Saluki Football ranks among the Valley’s top tackling teams
CARBONDALE, Ill. — The Southern Illinois defensive coaching staff dug into analytics during the off-season and found a significant correlation between points allowed and missed tackles. Across the board, the top 10 scoring defenses in the FBS and the FCS last year were statistically good tackling teams.
SIU’s spring ball and training camp practices featured a heavy dose of tackling fundamentals, and the Salukis (2-2) are reaping the benefits of those efforts after four games. Southern ranks second in the Missouri Valley Football Conference in missed-tackle rate at 14.9 percent, trailing only South Dakota (13.0 percent).
2026 MVFC Missed Tackles Rate
South Dakota: 13.0%
Southern Illinois: 14.9%
Northern Iowa: 15.2%
Youngstown State: 15.8%
Illinois State: 15.9%
North Dakota: 16.4%
Indiana State: 16.8%
South Dakota State: 19.3%
Murray State: 22.1%
“Our goal is to limit it to one missed tackle per 10 snaps or 10 percent,” said SIU defensive coordinator Lee Pronschinske. “Statistically, that correlates with an elite defense. North Dakota State, for example, choked out most people they played last year, averaging 8.8 missed tackles.”
Southern has two of the league’s top three-tacklers in linebackers Ben Fiegel and Andrew Behm. They each have 32 stops and trail only South Dakota linebacker Wade Abrams, who has 38 tackles.
Since teams are only permitted to tackle live three times during training camp, tackling percentages generally improve throughout the year with repetition.
StrongDawgs conversation with Defensive Coordinator Lee Pronschinske
SD: Illinois hit you with four-straight touchdowns to start the game, but then you only give up one more TD in the last seven possessions. It was kind of a tale of two games within a game, wasn’t it?
LP: There's no way to sugarcoat it. It just wasn't good enough defense, whether it was the play calls we put them in or the execution. You gotta tip your hat to the offensive play calls and the playmakers Illinois has. When you're going through it, it’s not a matter of magically fixing things schematically. The same schematics we were calling in those first four drives were the ones we were calling in the last seven drives that were a totally different football game.
I think we're going to look back at some point this season and appreciate how those four series helped shape us into who we are defensively. Getting punched in the mouth like that, having to respond, having to hold good body language, stay positive, even during a moment when there's nothing positive happening, and go out there and respond the way we did. Now it's got to carry over into our preparation.
SD: Fans might say, well, Southern was just getting adjusted to the speed of the game. Is there such a thing as needing to adjust to the speed of playing a Big Ten opponent?
LP: I'd say no, and I think you'd be doing a disservice to our guys if that was the case. I think it just came down to the execution, but within that, the margin for error is extremely thin. We had some misfits or coverage situations that resulted in points early in the game. There were times the first three weeks where we were able to knock it down and go to the next play, but that’s not there when you're facing All-Big Ten-type players. Playing against competition at that elite level showcases your errors.
SD: On the 75-yard touchdown run, Coach Hill said that safety Rue Jackson lost leverage. Can you explain what that means?
LP: Everyone's accountable for a gap in the defense. The easiest way for a fan to understand it is, the ball can't cross your face and get outside of you. In that specific play, Rue was responsible for the C gap, and when he came down into the fit, he was just too tight to the formation and ended up stacking the B gap. A talented running back like Aidan Laughery eventually finds the open air, which was Rue’s C gap. By the time Rue works back outside to try to contain it, the ball had already crossed his face, therefore losing leverage on the football.
SD: The only other explosive in the run game was an 18-yarder in the 4th quarter. You have to be pleased, overall, with the run defense against a Big Ten team?
LP: You can't erase plays and pretend like they didn't happen, but I think when you take the game as a whole, we did a good job of being sound in our run fits, tackling well, keeping leverage on the football.
A cool coaching moment later in the game — Rue actually gets the same exact run play to the same exact call, and he keeps his leverage on the football and we tackle for a two-yard gain. It was a teachable moment to show what happens when we do execute at a high level.
SD: PFF had you for 10 missed tackles. Do you have a target in mind for how many you’re shooting for?
LP: In the Valley, you're playing around 60 to 70 snaps per game, and our goal is to limit it to one missed tackle per 10 snaps. I think that correlates with an elite defense. During the off-season, we went through the top 10 scoring defenses in the FBS and FCS to see what kind of tackling numbers those defenses had. NDSU, for example, choked out most people they played last year, averaging 8.8 missed tackles.
Technically, PFF didn't give Rue a missed tackle, because he never made contact, never left his feet. Their criteria for a missed tackle is a little different than ours. We count missed leverage. There were still some moments where we could have tackled better at Illinois, and I think that'll continue to be a point of emphasis.
SD: There were some impressive moments from the defense, a couple of three-and-outs, two sacks against an O-line that hadn’t given up a sack this season. You could sense the confidence growing as the game wore on.
LP: The drive that can't get lost in shuffle, either, is the interception by Sebastian (Vargas). That was crucial, too, because they started to move the ball. We forced them into a 3rd-and-long in the red zone, and Bash played his coverage and technique perfectly. That's a big-time stop.
It was good to see our DNA show up. You mentioned the sacks. We started getting them into some 3rd-and-long situations where we were able to force them into check-downs, get punts. We’ve done a really good job, when offenses are backed up, of giving our offense a short field. We started playing the way we've played the previous three weeks in spurts. We're still chasing our best 60 minutes of football.
SD: What’s your biggest takeaway about the defense from these four non-conference games?
LP: This group is battle-tested, has faced some adversity, has had to play tight games, has come from behind in the 4th quarter to get crucial stops, get 7-straight stops to get end the game versus SEMO, get timely interceptions.
Everyone in this building, all true diehard Saluki fans, know the challenge that's coming each week in the Valley. It's only gonna get harder, but we have a group that's been through the fire and showed they will answer the bell.
SD: What do you expect from Murray State this week?
LP: You can see the growth and steady improvement from Murray each year since Jody Wright got there. They've continued to bring in really good talents. Maybe the score didn’t show it, but last year was a really good game. They moved the ball on us, but we had some timely takeaways. I think they do a really good job schematically on offense. They have two quarterbacks who have played a ton of football. The running back room is revamped and they have some juice in that room that can go. They've always done a really good job with skill cats, and then their offensive line is filled with guys that played for them last year. I think you're gonna see a really improved group that's gonna be hungry and go out there and attack.
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