Southern Illinois at UT Martin game preview

Tom Weber
Sep 12
6 min read

In the last meeting between the schools in 2019, SIU reeled off 28 unanswered points to win, 28-14, behind the rushing duo of Javon Williams Jr. (138 yards) and D.J. Davis (101 yards). Davis pictured.

CARBONDALE, Ill. — Southern Illinois travels to four-time defending Ohio Valley Conference champions UT Martin on Saturday, in the first head-to-head FCS matchup this season for both teams.

The Salukis (1-1) beat Division II Thomas More and led at FBS Purdue, before falling, 34-17. The Skyhawks (0-2) have lost a pair of FBS games at Oklahoma State and UTEP.

Just a two-hour drive apart, the teams will meet for only the 10th time and just the second time since 2000. The Salukis are 8-1 all-time against UT Martin, including a 36-30 playoff win in 2006, and a 28-14 victory during the 2019 regular season. Both games featured dramatic, come-from-behind efforts by SIU.

SIU head coach Nick Hill quarterbacked Southern to the win in 2006, although it was running back Arkee Whitlock who provided four touchdowns on 207 rushing yards in that game. The Salukis trailed, 27-7, early in the third quarter, and scored the game-winning TD on a 45-yard Hill to Alan Turner pass with 57 seconds left, completing what was the largest comeback in school history at the time.

In 2019, the Salukis trailed, 14-0, and lost starting quarterback Kare Lyles to injury, but Stone Labanowitz took over and SIU reeled off 28 unanswered points behind the rushing duo of Javon Williams Jr. (138 yards) and D.J. Davis (101 yards).

Heat will be a factor on Saturday, with game-time temperatures expected to be in the low-90s in Martin, TN.

Quick Facts

Date: Saturday, September 13, 2025

Kickoff: 6:00 PM CT

Location: Martin, TN

Facility: Hardy M. Graham Stadium (7,500)

Radio: WCIL, 101.5 FM

TV: ESPN+

Series: SIU leads, 8-1

Sagarin Odds: SIU 56%-44%

First and Ten

Southern Illinois is ranked No. 17 (down-3) in this week’s Stats Perform FCS poll, and No. 14 (up-1) in the Coaches poll.
Picked to finish second in the OVC behind Tennessee Tech, UT Martin is receiving votes for the Top 25
Saturday’s game fulfills SIU’s obligation to play at UT Martin following its 2019 home game. The contest was originally scheduled for the 2020 fall season, but was wiped out by COVID.
Both teams will be playing their first Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) game of the season.

Quoting UT Martin Coach Jason Simpson

“It’s a quality Missouri Valley school and they have good players. The quarterback from Murray transferred there a year ago and he's a good player. I'm not so sure, after game three, if he's not the best offensive player we played against. UTEP’s (quarterback) was fast but he doesn't touch it every snap like the quarterback at Southern Illinois. They have some fast wideouts and so we'll have our hands full on defense. They play a four-man front, playing a two-high shell, a lot of movement up front. They leverage the ball very well. They were highly competitive against Purdue. It’s another quality opponent.

Always feel like that home opener, it just feels different every single year. This one, it feels pretty sweet. I saw some stats that Alex had put out this week and what our home record is in the last three years, and I’m pretty proud of that. No matter what the challenge is, anybody comes in here, they'll have to play well to beat us. That's got to be the mindset.”

Quoting SIU Coach Nick Hill

“Coach Simpson has done an outstanding job with that program, consistent year-in and year-out. I played against him when I was here. He calls plays for the offense, like myself, and always has had good offenses, good quarterbacks. His son is the starting quarterback at Alabama, which is pretty cool, and so just a football family. He's done a great job being there for his whole career.

We have experience being on the road last week at Purdue. This will be a different type of challenge, but as far as our focus and all the things that we preach on a daily basis, now you have to re-do that as far as the approach to the game. Every game is a story of its own. There's different adversity. The ball doesn't always bounce your way. You have to be able to adapt and adjust and overcome. You're on the road, so we just have to make sure that our mindset's right, and once that ball kicks off, it's time to go cut it loose.”

Scouting the Skyhawks

This marks the 96th season of football and 34th as a Division I program for UT Martin.
Skyhawk head coach Jason Simpson enters his 20th season and boasts a 124-92 career record. He ranks third in league history in career victories while winning conference titles in 2006, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024.
UT Martin earned berths to the FCS Playoffs in 2021 and 2024 – picking up postseason victories in both appearances.
The Skyhawks have won 25 of their last 30 home contests since 2019, including three unbeaten home seasons.
UT Martin is 19-2 in home openers under Simpson, including six-straight victories
Buchanan Award finalist CB JaMichael McGoy, Jr. was a Consensus All-American last year after finishing third in the nation in pass breakups with 18
The Skyhawks will be boosted by the return of RB Armoni Goodwin, who missed the first two games. Prior to UT Martin, he spent three seasons at LSU, where he started three games. Coming out of high school, he was ranked the top back in Alabama and fourth in the nation.
Dual-threat QB Jase Bauer began his career at Central Michigan, before transferring to Sam Houston. He was ranked the top quarterback in the state of Iowa coming out of high school.
The Skyhawks blocked two kicks last week at UTEP — a field goal and a PAT.

Scouting the Salukis

Southern scored touchdowns on its first-two drives of both games this season vs. Thomas More and Purdue.
Of SIU’s eight TDs this season, QB DJ Williams passed for four of them and ran for two. Williams ranks ninth in the nation in Points Responsible For (36).
Williams leads the team with 21 rushing attempts. RB Lashaun Lester is next with nine carries.
Williams has a streak of 62-consecutive pass attempts without an interception, dating back to the Incarnate Word game in Week 3 of the 2024 season.
The Salukis’ starting receiving corps has accounted for 21 catches through two games — Vinson Davis III (11), Jathen Jones (7) and Fabian McCray (4). McCray missed the second half of the Purdue game with a an injury.
Vinson Davis III is tied with DJ Davis for 13th all-time in catches at SIU with 112
LB Andrew Behm leads the team with 22 tackles, including 16 at Purdue — the most by a Saluki player since LB Royal Whitaker had 17 stops at Missouri State in 2002.
Behm played every snap (76) on defense at Purdue.
The Salukis rank third in the nation in turnover margin at +3.00 per game. SIU has forced six turnovers on the season and has not committed a turnover on offense.
The starting offensive line has not been penalized through two games this season.
RT Cameron Dye is the team’s top-graded offensive lineman.

Salukis By the Numbers

In Week 2, two players made their first-career starts for SIU: RB Chandler Chapman and DT Amir Dwight.
RT Cam Dye extended his longest-active starting streak to 10 games, and WR Vinson Davis III has the most overall career starts among active players at 24.
SIU has scored on all nine of its trips to the Red Zone this season, including eight touchdowns.
The Salukis rank in the top 5 nationally in kickoff return yardage (3rd/36.50) and punt return yardage (5th/27.00)
SIU’s 14.0 TFL this season ranks 23rd in the nation and is spread among 13 players.
K Paul Geelen is 8-for-8 this season on PATs and has made 34-straight since missing his first kick in the opener at BYU in 2024. His streak of five-straight made field goals was snapped at Purdue, when he missed a 59-yard attempt on the final play of the first half. However, he started a new streak with a 53-yard field goal in the second half — the third longest field goal in school history.
The Salukis will play seven regular-season road games in 2025, the most road games in school history.
SIU has a five-week gap between its home opener and the next home game on Oct. 4 vs. Indiana State. The five-week gap matches the longest in school history, set in 1993.