Southern Illinois hosts Illinois State Saturday at Saluki Stadium in Carbondale. The 6 p.m. showdown may well help decide the postseason aspirations for both teams. (Photo by GoRedbirds.com)
By Dan Verdun
How important is Saturday’s Missouri Valley Football Conference game between rivals Illinois State and Southern Illinois?
It’s vital if you look at the numbers.
Both teams enter the 6 p.m. kickoff at Saluki Stadium stinging from league-opening losses to Top 5-ranked opponents. Thus, the loser of Saturday’s game in Carbondale will begin this season with an 0-2 MVFC record.
Examining the last 10 Missouri Valley seasons, only one team has overcome such a start and made the FCS playoffs.
And that team, head coach Brock Spack’s 2016 Illinois State Redbirds, lost its first three MVFC games.
“They were a gritty group. We were able to bounce back and put some wins together,” Spack told Prairie State Pigskin. “We had good leadership on that team.”
Those Redbirds suffered conference losses to Indiana State, North Dakota State and Youngstown State. Add in a non-conference loss to rival Eastern Illinois in Normal and Illinois State was more than wobbly.
However, ISU did have a key victory on its resume – a 9-7 upset of Northwestern Sept. 10 on the Big Ten Conference member’s home field.
“A win like that is like having two wins on your schedule,” Spack said.
After its sputtering 2-4 start – which included a lopsided win against non-scholarship Valparaiso – the Redbirds slipped past the SIU Salukis, 31-28, at Hancock Stadium to snap their three-game MVFC losing streak.
After a narrow 27-24 loss to South Dakota, Illinois State finished the regular season with three consecutive MVFC victories to post a 6-5 overall record.
That mark, mixed with the win in Evanston and a 37-0 shutout of Missouri State in the season finale, proved to be enough for the FCS playoff committee to grant ISU a postseason berth.
The Redbirds lost their opening round playoff game, 31-24, at Central Arkansas to end with a 6-6 record.
A deeper look
The 2016 season is the only time that Illinois State has started 0-2 in the Missouri Valley portion of its schedule and made the playoffs.
Southern Illinois has made the FCS playoffs 11 times, including the 1983 national championship, but never bounced back from an 0-2 start to make the postseason.
Both Northern Iowa (2021) and Youngstown State (2023) began the season with 1-2 conference records and still made the playoffs in recent years.
Saturday’s game pits visiting Illinois State (3-2, 0-1) and host Southern Illinois (2-3, 0-1). The Redbirds are ranked No. 18 and the Salukis are No. 19 in this week’s Stats Perform FCS Top 25 poll.
The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) poll has ISU at No. 19 and SIU at No. 23.
While neither Spack nor Hill has openly called Saturday a “must win,” each knows the importance of the outcome.
“It seems like every weekend is going to be a playoff-caliber team (we’re going against),” Spack said. “All of these games have playoff implications.”
Hill addressed the state of SIU on the school’s weekly “Inside Saluki Athletics” broadcast from a Carbondale eatery.
“I’m excited about the challenge that we have to turn it around. We’ve lost to two really good teams (No. 13 Southeast Missouri and No. 4 South Dakota in the last two weeks),” Hill said.
Remaining schedules (with current overall and MVFC records):
ISU
Saturday at No. 19 Southern Illinois (2-3, 0-1)
Oct. 12 Missouri State (3-2, 1-0)
Oct. 19 at Murray State (1-3, 0-1)
Oct. 26 Bye week
Nov. 2 Youngstown State (1-4, 0-1)
Nov. 9 at Northern Iowa (2-2, 0-0)
Nov. 17 at Indiana State (1-3, 0-0)
Nov. 23 No. 7 North Dakota (4-1, 1-0)
Not on the this year’s schedule:
No. 1 South Dakota State (3-1, 0-0)
No. 4 South Dakota (3-1, 1-0)
SIU
Saturday No. 18 Illinois State (3-2, 0-1)
Oct. 12 No. 2 North Dakota State (4-1, 1-0)
Oct. 19 Bye week
Oct. 26 at Indiana State (1-3, 0-0)
Nov. 2 at Missouri State (3-2, 1-0)
Nov. 9 Youngstown State (1-4, 0-1)
Nov. 17 at No. 1 South Dakota State (3-1, 0-0)
Nov. 23 Murray State (1-3, 0-1)
Not on this year’s schedule:
No. 7 North Dakota (4-1, 1-0)
Northern Iowa (2-2, 0-0)
Barry Bottino contributed to this story.
Dan Verdun is a co-founder of Prairie State Pigskin. He has written four books: NIU Huskies Football, EIU Panthers Football, ISU Redbirds Football and SIU Salukis Football.
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