West Florida anticipating sell-out for its first FCS game vs. Southern Illinois
- Tom Weber
- 3 hours ago
- 5 min read
PENSACOLA, Fla. — West Florida anticipates a sell-out for its first FCS game versus No. 16-ranked Southern Illinois on Thursday night. Less than 20 single-seats were available as of Wednesday morning.
PenAir Field is undergoing a major renovation and currently holds roughly 3,000 spectators on its east side. A new 85-foot videoboard was recently installed in the north end zone.
After 10 years of dominating the Division II level, the Argonauts (0-0) will play their first-ever home game against a Division I opponent.
“I kind of see them like James Madison, Appalachian State and North Dakota State — teams that had an expectation, not just to go up, but to go and compete at a high level,” said SIU head coach Nick Hill. “The administration is behind them, they're in a great area to recruit, and they’ve had a lot of talent.”
The Salukis (0-0) will make their eighth appearance in the state of Florida, where they have a 2-5 record.
SIU in the state of Florida
1968: Won at Tampa, 23-20
1972: Lost at Tampa, 44-0
1982: Lost at Florida State, 59-8
1990: Lost at Central Florida, 49-14
1997: Won at South Florida, 23-10
1999: Lost at South Florida, 21-14
2016: Lost at Florida Atlantic, 38-30
The Florida Atlantic game in 2016 marked Hill’s head coaching debut.
Quick Facts
Date: Thursday, August 27, 2026
Kickoff: 6 PM CT
Location: Pensacola, FL
Facility: PenAir Field (3,000)
Radio: WCIL, 101.5 FM
TV: ESPN+
Series: First meeting
Spread: Southern Illinois -20.5
Weather: Low 80s, light winds, cloudy skies early followed by thunderstorms late.
First and Ten
Since 2020, the two teams have combined to make seven playoff appearances: West Florida (2021, 2022, 2023, 2025), Southern Illinois (2020, 2021, 2023).
West Florida won the Division II national championship in 2019. The Argos were led by former Saluki quarterback Austin Reed.
Reed was part of a loaded Saluki QB room in 2018 that also included Sam Straub, Nic Baker, Stone Labanowitz, Matt DeSomer and Javon Williams Jr.
The Salukis have played in the Florida Panhandle only once before, falling to Florida State, 59-8, on Oct. 9, 1982, in front of 51,233 fans. At the time, it was the largest crowd to ever watch a Saluki game. As of today, it is the seventh-largest.
In its first year in the FCS, West Florida is a member of the United Athletic Conference (UAC)
The teams have one common opponent. The Salukis will host SEMO in Week 3, while the Argos play at SEMO in Week 4.
Quoting Southern Illinois Coach Nick Hill
“Training camp is really about coming together as a team. Just the amount of hours and time that we spend together, it's about creating that brotherhood. Now, we gotta trust the guys to go out there and play.
You want your team to be built to win in a variety of different ways. We obviously have a talented quarterback, talented backs, a good offensive line. I believe to win a championship, you have to be able to run the football effectively, and you need to have explosive plays in the run game. Our job as coaches is to utilize all of our skill players in the ways that utilize their skillset the best.”
Hill on leadership and the five team captains
The players selected five team captains: LB Andrew Behm, DT Amir Dwight, G Derek Harden Jr., LB Chris Presto and QB DJ Williams.
“Leadership is not about you, it's about the people that you're serving. It’s motivating others for a shared vision. Anybody that's in a leadership position has to have a demeanor of humbleness, needs to respond to adversity the right way. Leaders have an awareness of what's going on with their teammates and who needs to be pulled to the side and talked to, who needs a text at night, who needs to be called, who needs to come in and talk to the head coach and let us know what's going on in his life outside of football. There's gotta be a willingness to care about the people that you're serving and those five guys are great examples of that."
West Florida Notebook
Kaleb Nobles enters his fourth season as head coach and has a 25-9 record. He was the team’s quarterback’s coach in 2019 when Reed led the team to a national title.
The Argonauts started the 2025 season 9-0, the best start in the program’s 10-year history. They advanced to the second round of the playoffs, losing to Newberry.
West Florida did not release a depth chart for the game, but speculation is that the starter will be selected from a group of three players: Donovan Leary (Tulane transfer), Blake Boda (Arkansas transfer), or returnee Ty'ray Davis. Regardless of who is selected, the game will be their first collegiate start.
The team’s top returning weapon on offense is RB TJ Lane, who rushed for 869 yards last season, averaging 5.2 yards per carry with 11 touchdowns. The 5-foot-10, 205-pound junior also caught 20 passes and had three receiving TDs.
The top-returning receiving threat is TE Jake Robinette (6-6, 245, Sr.), who caught four touchdowns last year.
DE Byron Puryear has 15.5 tackles for loss and 7.0 sacks in the last two years at West Florida.
West Florida has 12 players who have transferred from FBS programs and seven from the FCS.
Southern Illinois Notebook
Printable Offense Positional Chart
Printable Defense Positional Chart
The Salukis are ranked No. 16 in both the AFCA and Stats Perform preseason polls. Five other Valley schools are also ranked.
From last year’s team, the Salukis return 100 percent of their passing yards and 88 percent of their rushing yards, but only 16 percent of their receiving yards.
The Salukis return three of their top-six tacklers from last season: S Vinny Pierre Jr. (71), LBAndrew Behm (61) and LB Chris Presto (59).
K Seth Adams is expected to take over field goal duties for K Paul Geelen, who handled every kickoff, punt and field goal for SIU in 2024 and 2025 and ended his career by making 77-straight PATs. P Eli Gorman and K Weston Schofield will handle punting and kickoffs, respectively.
DJ Williams Payton Award Watch
All-American QB DJ Williams set the school touchdowns record last season with 40 TDs (22 passing, 18 rushing).
He completed 63.0 percent of his passes for 2,846 yards. His longest completion was 83 yards to Vinson Davis III.
Williams’ 847 rushing yards were also a school single-season record by a quarterback.
Williams has started 15 games in two seasons at SIU. He started all 12 games in 2025, although he injured his knee in Week 4 versus SEMO.
Salukis By the Numbers
Entering his 11th season at SIU, head coach Nick Hill is 6-4 in season openers.
The longest active streak of consecutive starts for the Salukis is 12 games by Williams, S Vinny Pierre Jr. and CB Gavin Shepard.
S Vinny Pierre Jr. led the defense in snaps played in 2025 with 748
In 2025, the Salukis ranked in the top 10 nationally in Red Zone Offense (1st/94.2%), 3rd Down Conversion Pct. (5th/50.7%) and Rushing Offense (10th/207.3 yards).
The Salukis play seven regular-season road games this year, the most in the MVFC and tying the most in school history, set last season. Southern will be back on the road seven times in 2027, as well.
Hill is the second-longest tenured coach in the Missouri Valley Football Conference behind Illinois State’s Brock Spack (18th season).
SIU tight ends coach Nate Griffin is also in his 11th season with the Salukis, having served throughout Hill’s tenure, first as running backs coach.
Comments