DE Sports Editor 18

The Saluki football team has defense on its mind as it prepares to cure its own woes against one of nation’s top-ranked point-stoppers.

Youngstown State University, ranked No. 4 in Division I-AA, brings the Salukis’ biggest offensive challenge of the season to McAndrew Stadium at 12:30 p.m. Saturday. The matchup is the Salukis’ third consecutive against top-10 teams in Division I-AA and the final home game of the season.

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The Penguins lead the Gateway Football Conference in four defensive categories, and they also rank in the top 25 nationally in those four areas.

They’re not real big, but they fly around, SIUC football coach Jan Quarless said. They’re going to try to put seven guys around the football, maybe eight at times. They try to make you get in those long situations and try to move the sticks, and they think they can cover you up with man coverage.

A solid defensive effort has been one of Youngstown State’s trademarks this season. The Penguins, who captured national titles under head coach Jim Tressel in 1991, 1993 and 1994 and joined the Gateway this season, have made a mark on both the league and national levels.

Youngstown State ranks first in rushing defense (106.4 yards per game), pass efficiency defense (94.3 points), total defense (255.5 yards per game) and scoring defense (14.1 points per game). The Penguins also rank 25th in rushing defense, 18th in pass efficiency defense, 14th in total defense and ninth in scoring defense nationally.

Youngstown State was ranked No. 1 in the nation before a 35-32 loss to the University of Northern Iowa Oct. 18 knocked them out of the top spot.

The Penguins responded Saturday with a 13-0 whitewashing of Illinois State University. The shutout marked the first time in league history that one team has blanked two league opponents in one season.

I think there were missed opportunities by Illinois State, but they’re (Youngstown State) pretty good, Quarless said. It’s different than any defense we’ve seen all year. Consequently, we’ve got to make sure we can play some assignment football (adjusting to what the defense shows) offensively.

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We may have to throw the football. If they can put pressure on (quarterback) Kent (Skornia), then I think it’s going to be a tough ball game.

After consecutive matchups against two of the top offensive teams in the nation, the Saluki defense can head into Saturday’s matchup knowing it has a shot to stop the Penguins.

SIUC gave up 289 yards to individual rushers in the past two weeks, with No. 7 Western Kentucky University’s Willie Taggart hitting the mark Oct. 25 and No. 2 Western Illinois University’s Aaron Stecker repeating the feat Saturday.

Although Youngstown State may not have one potent offensive threat, the Penguins are a balanced squad that ranks second in the league and 16th nationally in rushing with 212.3 yards per game. Jake Andreadis and Adrian Brown both have rushed for 490 yards this year, while Demetri Harris has added 261 on the ground.

Quarterback Demond Tidwell also has played well, and he leads the league in pass efficiency with a rating of 144.6. Tidwell has completed 87 of 139 passes for 1,266 yards, and he is sixth in the Gateway in total offense with 1,365 yards.

Quarless said his team must learn to execute the entire game to prevent big plays that have hurt them in the last two weeks.

I think our players played extremely hard, Quarless said. It’s something we’re going to continue to emphasize here. I still feel we could step up a notch there in that category because I feel you could tackle more crisply, obviously, than what we’ve done.

The Salukis battle Youngstown State University at 12:30 p.m. Saturday at McAndrew Stadium in the final home game of the season.

The game can be heard on 95. 1 WXLT-FM or at http://www.siu.edu/godawgs.