CARBONDALE, Ill. — In a preseason poll of league coaches and media, Southern Illinois was picked to finish fourth in the 11-team Missouri Valley Football Conference. Defending national champion North Dakota State was a nearly unanimous choice to repeat as league champions.
Five Salukis were named to the preseason All-Conference team. Wide receiver Avante Cox, all-purpose back Javon Williams Jr. and cornerback PJ Jules were all named to the first team. Fullback Jacob Garrett and safety Clayton Bush were second-team selections.
Southern Illinois is coming off back-to-back FCS Playoff appearances in 2020 and 2021 and have spent 24-consecutive weeks ranked in the Top 25, including as high as a No. 3 ranking. In its last 22 games, SIU has a record of 8-4 against ranked teams, with wins over the No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, No. 4, No. 15, No. 17, No. 22 and No. 25-ranked programs.
Under the direction of seventh-year head coach Nick Hill, the Salukis return nine starters on offense and five starters on defense. The roster features 43 players who are in their fourth, fifth or sixth years of college football.
“We have a lot of good pieces, a lot of people coming back, and a good mix of older guys, young guys and transfers,” Hill said. “Once we get into training camp and the season, and as adversity comes, as it’s going to come, we’ll really tell what this team’s about.”
Starting quarterback Nic Baker returns and is coming off a break-out season in which he set the school record for passing yards (3,231)
and had the second-most passing TDs (27) in school history.
“Nic has won a lot of big games for us, but this is the first year he’s gone into training camp as the solidified starter on our team and can take that next step,” Hill said. “Nic plays best when he feels like he has something to prove. He’s had that, ‘he’s too short or too small (label)’ and he’ll continue to keep that edge.”
Southern opens training camp on Wednesday morning, and Hill announced that one of the program’s all-time great players and inspirational leaders — guard ZeVeyon Furcron — has joined the staff as a graduate assistant.
SIU begins its regular season on Sept. 3 at Incarnate Word and hosts SEMO in the War For The Wheel on Sept. 10. Season tickets are currently on-sale, and single-game tickets go on sale Wednesday at 8 a.m. CT.
“The expectations continue to rise each year for our team, but it’s a new year, and we’re back to zero and continuing to build this program up,” Hill said.
FIRST TEAM OFFENSE
QB Jason Shelley, Missouri State
RB Isaiah Davis, SDSU
RB Jaleel McLaughlin, Youngstown St.
RB/AP Javon Williams, Southern Illinois
FB Hunter Luepke, North Dakota State
WR Avante Cox, Southern Illinois
WR Jaxon Janke, SDSU
WR Tyrone Scott, Missouri State
TE Tucker Kraft, SDSU
OL Landon Bebee, Missouri State
OL Garret Greenfield, SDSU
OL Cody Mauch, North Dakota State
OL Mason McCormick, SDSU
OL Alex Jensen, South Dakota
FIRST TEAM DEFENSE
DL Kevin Ellis, Missouri State
DL Eli Mostaert, North Dakota State
DL Caleb Sanders, SDSU
DL Reece Winkelman, SDSU
LB Adam Bock, SDSU
LB Spencer Cuvelier, UNI
LB Brock Mogensen, South Dakota
LB Zeke Vandenburgh, Illinois State
DB Montrae Braswell, Missouri State
DB PJ Jules, Southern Illinois
DB Kyriq McDonald, Missouri State
DB Benny Saap III, UNI
DB Michael Tutsie, North Dakota State
FIRST TEAM SPECIAL TEAMS
LS Dalton Godfrey, South Dakota
PK Matthew Cook, UNI
P Grant Burkett, Missouri State
RS Montrae Braswell, Missouri State
AP Carter Bell, South Dakota
SECOND TEAM OFFENSE
QB Mark Gronowski, SDSU
RB Kobe Johnson, North Dakota State
RB Cole Mueller, Illinois State
FB Jacob Garrett, Southern Illinois
WR Carter Bell, South Dakota
WR Bo Belquist, North Dakota
WR Dante Hendrix, Indiana State
TE Noah Gindorff, North Dakota State
OL Drew Bones, Illinois State
OL Nash Jensen, North Dakota State
OL Erik Sorensen, UNI
OL Donny Ventrelli, North Dakota
OL Jaison Williams, Youngstown State
SECOND TEAM DEFENSE
DL Braydon Deming, Illinois State
DL Nick Gaes, South Dakota
DL Caden Houghtelling, UNI
DL Devin Rice, UNI
DL Spencer Waege, North Dakota State
LB Greg Benton Jr., Youngstown St.
LB Bryce Flater, UNI
LB James Kaczor, North Dakota State
LB Devon Krzanowski, North Dakota
DB Clayton Bush, Southern Illinois
DB Korby Sander, UNI
DB C.J. Siegel, North Dakota
DB Destin Talbert, North Dakota State
DB Dawson Weber, North Dakota State
SECOND TEAM SPECIAL TEAMS
LS Joey Malinowski, Illinois State
PK Jose Pizano, Missouri State
P Cade Peterson, North Dakota
RS Jayden Price, North Dakota State
AP/WR Quan Hampton, UNI
