SIU plays their first playoff game at Saluki Stadium on Saturday against Nicholls.
Meet the Colonels:
Nicholls was the Southland Champions this year finishing an undefeated 7-0 after being picked 4th in the preseason media poll.
The head coach of the Colonels is Tim Rebowe in his 9th season as head coach. Rebowe led Nicholls to 3 straight playoff appearances from 2017 to 2019 and 2 playoff wins in that span. This is their first playoff appearance since 2019.
The Colonels started the season 0-3 with losses to #10 Sacramento State at home and FBS teams at TCU and Tulane. They then rattled over 4 Southland Conference wins in a row including a forfeit win against Northwestern State before they lost 35-31 to SEMO at home. They then went to #8 Incarnate Word and got a win and completed their undefeated Southland season with a win at Southland preseason favorite Southeastern Louisiana.
Nicholls was 2nd this season in the Southland in scoring (26.7 PPG), 1st in the Southland in rushing (158.4 YPG), and 4th in the Southland in passing (207.4 YPG). On defense, Nicholls was 3rd in the Southland in points allowed (24.6 PPG), 1st in the Southland in rushing defense (119.6 YPG), and 5th in the Southland in passing defense (243.6 YPG). Nicholls led the Southland in interceptions on defense with 16.
The Quarterback of the Colonels is 6-0 Sophomore Pat McQuaide. McQuaide spent a year at Kent State before transferring to Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College where he was an All-South MACCCC First Team honoree. This season, McQuaide has thrown for 2,069 passing yards, 13 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions.
Nicholls uses a two-headed attack at running back including leading rusher 5-11 Junior Collin Guggenheim. Guggenheim was a 2 star quarterback recruit out of New Orleans and originally committed to Army. In his Sophomore season at Nicholls, Guggenheim was 9th in the Jerry Rice Award voting after rushing 145 times for 930 yards and 10 touchdowns. This season, Guggenheim rushed 167 times for 792 yards and 11 touchdowns. In their win over Incarnate Word, Guggenheim rushed 23 times for 153 yards and 4 rushing touchdowns. 5-10 Redshirt Sophomore Jaylon Spears has also been a force in the Colonels' rushing attack. Spears has rushed 105 times for 709 yards and 6 rushing touchdowns and has been their main pass back catching 14 passes for 256 receiving yards and 3 receiving touchdowns. Spears was named Southland Offensive Player of the Week on 11/13 after rushing for 177 yards and 3 total touchdowns against Lamar.
The leading receiver for the Colonels is 6-3 Senior David Robinson Jr. Robinson Jr. has 27 catches on the year for 456 yards and 4 touchdowns. 5-10 Sophomore Neno Lemay leads the Colonels in catches with 44 and has 441 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Weather:
Links:
SIU Game Notes
Nicholls Game Notes
Congrats boys! Time to run the table!!
Thank you very kindly for the pre-game information per usual.
Nicholls four losses were as follows:
TCU (5-6) 41-6 AWAY
Tulane (10-1) 36-7 AWAY
Sac. St. (7-4) 38 -24 HOME
SEMO (4-7) 35-31 HOME
They did however roll through the Southland Conference.
Per YOUTUBE highlights: QB is a lefty who can sling it. Hope playing SD recently will assist us there. Both RB's look good, quick and elusive. I believe our Defense will certainly be up for the challenge. Can we establish the run early? That would be most beneficial.
GO DAWGS!!!
This morning I was thinking we'd be one of the last teams in. Shocked we got a home game! Have to take advantage of that. It's been a frustrating year but sometimes everything can click late. Go dawgs
Just got my tickets. Excited we FINALLY get a home game in the playoffs…14 long years. Hopefully folks get out to support these guys. Let’s get a win and then take it to Idaho!
A bunch of good seats available. I hope we get at least 7K for this.
https://siusalukis.com/?_ga=2.262838796.1899865024.1700659852-1016091645.1699631021
Yeah that sold tickets map is looking grim. Is SIU doing anything special to get people to the stadium? Tuition giveaway to get students in the area there? They should just pass out free tickets to the community and make money on concessions.
Yeah that sold tickets map is looking grim. Is SIU doing anything special to get people to the stadium? Tuition giveaway to get students in the area there? They should just pass out free tickets to the community and make money on concessions.
Playoffs are a little different. SIU is likely taking a loss on this game (probably knowingly) as they had to bid on the game. Giving away tickets isn’t going to happen but what they are charging, aside from the chair back seats, isn’t super crazy either. If you can get a group together of 9 or 10 everyone can get $10 tickets. Otherwise most seats can be had for $15.
I’ll say this much…if we have as poor of a turnout as I’m expecting I wouldn’t blame them for not bidding again on a home game for awhile. Southern Illinois needs to show up!
They are giving students free tickets. Normally in the playoffs students would have to pay for their tickets, as opposed to the regular season when the tickets are covered by the athletic fees. So the university is actually doing something regarding free tickets. I am hoping for 5k. Right now it looks like only about 2k tickets sold total...
They are giving students free tickets. Normally in the playoffs students would have to pay for their tickets, as opposed to the regular season when the tickets are covered by the athletic fees. So the university is actually doing something regarding free tickets. I am hoping for 5k. Right now it looks like only about 2k tickets sold total...
From a post I saw it looked like someone donated money to make tickets free for students. Regardless, it’s pretty disheartening to see the total lack of support from the community right now. I get some may be on travel still for Thanksgiving, but there is only so much the athletic department can do…just sucks for the players.
Home playoff game attendance since the Jerry Kill era:
2004:
7,304 vs Eastern Washington (SIU was #1 in the country)
2006:
5,694 vs Tennessee-Martin
2007:
6,124 vs Eastern Illinois
6,560 vs UMass
11,503 vs Delaware
2008:
5,461 vs New Hampshire
2009:
6,391 vs Eastern Illinois
5,860 vs William & Mary
It's looking like this game will be below all of those. Hurts that the students are gone and enrollment is way down compared to any of those other playoff dates. However, I agree the lack of local support is disheartening.Home playoff game attendance since the Jerry Kill era:
2004:
7,304 vs Eastern Washington (SIU was #1 in the country)
2006:
5,694 vs Tennessee-Martin
2007:
6,124 vs Eastern Illinois
6,560 vs UMass
11,503 vs Delaware
2008:
5,461 vs New Hampshire
2009:
6,391 vs Eastern Illinois
5,860 vs William & Mary
