Southern Illinois vs. Indiana State game preview

CARBONDALE, Ill. — What a difference a year makes. Heading into conference play last year, Southern Illinois had lost its starting quarterback, DJ Williams, and dropped out of the Top 10 of the national rankings.

This season, Williams is healthy and Southern Illinois (3-1) has climbed back into the Top 10 for the first time since Week 4 of the 2024 season.

How significant would a 4-1 start be for Southern? Every time SIU has started 4-1 under head coach Nick Hill, it has ended up making the FCS Playoffs.

The No. 10-ranked Salukis won’t take Saturday’s opponent, Indiana State, lightly. Not after the Sycamores (2-2) rallied from a 17-0 halftime deficit to beat Southern, 20-17, in Terre Haute last season. SIU committed three devastating second-half turnovers in that contest.

In contrast, SIU has only committed three turnovers through its first four games this season. Williams is coming off a spectacular performance at SEMO, for which he earned National Player Of the Week honors. The engine that drives Southern, he ranks third in the nation in total offense (326.0) and second in points responsible for (24.0) per game.

Meanwhile, Indiana State has a question mark at quarterback. As a true freshman last year, dual-threat QB Elijah Owens guided Indiana State to the comeback win over SIU. He was off to a great start in 2025 before injuring his collarbone in Week 2, and has not played the last two games.

It’s Family Weekend at Southern Illinois and the first home game for SIU since Aug. 30. The five-week gap between home opener and subsequent home game matches the longest in school history, established in 1993.

Quick Facts

Date: Saturday, October 4, 2025

Kickoff: 6:00 PM CT

Location: Carbondale, IL

Facility: Saluki Stadium (15,000)

Radio: WCIL, 101.5 FM

TV: ESPN+

Series: SIU leads, 31-29

Spread: SIU -24.5

First and Ten

• Both teams are coming off a bye week.

• Southern Illinois (3-1, 0-0) is ranked No. 10 (up-1) in this week’s Stats Perform FCS poll, and No. 11 (up-1) in the Coaches poll.

• Indiana State (2-2, 0-0) won its first two games over McKendree and Eastern Illinois, before losing at Indiana and at Montana.

• SIU has started 4-1 three times (2020, 2021, 2023) during the Nick Hill era and made the FCS Playoffs all three times.

• Head coaches Nick Hill (10th season) and Curt Mallory (8th season) are the second and third-longest tenured coaches in the MVFC.

Quoting Indiana State Coach Curt Mallory

“We’ve played against DJ (Williams) a couple times. I watched him in high school, recruited him as well, got a chance to meet him at media day. He’s a phenomenal player. He can run it, he can throw it, he’s having a big year right now and we’re going to have to do a great job of containing him. They’ve got great skill around him. I think they’re really explosive at running back and the wideout position. I like the way their tight ends play, as well, and they’re big up front.

I think any time you go to Carbondale, you have a huge challenge. I’ve been there a number of times and it will be a great environment to play in. I thought we had a really good open week. We played four non-conference opponents and all were really good. We’d like to be 4-0, but we’re 2-2. We have eight conference games in a row and it’s about taking them one at a time and knowing that each week, we’re playing a darn good opponent. I think Southern Illinois is as good as any team in the conference. I think Coach Hill does a phenomenal job, always has. They’re really good on defense, they fly around. This is one of the top programs, top teams in our conference right now.”

Quoting SIU Coach Nick Hill

“Indiana State is 2-2, but I would say the majority of teams in America would be 2-2 right now against the teams they played. Their two losses are at Montana and at Indiana — a top-10 team in the FCS and a top-10 team in the FBS. They beat Eastern Illinois by three touchdowns. Our total focus is on Indiana State.

Coach Mallory has been in the league a long time and understands what it takes to build a competitive team in this league. When you look at the fundamental things they do on tape, they are well-prepared, play with discipline, play hard in all three phases of the game. Watch how they run down on kickoff. You can find out a lot about a team when you watch their coverage teams and what type of mentality do these guys have. Coach Mallory's teams have always played super-hard.”

Scouting the Sycamores (2-2, 0-0)

• Indiana State started the season with sophomore quarterback Elijah Owens under center. He injured a collarbone in Game 2 versus Eastern Illinois and did not play against either Indiana or Montana.

• Owens was a Freshman All-American in 2024, finishing eighth in the FCS in completion percentage (68.8%) and rushing for 645 yards and eight touchdowns

• If he can’t go Saturday, ISU will turn to junior Keegan Patterson, who began his career at USC, transferred to Northwest Mississippi CC for the 2023 season before transferring to Indiana State.

• Patterson came on in relief in the win over Eastern Illinois to throw two touchdown passes and rush for 78 yards. On the season, he is 34-of-60 for 313 yards, 3 TDs and one interception.

• In the loss to Montana, the Sycamores had three 50-plus yard touchdowns — Rashad Rochelle (51-yard touchdown pass from Keegan Patterson), Nick Osho (55-yard touchdown run, 79-yard touchdown run)

• Indiana State has lost its last seven MVFC openers

• ISU ranks 8th in the nation in tackles for loss, averaging 7.8 per game. DL Logan Wilson leads the team with 5.5 TFL.

• ISU ranks 19th in the nation in fewest penalty yards per game, averaging 39.25

Scouting the Salukis (3-1, 0-0)

• Williams has rushed for 100+ yards in back-to-back games versus UT Martin (128) and SEMO (151). No quarterback in school history has done it three-straight games.

• Williams has seven rushing TDs on the season. Among quarterbacks, he trails only Youngstown State’s Beau Brungard and Delaware State’s Kaiden Bennett, who each have eight.

• Southern has scored a touchdown on its first drive in all four games this season.

• WR Vinson Davis III has moved into 10th place in career catches (122) at SIU. He could vault into 7th with four more catches, by surpassing Billy Swain (123), Brent Little (124) and Reggie Fowler (125). MyCole Pruitt holds the record (221).

• Davis III leads the MVFC and ranks 15th in the nation in receiving yards per game (91.0). Teammates Jay Jones (60.5/75th) and Fabian McCray (52.0/112th) are also nationally ranked.

• CB Jeremiah McClendon ranks 10th in the nation in passes defended per game (1.50) and S Vinny Pierre Jr. is 15th in interceptions per game (0.50).

• LB Andrew Behm ranks 13th in the nation in tackles per game (10.5).

• RT Cameron Dye is the team’s top-graded offensive lineman.

• Three true freshmen — LB David Obadein, S Grant Thompson and CB Cameron Cason — have played in all four games to date.

Salukis By the Numbers

• SIU’s 612 yards of offense at SEMO were the ninth-most in school history and the second-most of the Nick Hill era, behind only the school-record 807 yards of offense versus SE Louisiana in 2021.

• RT Cam Dye extended his longest-active starting streak to 12 games, and WR Vinson Davis III has the most overall career starts among active players at 26.

• The Salukis rank 4th in kickoff return average (29.40) and 1st in punt return average (27.00)

• K Paul Geelen is 20-for-20 this season on PATs and has made 46-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 play seven regular-season road games in 2025, the most road games in school history.