DawgBlog

SIU is ahead where it counts - if the halftime score counts - but North Dakota State’s football team is having its way today at McAndrew Stadium.
The ninth-ranked Salukis lead the Bison 10-7 at the break after Kyle Dougherty’s 44-yard field goal at the 2:41 mark. SIU scored its only touchdown off a 61-yard play-action pass to Jeff Evans.
NDSU scored its only touchdown off a 10-play, 60-yard drive that took 4:42. Backup tailback D.J. McNorton capped the drive with a 1-yard plunge over the left side. The Bison are trailing, but are doing exactly what they wanted to do in the opening half. They’re keeping the football (they had it more than 18 minutes in the first half) and are grinding out yards on the ground (119 already). Running back Pat Paschall, the nation’s leading rusher in the Football Championship Subdivision, has 93 yards on 17 carries.
On the other side, Deji Karim and the SIU offense is finding it hard to do anything on the ground. Karim, the nation’s second-leading rusher at the FCS level, has 30 yards on 11 carries. Steve Strother had two carries for a yard. The Salukis have looked best off the play-action, and will have to do some more of it to get some of the Bison out of the box in the second half.
Punter Scott Ravanesi really has been a 12th man for the defense. Ravanesi has three punts for an average of 45 yards. He got two of those inside the 20-yard line and nearly got the other one downed at the 2.
SIU can keep the same tempo in the second half, it just has to do something with the football other than throw it.

SIU football coach Dale Lennon always talks about big plays - creating some on offense and avoiding them at all costs on defense.
North Dakota State should test both of those challenges today at McAndrew Stadium, which is suffering through some rain right now. I don’t expect the rain to continue throughout the game, but it might still be lingering at the kickoff in about 40 minutes.
The Bison have had 19 scoring drives this season, and 13 of them have come on drives that took less than 105 seconds. SIU might have the best defense NDSU has played this season, including the opener at Iowa State, but even the best defense is occasionally susceptible to the 90-yard touchdown run.
“We gotta, No. 1., recognize what they’re doing, defensively,” Lennon said. “We gotta be ready to make adjustments during the course of the game. I like the diversity of our offense with the run and the pass, and having some multiple weapons, so, it’s trying to be ready as the game dictates.”
Both teams possess fast-break threats - Deji Karim had an 82-yard touchdown off a kickoff return and added a 61-yard scamper, while NDSU tailback Pat Paschall had a 91-yard touchdown run last weekend. I don’t anticipate a shootout today, though. I expect the team that can best orchestrate a multi-play drive will win today.
Karim, the nation’s second-leading rusher in the Football Championship Subdivision to Paschall, sounded confident earlier this week.
“Everybody is on the same page,” he said. “The offensive line has just been awesome the past two games, and I expect the same out of ‘em. And, you know, (Fullback John Goode), he doesn’t get the recognition he deserves. He does so much for our offense.”
Look for NDSU to try to keep the football as long as it can, especially if these conditions continue. SIU has a marked advantage in offensive firepower, as far as the running and passing game, and the Bison don’t want to let the No. 8/9 Salukis have the football. They will line up in a spread, the near formation, far formation, and the straight I today. As with Paschall’s stats, their biggest strength is up front.
“Very few times have we missed blocks,” NDSU coach Craig Bohl said. “We’ve gotten body on body, so there haven’t been a lot of times where there has been a player that we did not think we could block, and it could cause us some problems. What Pat has done ot do some of the big plays; there have been several times where Pat has just broken a tackle, or two.”

My pick is SIU by two scores, 35-21. Should be a physical, methodical, tight football game at The Mac. What are your predictions?

Strange, but enjoyable night in Detroit for me and a few friends this weekend, as the SIU football weekend takes a few days off. We took in today’s Detroit Tigers-Toronto Blue Jays contest, did a little gambling, and now hope to get some sleep for tomorrow’s Notre Dame-Michigan football game on ABC. Then it’s back to Comerica Park for Sunday’s tilt between the Tigers and Blue Jays.
In the lobby of the Motor City Hotel and Casino, I briefly ran into a guy by the name of Cecil Fielder. In Marshall gear, of all things, as he’d just gone over there to speak. Nice guy. He said his son is a much better hitter than he was, which kind of shocked me, but I was even more shocked to see him. He had a little gray in his beard, and lost some weight from his playing days, but looked sharp.
Walking around the casino brought back a lot of memories from my last trip to Nevada, when the Saluki men’s basketball team went to Reno. The two trips to Las Vegas this season will also bring back a similar environment. Hopefully they’ll be as successful as tonight was for me.
Saturday will be my second trip to the Big House in Ann Arbor, Mich. I went two years ago with a friend of mine, and the Wolverines ended up beating a nationally-ranked Penn State squad. Hopefully, the Blue take out the Irish in another nationally-televised game, as I believe the game against Penn State was televised last year. Either way, I plan on enjoying some more Football Bowl Subdivision tailgating, not that SIU doesn’t do it well. It just doesn’t seem the same as the bigger, more nationally-recognized programs you hear about.
SIU’s first home game is next weekend against Division II Southwest Baptist. Can’t wait to see the tents back up, the team lining up for one of its final walks up the hill, and a great football game at McAndrew Stadium. Hope to see you all there.
As for the recent news about Chauncey Mixon (he’ll be out 4-6 weeks with a broken jaw), it’s a hit, but not a major one. SIU is very deep at linebacker, and the reserves that will see more time next week (Kyle Walker, Scott Cole and others) could start for other Missouri Valley Football Conference teams. Know that the Salukis lose a vocal, verbal guy in Mixon, and a tremendous athlete, but that they also have more in the chute, so to speak.
Who did you tune in to this weekend in college football, with your beloved Salukis on the sideline?