GAME 9: SOUTH DAKOTA (4-4, 3-2 MVFC) AT SOUTHERN ILLINOIS (2-6, 0-5 MVFC)
When	Saturday, Nov. 5, 2016 | 2:04 p.m. CDT
Where	Saluki Stadium (15,000) | Carbondale, Ill.
Television	None
Watch Online	ESPN3 (Adam Seidel, Danan Hughes, Kelly Burke)
Radio	Coyote Sports Network (Joe Van Goor, Gary Culver, John Thayer)
Live Stats	Live Stats
South Dakota Links	Game Notes | Roster | Schedule | Stats
Southern Ill. Links	Game Notes | Roster | Schedule | Stats
MVFC Links	MVFC Notes | Website | MVFC Stats
Social Media	Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

The Game
South Dakota and Southern Illinois are meeting for the third time and for the second time in Carbondale. The teams first met in the 2014 Valley opener when the 16^th-ranked Salukis won at home 41-10. South Dakota responded last season with a 34-31 victory in Vermillion in what was head coach Joe Glenn's 200^th career coaching victory. Ryan Saeger passed for 269 yards and three touchdowns, including a game-winning 5-yard strike to tight end Aaron Ramsey on 4^th-and-goal with 3:09 remaining.
 
The Coyotes had a three-game win streak snapped last week in a 35-34 decision to 15^th-ranked Western Illinois, a game USD led 31-14 at halftime. It was the sixth South Dakota game decided by three points or less. All four of the Coyotes' wins this season have been by three points.
 
The Salukis are winless in their last nine Valley games dating back to last season. The team is under the direction of Nick Hill, a former SIU quarterback who was promoted to the position after serving as co-offensive coordinator a year ago. Southern Illinois beat Southeast Missouri and Murray State during its non-conference slate, but have lost all five Valley games including three by six points or fewer.
 
The Offenses
South Dakota and Southern Illinois are two of the highest-scoring teams in the Valley with both averaging better than 30 points per game. The Coyotes got quarterback Chris Streveler back from injury last week and he bounced back with one of his best performances of the season, a 378-yard passing and 102-yard rushing tally in the loss to Western Illinois. Receiver Brandt Van Roekel also returned and caught four passes for a career-high 137 yards. Senior running back Trevor Bouma is the third-leading rusher in the Valley with 600 yards.
 
On the other side is Southern Illinois senior Josh Straughan, an 8-man quarterback at Colton High School in Washington, who accepted a Division II offer at Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, Ala. There, he passed for 5,470 yards and 53 touchdowns in three years as the starter. He moved to Carbondale after Stillman dropped its program. Now, he is the nation's seventh-leading passer at 302 yards per game.
 
Straughan spreads the ball to a number of receivers and running backs. Leading running back Daquan Isom has been out with an injury, but Cameron Walter has caught 17 passes in three games in his place while averaging 14 carries and 56 yards. Billy Reed is an all-MVFC receiver. Connor Iwema leads the team with 33 catches for 413 yards.
 
The Defenses
Both units are surrendering more than 425 yards and 30 points per game. The Coyotes have been attacked mainly on the ground to the tune of 217 yards per game. The Salukis have been hit thru the air at an average of 282 yards a contest. If there's an obvious difference in the numbers its turnovers. The Coyotes have forced 18 to nine for Southern Illinois. The Salukis have been terrific on third down. Teams are converting at a 30-percent clip, the 13^th-lowest average in the nation.
 
South Dakota has intercepted a pass in seven consecutive games, but Straughan has only thrown four picks in 328 attempts. Southern Illinois intercepted three passes last week in a 38-35 loss at Missouri State. Junior cornerback Craig James returned one of the three 43 yards for a touchdown in the second half. Of the nine turnovers the Salukis have forced, seven are interceptions.
 
More on the QBs
Straughan and Streveler rank second and third, respectively, in the Valley in total offense though Straughan has passed for at least 244 yards in every game this year while Streveler surpassed that mark for the first time last week. The difference lies in the rushing totals where Streveler holds a 581-26 advantage. That leads to the stat of the week:
                Coyote quarterbacks combined for four 100-yard performances in the 10 seasons from
                2006-15 (113 games). Streveler has four 100-yard rushing efforts this season.
 
One Last Thing
Like last week, there is some familiarity between the coaching staffs. South Dakota run game coordinator Bill O'Boyle was on staff at Southern Illinois from 2013-15. He began as the Salukis' offensive line coach before moving to offensive coordinator in 2014 and assistant head coach in 2015. Southern Illinois averaged nearly 500 yards of offense per game last year, the second-best performance in program history.