Southern Illinois at Murray State game preview

CARBONDALE, Ill. — When Southern Illinois and Murray State play each other, because of their regional ties, it’s billed as a “rivalry game.” The Racers have even selected the Salukis as their Homecoming game the last two meetings. On Saturday, they are marketing a halftime drone show to highlight the contest.

The actual games themselves haven’t lived up to the hype. Since Nick Hill became SIU's head coach in 2016, the teams have met four times, with Southern winning all four by a hefty margin of 188-33. The closest game was two years ago in Murray, where SIU won, 27-6.

Adding a layer of intrigue to this year’s game — Murray State’s quarterback at that time was SIU’s current QB DJ Williams. This year’s game will mark the first time Williams plays against his former team since he transferred after the 2023 season. Williams was injured when the teams met last year.

While calling his return a “full-circle moment,” Williams had only good things to say about his former team.

LB Colin Bohanek tackles DJ Williams in 2023 game at Murray State.

“Murray State was the first team to give me an opportunity when Dan Hood was at the helm, and it's nothing but love for that program,” he said. “I root for that program because I know what it means for the people in the community. I hope they win a lot, just not this Saturday.”

Salukis linebacker Shug Walker is another Murray State transfer making a return appearance. In last year’s game versus the Racers, which SIU won, 62-0, Walker had a monster game with 10 tackles, 2.0 sacks, a forced fumble and an interception.

“Shug had a big game playing against his old team,” Hill noted. “I'm sure there'll be some natural emotions when you show up and see a lot of familiar faces.”

The game is critical for the No. 16-ranked Salukis (5-3, 2-2), who need the win to keep their playoff hopes alive. With one of the nation’s youngest rosters, the Racers (0-8, 0-4) would love to jumpstart the rivalry with an upset.

Quick Facts

Date: Saturday, November 1, 2025

Kickoff: 4:00 PM CT

Location: Murray, KY

Facility: Roy Stewart Stadium (16,800)

Radio: WCIL, 101.5 FM

TV: ESPN+

Series: SIU leads, 12-10-2

Spread: SIU -28.5

Weather: 55 degrees at kickoff, 70% chance of rain

First and Ten

• Saturday will be the 25th meeting between the schools. The series began in 1927, but the teams have met just eight times since 2000. SIU has won the last five.

• SIU won last year’s meeting in Carbondale, 62-0. In his first and only career start, senior quarterback Michael Lindauer passed for a school-record seven touchdowns. Lindauer began the season as a graduate assistant coach for the Salukis, but returned to play after three quarterbacks suffered season-ending injuries.

• The last time SIU lost to Murray State was in 2002, 42-24, when Jerry Kill was head coach. The game was marred by frequent unsportmanlike conduct penalties and personal fouls against Murray State. MSU was penalized 19 times for 161 yards. Saluki star running back Tom Koutsos broke his wrist during the game. The nature of the game led to a 16-year series hiatus.

• After beating Northern Iowa last week, the Salukis held steady at No. 16 in the Stats Perform FCS poll and moved up one spot to No. 17 in the AFCA poll.

• PR Tae Marrero was named the MVFC Special Teams Player of the Week. He returned a punt 81 yards for a touchdown vs. UNI, becoming the first Saluki player since Craig James in 2006 to return one for a TD.

Quoting Murray State Coach Jody Wright

“I can't say enough about the young men we have on this team, and especially a lot of young freshmen we have. Whether they’re in the weight room or in meetings, they're smiling, they're happy. They're down we got beat, they're not happy about that, but they've come in to attack today and get better. I’m just really pleased with the attitude of the team right now. We keep correcting stuff and we're gonna keep fighting and we're gonna keep trying to find a way to put our best foot forward.”

“There's got to be a standard that we play to every week. When everybody sees that Murray State football helmet, there's a style of play where we're giving great effort. That's got to be a given every week. We got to do a better job as coaches, but we got to find a way to win some games and execute in all three levels. The thing I love about our guys, they're fighting, they haven't blinked and they are getting better. You don't have to worry about trying to motivate them to do something special, because when you get to play a top-20 team every week, it's a chance to do something special.”

Quoting Southern Illinois Coach Nick Hill

“On the bus ride home from Murray State after the game (in 2023), I thought, if DJ Williams goes in the portal, that's the guy that I want to recruit. There was talk of Coach Hood leaving or retiring. The way DJ handled the adversity of that season and how he played against us was impressive. He made some big-time throws, got out of a lot of sacks. I think (Ben) Bogle had him a couple of times and couldn't get him down. You could see his competitiveness.

I think our defense is battle-tested. They've played good football in spurts, and it's about who's playing the best in November. The weather starts to change. Defensive football has got to go win you some games. There's going to be some November bad-weather games, some grind-it-out type games. I feel good about where our defense is at.”

Scouting Murray State (0-8 0-4)

• Second-year head coach Jody Wright has both NFL and BCS coaching experience, including three seasons with the New York Giants and Cleveland Browns (2019-21). Most recently, he was the tight ends coach for two seasons for Shane Beamer at South Carolina (2022-23).

• The Racers have lost 17-straight games dating back to the 2024 season. Their last win was a 59-8 victory over Mississippi Valley State on Sept. 14, 2024.

• The Murray State roster features 50 true freshmen and 11 redshirt freshmen.

• Redshirt freshman QB Jim Ogle is the team’s starter and is completing 60.4 percent of his passes with eight touchdowns and 12 interceptions.

• MSU ranks last in the FCS in rushing defense (268.1 yards per game) and total defense (514.9 ypg).

• Opponents are 7-for-7 on 4th down conversions this season.

• LB Dylan Rowsey leads the conference and ranks third in the nation in tackles per game (12.0).

• P Thomas O’Hara ranks 11th in the nation in punting average (45.2).

• The Racers are coming off a 51-17 loss at Youngstown State, a game in which they gave up a 100-yard kickoff return.

• Their most competitive outing in conference play was a 46-32 loss to nationally ranked Illinois State on Oct. 11. In that game, the Racers had a season-high 471 total yards.

Scouting No. 16/17 Southern Illinois (5-3, 2-2)

• The Salukis are coming off their best defensive performance since Week 3 at UT Martin. Against Northern Iowa last Saturday, the unit held the Panthers to 247 yards, 2-of-12 on third down and recorded four sacks.

• Against UNI, QB DJ Williams completed 82 percent of his passes (19-for-23), the sixth-highest completion percentage in school history.

• SIU has moved up to No. 15 in the nation in fewest sacks allowed (1.25/game). The offensive line has allowed one or zero sacks in six games.

• Southern has scored on its opening drive in seven of its eight games, including six touchdowns.

• DJ Williams is fifth in the nation in Points Responsible For with 150. He has 25 touchdowns to his credit — 14 passing, 11 rushing.

• With 143 career catches, WR Vinson Davis III needs six more catches to move into the top-5 in school history.

• Davis III leads the conference with 653 receiving yards and is on a pace to become just the second receiver in school history to surpass 1,000 yards in a season, joining Cornell Craig.

• CB Jeremiah McClendon leads the conference and ranks fourth in the nation in passes defended per game (1.50). Against UNI, he had five tackles, one sack, one interception and two breakups.

• After missing the North Dakota game, LB Chris Presto returned last week and led the team with eight tackles.

• Southern had two punts blocked last week versus UNI that led to 10 points for the Panthers.

Salukis By the Numbers

• SIU has the nation’s No. 16-ranked scoring offense (35.5 points) and is 20th in total yardage (438.8).

• SIU is 8th in the nation in third-down efficiency, converting 48.9 percent.

• In 2025, SIU started the season 4-1 for the fourth time under head coach Nick Hill. The Salukis made the FCS Playoffs each of the previous three times (2020, 2021, 2023).

• The Salukis are one of the nation’s least-penalized teams, with an average of 40.75 penalty yards per game, which ranks 18th in the FCS.

• RT Cam Dye extended his longest-active starting streak to 16 games, and WR Vinson Davis III has the most overall career starts among active players at 30.

• K Paul Geelen is 34-for-34 this season on PATs and has made 60-straight since missing his first kick in the opener at BYU in 2024. His longest career field goal is 53 yard at Purdue.

• The Salukis finish the regular season with three out of four games on the road. They play seven regular-season road games in 2025, the most road games in school history.