Saturday marks the 27th meeting between Southern Illinois and Youngstown state on the gridiron, a rivalry between current Missouri Valley Football Conference rivals that predates YSU’s NCAA membership.

SIU is 11-14-1 all-time against Youngstown State. The Salukis’ .442 winning percentage against the Penguins is SIU’s third-worst against an MVFC opponent. SIU has only done worse against Western Illinois (22-35-4) and North Dakota State (3-6).

The Salukis and Penguins have split the 13 games played in Carbondale 6-6-1.

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The two teams have met every year since 1997, when Youngstown joined the MVFC. SIU has won eight of the 18 games played between the schools as conference rivals.

Youngstown State was independent of the NCAA in 1965, the first time the teams met. The Penguins won the game 9-7. 

YSU and SIU played the next five years, tying in 1966. The 1967 contest featured a dominant defensive performance by Youngstown in which the Salukis ran for a program-worst -21 yards in a 29-3 loss.

SIU picked up its first win in the series in 1969, a 43-14 victory at Youngstown. The Dawgs beat the Penguins 45-20 in 1970, the last meeting between the two teams for 16 years.

Youngstown State joined the NCAA as a Division II program in 1972. By the time it returned to Carbondale to face the Salukis in 1986, YSU was a member of the Division I Ohio Valley Conference. The Salukis won the 1986 contest 24-17 in their third straight win against the Penguins.

The three-game win streak equals SIU’s longest against Youngstown. The Dawgs won three-straight from 2003 to 2005 and 2007 to 2009. The Penguins beat SIU four times in a row from 1988 to 99.

Youngstown has won four of the last five meetings. SIU last beat the Penguins in 2012 with a 38-21 win at Stambaugh Stadium.

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Thomas Donley can be reached at [email protected] or at 536-3311