Southern Illinois vs. South Dakota game preview

CARBONDALE, Ill. — Have the playoffs already begun? By the sound of it, both head coaches in tomorrow’s Top 25 showdown between Southern Illinois and South Dakota think so.

USD head coach Travis Johansen described his team’s season finale as a “win-or-go-home game.” SIU head coach Nick Hill acknowledged his team probably needs to beat both South Dakota this week and Illinois State next week to make the playoffs.

In the Missouri Valley Football Conference, otherwise known as the “SEC of the FCS,” only undefeated North Dakota State is assured of a spot in the 24-team FCS Playoffs with two weeks left in the regular season.

North Dakota and Youngstown State are both 6-4, yet those teams have a leg up on the other contenders because of quality wins and an easy slate of remaining games. When the dust settles, they’re likely to get in.

That leaves South Dakota (7-4), South Dakota State (7-3), Illinois State (7-3) and Southern Illinois (6-4) battling for the last couple spots. Four critical games will decide the fate of these teams:

Nov. 15

South Dakota at Southern Illinois

Illinois State at South Dakota State

Nov. 22

Southern Illinois at Illinois State

South Dakota State at North Dakota

Tomorrow’s matchup between the Coyotes and Salukis features two of the top rushing offenses in the FCS. Both teams can pound the rock, although they do it in substantially different ways.

South Dakota has the conference’s leading rusher. Tailback L.J. Phillips Jr. ranks third in the nation with 1,464 yards this season. He has seven, 100-yard rushing games, including 301 yards vs. Northern Colorado and 244 versus Murray State. He’s also a receiving threat with 23 catches.

Southern Illinois has a trio of ball carriers who have combined to rush for 1,558 yards — quarterback DJ Williams (624) and running backs Edward Robinson (483) and Chandler Chapman (451). Robinson has carried a bigger load lately, with 280 yards in the last three games. He averages a remarkable 7.4 yards per carry on the year.

Defensively, Southern Illinois has been more vulnerable against the run than South Dakota this season. The Salukis rank No. 113 in rushing yards allowed (202.3) while the Coyotes are No. 60 (152.9).

It's Senior Day at SIU and 27 players will be recognized during a pregame on-field ceremony: Andrew Behm, Colin Bohanek, Kenny Butler, Vontrell Chairse, Ryan Chandley, Vinson Davis III, Cam Dye, Noah Fenske, Paul Geelen, Derek Harden Jr., Juwann Holmes, Jay Jones, Jimmy Lansing, Lashaun Lester Jr., Aidan Logan, Tae Marrero, Miles Marshall, Jeremiah McClendon, Fabian McCray, Aidan Quinn, Peyton Reeves, Caden Reeves, Ryan Schwendeman, Sebastian Vargas, Shug Walker, DJ Williams and Jagger Williams.

Quick Facts

Date: Saturday, November 15, 2025

Kickoff: 12 PM CT

Location: Carbondale, IL

Facility: Saluki Stadium (15,000)

Radio: WCIL, 101.5 FM

TV: ESPN+

Series: South Dakota leads, 6-4

Spread: NA

Weather: Partly cloudy, high of 75

First and Ten

• The teams have met every season since 2014, except for the 2020-21 COVID season. South Dakota has won the last three meetings.

• South Dakota has only played one outdoor game in the last two months (at Indiana State on Oct. 11). Southern has played every game outdoors this season, except at North Dakota State on Oct. 11.

• South Dakota quarterback Aidan Bouman made his first-career start vs. SIU in 2022 and has a 3-0 record as a starter against the Salukis.

• In last year’s meeting, No. 5-ranked South Dakota rushed for 302 yards in a 42-13 win, averaging nearly seven yards per carry.

• SIU’s last win over the Coyotes was during the playoffs in 2021. In that 22-10 victory, the Salukis forced four turnovers, including two interceptions by Qua Brown. Avante Cox had 10 catches for 148 yards.

• After losing to Youngstown State, the Salukis dropped six spots to No. 21 in the Stats Perform FCS poll, while South Dakota jumped five spots to No. 17 by beating arch-rival South Dakota State.

Quoting South Dakota Coach Travis Johansen

“Southern Illinois has our attention at every level. A couple weeks ago, they were a Top 10 team in the country. The talent is still there on display and we will have our hands full. Our focus is no different than it was heading into North Dakota or South Dakota State. It’s playoff football the rest of the season. In our building right now, it’s a win-or-go-home game. That doesn’t change the way we prepare. The hardest thing is to put the positivity of the emotion behind us and get ready for a really good Southern Illinois team.

We have some familiarity with DJ (Williams), defended him when we were at home in 2023 and he was at Murray State. He can beat you with his arm and his feet. We’ve gotta have a good plan to contain him. I have a lot of respect for him and what they do.”

Quoting Southern Illinois Coach Nick Hill

“Aidan Bouman is a winner at quarterback who's won 30 games in the last three seasons. They have a true identity as an offense. They're going to want to run the football and play-action pass. He's got a big arm, so he can throw the ball down the field. They're going to play great defense, not flashy defense. They make you manage the game all the way down the field. They try to make the other team make mistakes, and then they're going to grind you on offense. If they have to go 15, 16 plays, they're happy to do that, and then hit some explosive plays, and play well on special teams. A really good team coming in here, probably one of the hottest teams in the FCS, coming off two, big rivalry wins.

With it being Military Appreciation Day, during our team meeting, we let some people talk about friends or families that are in the military and share some stories. I think it's just another great way for us to reflect on how lucky we are.”

Scouting No. 17/22 South Dakota (7-4, 5-2)

• South Dakota has won five of its last six games, including back-to-back wins over Top 10 teams North Dakota and South Dakota State.

• USD has won 19 of its last 23 MVFC games, dating back to the 2023 season.

• The Coyotes have been ranked in the Top 25 for 33-straight polls.

• The Coyotes have not committed a turnover in six-straight games, last committing one against NDSU (Sept. 27)

• USD has scored a touchdown on its opening possession six times this season

• QB Aidan Bouman holds a 29-13 record as the starting quarterback at South Dakota and is the FCS active leader in both games started and wins.

• RB L.J. Phillips Jr. has seven, 100-yard games this season and ranks third in rushing yards (1,464) in the FCS.

• WR Larenzo Fenner is tied for first in TD catches (8) in the MVFC.

• Head coach Travis Johansen is in his first season as the program’s head coach, after serving as USD’s defensive coordinator since 2019.

Scouting No. 21/23 Southern Illinois (6-4, 3-3)

• Southern has scored on its opening drive in nine of its 10 games, including eight touchdowns.

• DJ Williams has 624 rushing yards on the season and needs 93 yards to pass Mark Iannotti (716 in 2015) for the school single-season record.

• Williams is third in the nation in Points Responsible For with 194. He has 32 touchdowns to his credit (18 passing, 14 rushing). The school record for PRF is held by Mark Iannotti with 202 in 2015, including 33 touchdowns (24 passing, 9 Rushing)

• WR Vinson Davis III has 150 career catches and ranks 5th in school history. He is third in the conference with 706 receiving yards in 2025.

• CB Jeremiah McClendon leads the conference and ranks eighth in the nation in passes defended per game (1.30).

Salukis By the Numbers

• The Salukis rank No. 19 in the FCS in scoring (34.9), No. 16 in rushing (204.3) and No. 27 in passing (240.8).

• SIU converts 49.2 percent of its third down conversions — 8th-best in the FCS.

• SIU has scored on 93 percent of its trips inside the Red Zone, which ranks No. 6 in the nation.

• 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 44.00 penalty yards per game, which ranks 5th in the FCS.

• RT Cam Dye extended his longest-active starting streak to 18 games, and WR Vinson Davis III has the most overall career starts among active players at 30.

• K Paul Geelen is 42-for-42 this season on PATs and has made 68-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.