Bison take on the Salukis in regular-season finale
This Saturday, the North Dakota State football team will take their 32-game winning streak on the road to battle 25th ranked Southern Illinois for their last regular-season game of the year.
The Bison are coming off a win over South Dakota, while the Salukis are coming off a blow-out win against Western Illinois.
Southern Illinois will be looking for some revenge, as last year NDSU embarrassed the Salukis in a 65-17 win. The Salukis are not a team to sleep on as they are 7-4 on the season and find themselves ranked for the first time since 2014. They also have the eighth-longest winning streak in the FCS at five games. They are also one of only three FCS teams with an FBS win this year, a 45-20 win over Umass in September.
Southern Illinois boasts an explosive offense that has produced over 30 points per game on the season.
Leading the Salukis are two very talented backs in DJ Davis and Javon Williams Jr.. Both of these guys are looking to hit the 1000-yard mark on the year against the Bison
Southern Illinois also boasts a pair of good receivers in Avante Cox and Landon Lenoir. They have combined for 84 receptions for 1,184 yards and eight touchdowns on the season.
Quarterback Karé Lyles stepped in to replace injured starter Stone Labanowitz, and after a rough start, he has this team on a five-game winning streak. He’s thrown for 1,499 yards and 12 touchdowns while completing 63 percent of his passes.
Western Illinois’s defense is what makes them so tough though. They rank fourth in scoring defense surrendering only 19.4 points per game in conference games. They are also really good at getting to the quarterback as they are averaging 3.36 sacks per game. Another thing that makes a great defense is being able to get off the field on third down, where the Salukis are ranked fourth, only allowing a 30.3 percent conversion rate on third down.
This will be a tough game for NDSU as a whole and they will have to lean on their defense to limit the explosive Western Illinois offense.
The Bison will need to have a balanced attack on offense as the Salukis don’t really have a weakness in their defense. This is a tremendous opportunity for Trey Lance to have a big game and take some of the pressure off the Bison running game.
This is a dangerous game for NDSU as Western Illinois is playing at a high level and is a very good team overall. However, the Bison are, well, the Bison and should be able to avoid the upset and escape Carbondale with a win.