The Salukis’ put out a record-setting performance Saturday night with a 73-26 win over Missouri State at Saluki Stadium.

Here’s some of the numbers the Salukis put up and where they sit all-time:

Total Points Scored: 73 – Saluki Stadium record, 7th all-time

The record for most points scored by SIU in a single game came in 1914 against the International University of Arts and Science when they won 118-0. Nothing about that previous sentence is a typo. I tried to find where this school is and numerous Google searches yielded no relevant results. Also on SIU’s schedule that year was Anna Union Academy High School, twice.

Most points scored combined: 99 – Saluki Stadium record, 7th all-time

Fellow football reporter Thomas Donley told me before the game that he expected 100 points to be scored in this game. I laughed at him. But, the team almost proved me wrong. The record for most combined points: 118 in the aforementioned Academy of Arts and Science game, which probably will not be broken for years to come.

Attendance: 5504 – Lowest in Saluki Stadium history

Saturday’s game was the perfect storm to set this record. Fall break had started the night before, the Cubs and Cardinals were playing their second playoff game in rivalry history, the Salukis were playing the only unranked opponent on their home schedule this year and the air was a cool 64 degrees at kickoff, which continued to drop by the minute as the sun set. Keep in mind, this count includes everyone who was there at the start of the game. I estimate attendance by the end of the game was half the starting number, if that.

Total yards: 673 – Saluki Stadium record, 3rd all-time

This game beat out this team’s effort against Indiana by just 14 yards. The difference between this game and Indiana is Saturday’s game was not the Mark Iannotti show. After Iannotti was given the rest of the night off halfway through the third quarter, the Saluki offense rattled off another 185 yards with quarterbacks Matt McIntosh and Sam Straub at the helm.

Rushing yards: 416 – Saluki Stadium record, 11th all-time

This record was set on sophomore running back Chris Perkins’ 64-yard garbage-time touchdown. The most impressive part is the distribution of the yardage as all five running backs, two quarterbacks and two wide receivers contributed to the total. 

SIU put on an offensive show Saturday against Missouri State that will likely go unmatched for a long time. Sadly, with the record-low attendance, it may go into the same section of folklore as Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster.