211 by Nick Osho.
The last time SIU played in Terre Haute was in 2024, when Indiana State rallied from a 17-0 deficit to win, 20-17. The Salukis committed three turnovers in the game, including a pick-six thrown by freshman QB Jake Curry. QB Michael Lindauer came off the bench to throw a TD pass for Southern, but he also fumbled at the ISU 2 on a 52-yard run. In another game-oddity, Saluki DE Jamond Mathis had a 79-yard fumble return for touchdown called back by an inadvertent whistle.
The Salukis are 6-6 on the road during the last two seasons.
Indiana State Notebook (2-7, 0-5)
The Sycamores opened the Valley season with four-straight games against ranked teams (North Dakota, South Dakota, Youngstown State, Illinois State), followed by a game against previously ranked Northern Iowa.
Last week at UNI, quarterback Elijah Owens became the first player in school history to pass for 300+ yards and rush for 100+ yards in the same game. It was his first game back after missing four games due to injury.
In the game against the Panthers, ISU recorded 31 first downs, the most in the Curt Mallory era.
Owens has rushed for 100+ yards four times in his career.
Indiana State is 16th in the FCS in passing offense (271.0) and 17th in passing yards per completion (13.55). The Sycamores have a 16-game streak with at least one passing touchdown.
Punter Spencer Conrad ranks third in the nation averaging 46.1 yards per punt.
Linebacker Braxton Sampson is 21st in the nation in tackles per game (9.1).
Eight different Sycamores have recorded a catch of at least 40 yards this year. Freshman Jayden Reed leads the team with four.
The Sycamores have one active player in the NFL — Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Robert Tonyan, who is in his ninth season in the league.
Southern Illinois Notebook (4-5, 2-3)
In his third season at SIU, DJ Williams has a 12-11 career record as a starter for the Salukis. He has 62 career touchdowns — 32 passing and 30 rushing. Last season, he set the school record with 40 touchdowns.
Williams ranks eighth in passing at SIU with 4,866 yards and needs 318 yards to pass Nick Hill into 7th place.
Including his career at Murray State, Williams is second in the FCS among active quarterbacks with 9,592 career yards (7,623 passing, 1,669 rushing). Youngstown State’s Beau Brungard is first with 11,118 yards.
DE Ibrahim Sanogo leads the league with 14.0 tackles for loss and needs four more to tie Bart Scott for the SIU single-season record. Sanogo had 4.5 TFL in the last game against UNI. He also has 7.5 sacks this season. The school record for a season is 12.0 by James Phillips, set in 1978. The last player to reach double-digit sacks at SIU was Andre Bailey with 10.0 in 1998.
RG Derek Harden Jr. leads the team 37 career starts, while Vinny Pierre Jr. has the longest active starting streak (21). He also leads the team with 45 career games played
SIU is second in the Valley with 20.0 sacks on the season. Southern had 18.0 in 2025.
SIU is 5th in the nation in Net Punting (41.97) and P Elijah Gorman is 15th in the nation in punting average (43.8).
K Weston Schofield is 8-for-8 on field goal attempts this season, including a 31-yard game winner versus UNI.
The Salukis are the least penalized team in the Valley, penalized 50 times for an average of 43.22 yards per game, which ranks 14th in the nation.
Quoting Indiana State head coach Curt Mallory
On the loss at Northern Iowa:
“In the second half, they couldn't stop us, and unfortunately, we couldn't stop them. I think Elijah (Owens) settled in throughout the first half, and really in the second half, he was back to original form. He had the ball in his hand and he wasn't gonna be denied. I could see it in his eyes. He was ready to play.”
On DJ Williams:
“We recruited DJ. I've been around him twice at Media Day. He's a great player, and he's a better young man. He's the leader of that team. He's very mobile, he throws the ball well, but he's got great leadership qualities.”
On the Salukis:
“Coach Hill does a fabulous job. You know you're gonna get a well-coached, disciplined, good football team. This is no different, but when you play in the Missouri Valley Conference, everyone's good.”
Quoting Southern Illinois Coach Nick Hill
On Indiana State:
”Coach Mallory's teams, year-in and year-out, are highly competitive in all of their games. I know what their record shows, but they have good schemes. They're well coached. They play extremely hard.”
On ISU’s offense:
“They’ve played a couple quarterbacks this season. Both of them can go win you football games. Elijah (Owens) played again last week, which creates some problems. He's been around the league now for a while and played high-level football.They have some good skill players. They've been banged up at running back, but they do a great job of moving the football. Turnovers have hurt them at times in different games.”
On the postseason:
“We've got to be detailed on the things that we can control and not focused on the what-ifs or the future or anything like that. We’re a team that's completely present on what we've got to go and do, and I'm looking forward to this challenge and going over (to Indiana State) and getting back on the field.”
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