DawgBlog

It’s hard to be in two places at the same time, and I’m experiencing that right now with men’s basketball season prying into football season.
Today I got back to basketball practice around 4:30 p.m., and Anthony Booker was sitting with his right ankle wrapped in ice. Didn’t look good, but he said he was OK. Probably a sprained ankle.
I watched the guys practice against a zone today, and could tell this year’s going to be a little different. Nick Evans doesn’t look like a first team all-conference guy yet, but when he actually goes toward the basket he’s pretty tough. Gene Teague takes up a lot of space and has some good hands, so, those two, just by being a presence, could open up some things on the perimeter. SIU has a slate of guys capable of busting the zone - Kendal Brown-Surles, Jack Crowder, Kevin Dillard, Tony Freeman. It’s good to see them shooting pretty well this early in the season.
Hopefully their defense continues to improve, because that’s going to be the key to their season. SIU can score - I doubt there’s much confusion over that fact. My concern, with the MVC’s emphasis on guards, is if the Salukis can stay with the rest of the league.

He’s got a few more days, and SIU athletic director Mario Moccia is taking every single one of them before signing away a bid for the Football Championship Subdivision home playoff game.
Third-ranked SIU (7-1, 6-0 Missouri Valley Football Conference) hasn’t reached the playoffs, of course, but schools have to bid before the field is announced. This year is no different, as Moccia has until Nov. 13 to make up his mind how much he wants to gamble.
“It’s really depending on where you think you’re going to end up,” Moccia said Wednesday.
If SIU is able to win Saturday, it’s very likely the Salukis will earn a top-four seed in the 16-team field. SIU finishes at home against Missouri State in the final home game at McAndrew Stadium and at Southeast Missouri State. The Salukis will be favored in both of those games, win or lose Saturday against No. 9 South Dakota State (7-1, 6-0). As the third-ranked team in the country and the fifth-ranked team in the GPI (the equivalent of the RPI in basketball), SIU could stand tall with another big road win.
However, SIU got jumped last year by Northern Iowa. Who’s to say it’s not jumped again by another team. The Salukis tied the Panthers last season for the MVFC title, but got the league’s playoff bid via it’s 27-24 victory. However, UNI got the field’s No. 3 seed, and SIU got to host New Hampshire. New Hampshire then ended SIU’s playoff road, and UNI reached the national semifinals.
Still a big celebration: Moccia told me Wednesday he doesn’t believe New York Giants tailback Brandon Jacobs or Northern Illinois coach Jerry Kill will be able to make next week’s McAndrew finale. Jacobs is off, and Kill plays Thursday night, but both have hit some logistical hurdles to Carbondale.
All well. The team will still honor all its lettermen and have some special events planned for the big day. We’ll have more on those planned events next week.

SIU’s football team has only trailed in one game this conference season, and you can see why.
The third-ranked Salukis (7-1, 6-0 Missouri Valley Football Conference) run the ball well, force a lot of turnovers, and can make it tough with the lead. Even if it’s not very big. SIU leads the league in rushing offense, which means it can grind out a lot of time without even throwing a pass.
Early in the season, SIU was only passing to really keep a defense honest. It advanced the ball quickly on big runs or play-action passes. About midway through the season, the Salukis opened it up a bit and began to throw a bit more downfield, as the game warranted.
Defensively, SIU tries to make the opponent one-dimensional, and has been brilliant this season. Northern Iowa has been the only team to put the Salukis in a hole this season, and even the Panthers ended up trying to pass their way to victory. Instead, they passed right to Brandon Williams, who returned the interception easily for the game-winning touchdown.
“In any game, you just want to try to get the flow of the game to go to your advantage,” SIU coach Dale Lennon said. “When you do feel like you have a good flow, you want to stay with it. You continue to work the plays that you work. It’s a pretty simple formula.”
SDSU (7-1, 6-0) definitely can throw the ball, but if the Jackrabbits can pick, they’re going to try to run first, just like SIU. Kyle Minett is sixth in school history in rushing as a junior, and could present the Salukis with one of the most difficult guys to grab Saturday. If SIU can put SDSU down a score or two in the second half, it might have just enough to put the Jackrabbits in a passing situation and grind out another road win.
The stakes are high. The winner gets the league’s automatic playoff berth and at least a share of the MVFC title. The loser will probably still make the playoffs, but will probably also have to start them on the road.