SIU Football 3 Things to Watch: Salukis aim for win at Idaho

MOSCOW, Idaho – The trends don’t suggest an SIU win Saturday night in the Kibbie Dome.

In the last two years, road teams are 1-15 in the second round of the FCS playoffs, including a size 8 collar in 2022. The last road team to prevail in the second round was South Dakota State at No. 4 Sacramento State in 2021.

But for what it’s worth, the Salukis (8-4) are playing the No. 4 seed in Idaho (8-3), so there is that. There’s also this theory brought forth by defensive tackle Kam Bowdry when asked after last week’s 35-0 shutout of Nicholls State about the prospect of the long trip to the Palouse.

“I love some potatoes,” he said with a grin.

How much will SIU love playing the Big Sky Conference power and how much will it love the plane ride back from the Pacific time zone? We look at three factors that could determine if the Salukis buck the odds and win on the foreign field or if their season will end:

1. Offensive balance

SIU hasn’t always run the ball well this year, averaging just 118.2 yards per game, which ranks 8th in the Missouri Valley Football Conference. But it achieved a two-dimensional attack last week, running for 177 yards and passing for 181.

Part of the reason was improved blocking by the offensive line, which has blocked well at times in the run game. Part of the reason was Romeir Elliott running with explosion and conviction. He picked up 111 yards on nine carries, his second 100-yard game of the year, and scored two touchdowns.

Elliott ripped off a 60-yard scoring jaunt in the third quarter and also peeled off 22 and 11-yard runs for first downs. The latter two runs featured Elliott at his best as he made good cuts and broke tackles, earning yardage beyond what was blocked for him.

“We want to be that team that can attack you in different ways,” said quarterback Nic Baker. “We want to be able to run and throw the ball, and we were able to do that. Our line got movement up front.”

Given that Idaho permits just 166.3 passing yards per game, it’s fair to predict that the Salukis might try to get the running game going early in order to create better down-and-distance spots in which to throw.

2. Wrap them up

Like fielding in baseball, tackling is an underappreciated aspect of football. You don’t appreciate how vital tackling is until your team can’t do it.

One of the reasons the SIU defense has been so good this year is because they’re such sure tacklers. Pro Football Focus, which takes a fine-tooth comb to virtually every imaginable stat, ranked the 16 remaining FCS teams in a number of categories, using game film to make their lists.

The Salukis are the third-best tackling team overall in FCS with a grade of 90.6. Only South Dakota (92.3) is higher-ranked among playoff teams. To be so good at a part of the game where teams practice it less and less for safety reasons is almost a bonus.

“You want to play great defense, you have to tackle,” SIU coach Nick Hill said. “It’s almost a lost art in college football these days. You don’t get to practice it. You really have to buy into your fundamentals and watching film, and buying into the drills you do. And some people just have a knack for getting people down on the ground.”

Sounds simplistic, yes, but it also makes a lot of sense, especially if you’ve watched the Salukis wrap up opposing players and swarm to the football.

3. Maintain discipline

There have been times this year where penalty flags and ill-timed turnovers have bogged the offense down. The Nicholls State game was a demonstration of what can happen when SIU limits errors.

Its first penalty didn’t occur until the middle of the third quarter on a block in the back at the end of Branson Combs’ 40-yard interception return. Its second penalty was a false start in the fourth quarter, after the game was in the bag.

That was it for the flags. Team that with zero turnovers and just two sacks of Baker, and one has the dictionary definition of complementary football. That’s the type of performance the Salukis will need to replicate in order to keep the Idaho crowd out of the game.

“It’s a credit to our guys, they’re the ones going out there and doing it,” Hill said. “No one’s talking about being penalized at a high rate at this point. Sometimes, not making the play is the best play. It’s about playing hard but playing disciplined.”

That’s an Idaho specialty. It’s been penalized just over five times per game. If SIU can play a clean game, the officials might get their wish – a game where no one knows who they are when it’s all over.