Just start to ask Jerry Kill about the strongest component of the SIU football team and the head coach will immediately offer an answer before all the words can tumble out.

“The d-line is the strength of our team,” Kill said. “Period.”

Statistically speaking, Kill has good reason to answer so resoundingly.

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The Salukis led the nation in scoring defense in 2004, giving up less than two touchdowns a game. The kings of defense in Division I-AA football obviously do not take kindly to offensive opposition.

And in a spot on the gridiron that demands leadership, SIU has it four-fold with a line of seniors to anchor the Salukis’ domineering defense.

Defensive ends Billy Beard and Jeff Jones will fight alongside Lionel Williams and Linton Brown, the tackles on the line.

Jones, who moved from tackle to end during the spring, found the transition a simple matter – but realizes there is always room for improvement.

“I’m trying to learn everything from Billy Beard, my teammate and brother for going on five years,” Jones said. “If I keep him as my role model, I can get it done.”

Beard wasn’t the only linemate Jones referred to as his brother. This group of athletes has played together almost entirely throughout college.

More family than simply teammates, the Salukis on the defensive line all stressed the bond they shared through battles on the field. The result is a communicative group where communication is vital to success.

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“We’re real close-knit and we take it seriously, just like on gameday,” Brown said, referring to their mentality during practices. “That’s what correlates to [our success] on the field.”

Football is a fluid game. Once a play is called, it may not be the final decision. Quarterbacks often reserve the right to slightly, or sometimes completely, change the plan. When that happens, the defense must also adjust.

The defensive line, crouched mere feet from the offense’s leader, is the unit to direct the defense’s own subsequent changes.

“We help each other out all the time,” Beard said. “We make sure everyone is on the same page.”

Beard and his compatriots on the line must quickly play a game of telephone, much like most people played in grade school, when a shift is noticed.

In this game, though, the linebackers and safeties waiting for that message cannot afford to receive a garbled reception. Victory can easily hinge on it.

But just as Kill is supremely confident in his defensive line, so is its own particular coach.

Bryce Saia, the man who interacts with this group of Salukis on a daily basis, noting the strength of leadership amongst the quartet of seniors.

“Experience,” said Saia, summing up the line’s greatest power. “We have a lot of seniors who know the game, they communicate well and they play hard.”

That was evident in the two-a-day camps where Saia was focusing on “keeping the ship going” – when a defense is tops in a nation, there probably is not a whole lot of room for improvement, at least in theory.

Beard, however, stressed improvement is exactly what he was striving for. In his, and his line’s, last go-around the extra bit of effort could help propel the Salukis to a third-straight Gateway title and past the first round of the I-AA playoffs.

Of course, that’s always the goal.

“You don’t just wait until your senior year,” Beard said. “But it would mean everything.

Reporter Gabe House can be reached at [email protected]