Southern Illinois Salukis 2026 Season Preview

Hill Building on Momentum

A 7-5 finish and a top-tier power rating put Southern Illinois among the stronger operations in the MVFC, and Nick Hill's program has the on-field results to show it. The 4-4 league mark is the honest middle ground, a program good enough to compete weekly but not yet separated from the pack. Heading into 2026, the case for Hill's group is straightforward: the raw ranking says this roster plays better than a .500 conference record suggests.

Curry Inherits a Loaded Machine

Southern Illinois scored 36.4 points a game last fall behind a ground attack that ranked 8th nationally in rushing yards per game, and none of that production came from Jake Curry, who threw for just 24 yards in 2025. He is projected to take over an offense that hit on 51.0% of its third downs and posted a 48.7% success rate, which means Curry inherits scheme and skill talent rather than having to build it. The bigger swing factor is defense, where Southern Illinois allowed 194 rushing yards per game (108th) and let opponents stay on schedule at a 97th-ranked clip, so 2026 likely comes down to whether Curry can keep pace with shootouts rather than lean on a defense that struggled to get teams off schedule.

DJ Williams' 2846 yards and 22 touchdowns walk out the door, and Southern Illinois hands the offense to a room with almost no résumé behind it. Jake Curry is the front-runner after taking the first-team reps this offseason, but his ledger reads just 24 passing yards and the job is not locked, with JC Mirasola, Owen Rann and ET Harris all still in the mix. What insulates whoever wins it is the machine around him, a rushing attack that ranked 8th nationally in yards per play at 6.84 and an offense that converted 51.0% of third downs, so the passer just has to not get in the way.

Edward Robinson (655 yards) and Chandler Chapman (465 yards, 6 TD) form a two-man backfield that already carried a rushing attack ranked 8th nationally in yards per game, and neither had to be the workhorse last year. That balance matters more in 2026 with Lashaun Lester's 225 yards and Lem Wash's receiving production out of the room, but Robinson and Chapman combined for far more damage than either departure represented. Quade Chatmon and Jimmy Athans give Nick Hill depth behind the top two, and this offense's 6.84 yards per play and 51.0% third-down rate say the ground game should keep humming behind whichever of Robinson or Chapman gets the bulk of the carries.

Southern Illinois scored at a top-10 clip and ran for 207 yards a game last season, but almost none of the players who caught those passes are still around. Vinson Davis III (55 catches, 786 yards, 5 TD) and Jay Jones (37 catches, 681 yards, 6 TD) are both gone, along with Fabian McCray's 38 grabs, leaving Kyle Thomas as the only returning receiver with a catch on his résumé, and it was one for 10 yards. Nick Hill's offense still has the rushing attack and third-down efficiency to carry it, but Lincoln Acree, Jacques Carter, Gage Green, Tristen Payne and Chris Potter now have to turn zero career production into a passing game that already ranked just 28th nationally in yards.

Miles Marshall is the only tight end back with catches on his résumé, and his 5 grabs for 55 yards and 2 touchdowns look modest next to what walked out the door in Aidan Quinn and Ryan Schwendeman. Patrick Carr, Karsen Konkel, Logan Minton and Aiden Moriarty return with no receiving stats on file, meaning Southern Illinois has to manufacture new production at the position rather than simply plug returners back into old roles. That matters less than it might elsewhere given how this offense operates, a unit that ran for 207 yards a game and posted a 51.0% third-down rate a year ago, so the tight ends may be leaned on more for blocking a run-heavy attack than for replacing the receiving numbers Quinn and Schwendeman took with them.

The line that cleared paths for 207 rushing yards a game and a 51.0% third-down rate last season no longer exists on paper, with Cameron Dye and Coleon Smith gone at tackle and Noah Fenske, Derek Harden Jr. and Aiden Logan all off the interior. That production ranked Southern Illinois 8th nationally on the ground and 4th on third downs, numbers built on movement up front more than explosive plays, since the offense sat just 42nd in explosiveness. Nick Hill's staff is effectively rebuilding a group that graded out among the sport's best run-blocking units, and whether that identity survives the total overhaul of both tackle spots, center and both guards will decide if this offense stays a rushing outfit or leans harder on a passing game that finished only 28th in yards per game.

Nick Hill's front has to answer for a run defense that bled 194 yards a game on the ground, 108th nationally, and it loses its entire edge rotation with Caden Reeves, Donnie Wingate, Jake Parrella and Vontrell Chairse all out the door among eight departures up front. The pass rush numbers were never gaudy to begin with, so the calculus for 2026 is straightforward: an experienced group returns to hold the interior while Hill leans on it to find the tackling-for-loss production that walked out with Reeves and company. The passing defense held up at 37th nationally last year, but that cushion disappears if this rebuilt line cannot slow anybody on the ground.

Southern Illinois surrendered 194 rushing yards a game last fall, a middling number that becomes the linebacker corps' problem to fix with Andrew Behm, Colin Bohanek and Shug Walker all off the roster. None of those three ever posted huge individual numbers, so the on-field cost is less about raw production lost and more about experience at the second level against a rushing defense already ranked 108th nationally in yards allowed on the ground. Nick Hill's staff gets an experienced front seven elsewhere to lean on, but whoever fills these spots inherits a run defense that needs to tighten up well before it worries about the passing downs it already defends solidly.

Southern Illinois' pass defense held up well in 2025 (37th in passing yards allowed per game), but the tackle sheet in the secondary was thin even before Jeremiah McClendon and Cejai Parson left, the two players with the most tackles among departed defensive backs. Vinny Pierre Jr. and Gavin Shepard return as the most experienced pieces on the back end, but neither posted big numbers, and Cameron Cason and Naz Hill come back with no prior statistics logged, meaning the production has to be built almost from scratch. The bigger issue is up front of the secondary, not behind it, since a run defense that gave up 194 yards per game (108th) puts constant stress on this group to clean up plays that never should have reached the second level.

Paul Geelen hit 15 of 17 field goals and racked up 94 points last fall, and none of that leg is walking back through the door in 2026. Tanner Trachsel is the returning placekicker but arrives with just 1 point and no made field goals on his ledger, so Nick Hill is banking on a leap in production rather than a proven closer. Punter Elijah Gorman and the long-snapping trio of Jace Clark, Ryan Algrim and Alex Broshears are all back, which at least keeps the operation familiar even as the kicking net points take a real step down.

Jake Curry's arm

DJ Williams threw for 2846 yards and 22 touchdowns, and Southern Illinois hands that offense to Jake Curry, who has thrown for 24 yards and no scores in his career. The Salukis bring back a loaded backfield in Edward Robinson, Chandler Chapman and Jimmy Athans plus receiving target Miles Marshall, so the run game and short passing options are proven, but the whole attack tilts on whether Curry can do enough through the air to keep defenses from just stacking the box against that ground crew.

Nick Hill's Home Cover Problem

Southern Illinois is a completely different bet depending on the zip code. On the road, Nick Hill's team covers at a 57% clip and has cashed as a road underdog twice in two chances, the profile of a squad that plays loose when nobody expects much. At home the number flips hard, an 0-3 mark against the spread with a winless record laying points as a favorite, and conference play has been brutal for bettors at 1-6 against the spread even with a 4-4 league record on the field. The gap between what the Salukis do straight up at home and what they do against the number there is the story for 2026, not the overall record.