Southern Illinois vs. Northern Iowa game preview

CARBONDALE, Ill. — Southern Illinois and Northern Iowa will meet for the 40th time on Saturday. The schools were once arch-rivals, but playing only three times in the last seven seasons has taken the edge off the rivalry.

From 2001 to 2011, the Salukis and Panthers battled for conference supremacy, combining to win 12 conference championships and sharing the title three times.

Since the arrival of the Dakotas, neither team has won the league, but their three most-recent meetings have featured thrilling finishes. Perhaps a quick refresher of those last three games can begin to rekindle the rivalry.

March 13, 2021: Southern Illinois 17, Northern Iowa 16

Trailing, 13-0 at halftime, and without its top two quarterbacks, the Salukis took the lead, 17-16, on a 3-yard touchdown pass from QB Stone Labanowitz to Jerron Rollins with 9:43 remaining. That touchdown held up in dramatic fashion, as UNI missed a 30-yard field goal with seven seconds to go. The Panthers were ranked No. 4 in the nation at the time, while SIU was ranked No. 10 and headed toward a playoff berth.

October 30, 2021: Northern Iowa 23, Southern Illinois 16

Southern Illinois nearly executed the two-minute drill to perfection, driving from its own 14 to first-and-goal, but then came up empty on four shots at the end zone in the waning seconds. The No. 3-ranked Salukis out-gained the No. 16 Panthers on the day, 410-285, but costly turnovers and having to settle for three field goals were the difference. SIU once again advanced to the playoffs in 2021.

Oct. 29, 2022: Northern Iowa 37, Southern Illinois 36

A completed Hail Mary pass from quarterback Nic Baker to wide receiver Jay Jones came up one yard shy of the goal line on the final play of the game, allowing UNI to escape with the win at Saluki Stadium. SIU had two chances in the final minute to pull out the victory, including a potential go-ahead field goal by Jake Baumgarte that was wide right from 41 yards.

When the teams renew their rivalry on Saturday, most of the faces will have changed. Long-time UNI head coach Mark Farley was replaced after the 2024 season by Drake’s Todd Stepsis. Only eight players between the two teams (five from SIU, three from UNI) played in that last meeting three years ago. Jones, who caught the Hail Mary, was a freshman at the time and is now Southern’s second-leading receiver.

Saluki Football alums are invited to attend a pregame Homecoming tailgate outside the stadium. No RSVP required.

Billy’s Chili — A 50-year Saluki Football tradition, created by assistant coach Billy Patrick

Time: Saturday, 11 AM-2 PM

Location: Just outside the south end of Saluki Stadium, next to the fenced-in practice field.

Food: Chili, hotdogs, other food & beverages.

Tents in case of rain.

Quick Facts

Date: Saturday, October 25, 2025

Kickoff: 2:00 PM CT

Location: Carbondale, IL

Facility: Saluki Stadium (15,000)

Radio: WCIL, 101.5 FM

TV: ESPN+

Series: UNI leads, 22-17

Spread: SIU -13.5

Weather: Cloudy, High of 65

First and Ten

• Saturday is SIU’s Homecoming, and two active NFL players will be recognized during the game — Jeremy Chinn (Las Vegas Raiders) and Branson Combs (Jacksonville Jaguars). Chinn will also be inducted into the Saluki Hall of Fame on Friday evening.

• The school’s all-time tackles leader, Fabray Collins (1981-83), is also entering the school’s Hall of Fame.

• Southern Illinois, which has lost its last two games, is ranked No. 16 in the Stats Perform FCS poll and No. 18 in the Coaches poll

• Northern Iowa has lost four-straight games and is coming off a 17-14 home defeat versus South Dakota.

• The conference rivals did not play each other in 2018, 2019, 2023 and 2024.

• Five current SIU players (Derek Harden Jr., Lashaun Lester, Jay Jones, Aidan Quinn and Peyton Reeves) played in the UNI game in 2022.

• UNI has won six of the last seven meetings between the teams.

Quoting Northern Iowa Coach Todd Stepsis

“When you're going through a tough time, you think about a hitter going through a slump. We're not going to change who we are. We're not going to change our philosophy, just like the hitter's not going to change his swing. He's just going to adjust where he's standing in the batter's box. So for us this week, it's back to fundamentals, continue to pound the rock, continue to hammer away on the details and the techniques of how you're supposed to play.

(Against South Dakota) I thought the defense just did a great job up front, the front-seven in particular, building walls, setting edges, the linebacker corps, in general, I thought played extremely well. It's not easy to play defense with an offense like ours right now.

It's just kind of neat playing a new team in a new place, and then they've got great personnel, great scheme. From a chess match perspective of game-planning, how are you gonna stop their quarterback? They have great speed on the edge, so how are you gonna contain that? How are you gonna limit the explosive plays? Anything new gives a little bit more juice to it.”

Quoting Southern Illinois Coach Nick Hill

“It's a humbling sport. You have to be resilient to play this game. It doesn't matter if we found a way to win the (North Dakota) game, you're going to put on clips that you didn't play well on a given snap. You're going to give up points. I don't know too many teams that shut out anybody last week. We talked about the game at South Dakota State in 2021. We were down, 20-0, came back and won in overtime, 42-41. Everybody on that plane ride home was excited, even the defense. They found ways to get two big interceptions and a stop on the two-point conversion.

It’s the ultimate team game and Saturday is a great opportunity for us to respond. There should be a confidence about our team. It's the same thing with the coaches. No great coach has ever responded by playing the game timid or calling the game timid. You can't be scared to call bad plays. You got to trust your gut, that's how I want our team to play.”

Scouting Northern Iowa (2-5, 0-3)

• First-year head coach Todd Stepsis led Drake to back-to-back Pioneer League titles and FCS Playoff appearances in 2023 and 2024. He was 15-1 in conference games and won the league’s Coach of the Year award both seasons.

• The Panthers’ offense is directed by junior Matthew Schecklman, who is in his second season as a starter. He’s completing 61 percent of his passes with nine touchdowns and six interceptions.

• Slot WR JC Roque Jr. is his favorite target with 35 catches for 316 yards.

• UNI ranks last in the conference in rushing yards per game (107.6). The Panthers have only two rushing touchdowns on the season and have not recorded a rushing TD in five-straight games.

• Defensively, UNI is fourth in the MVFC in points allowed (23.1) and third in pass defense (193.9)

Scouting No. 16/18 Southern Illinois (4-3, 1-2)

• The Salukis have the nation’s No. 13-ranked scoring offense (36.1 points) and are 17th in total yardage (439.6).

• SIU is 9th in the nation in third-down efficiency, converting 49.4 percent.

• Southern’s streak of scoring on every game-opening drive was snapped last week during a scoreless first half versus North Dakota.

• SIU is minus-5 in the turnover category in the last two games.

• DJ Williams is third in the nation in Points Responsible For with 138. He has 23 touchdowns to his credit — 12 passing, 11 rushing.

• Williams is second in the nation in rushing TDs (11) by a quarterback, trailing only Youngstown State’s Beau Brungard (12).

• WR Vinson Davis III has moved into 6th place in career catches (138) at SIU. MyCole Pruitt holds the record (221). He needs 11 more to move into the top-5.

• With 620 receiving yards through seven games, Davis III is on a pace that would make him just the second player in school history to reach 1,000 receiving yards in a season. Cornell Craig did it twice (1997, 1999)

• CB Jeremiah McClendon ranks 12th in the nation in passes defended per game (1.29).

• LB Ben Fiegel has 31 tackles in the last three games since taking over for the injured Andrew Behm.

Salukis By the Numbers

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

• RT Cam Dye extended his longest-active starting streak to 15 games, and WR Vinson Davis III has the most overall career starts among active players at 29.

• K Paul Geelen is 30-for-30 this season on PATs and has made 56-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.

Coaching Longevity

• Of the 129 active FCS head coaches in 2025, only 18 of them have been at the same school for the last 10 or more seasons, including SIU’s Nick Hill, who is in his 10th season at the helm of his alma mater.

• Hill is the second-longest tenured coach in the Missouri Valley Football Conference behind Illinois State’s Brock Spack (17th season).

• SIU tight ends coach Nate Griffin is also in his 10th season with the Salukis, having served throughout Hill’s tenure, first as running backs coach.