DE Assistant Sports Editor

Saluki head football coach Shawn Watson had a ready made challenge this season when he and the Dawgs entered the year after going 1-10 a year ago, including an 0-6 conference record.

The Salukis met that challenge in week four, when SIUC defeated Nicholls State 48-20 at McAndrew Stadium Sept. 23. The win against the Colonels put SIUC at 2-2, doubling their win total from the previous year, but the Dawgs didn’t stop there.

Advertisement

The next week, the Salukis were defeated on the road by Indiana State 52-3, and Watson issued the challenge of putting the game behind them, being positive and going out and getting the next one against rival Illinois State.

Illinois State fell to the Dawgs 14-11 in week five and Saturday, SIUC pulled victory from the jaws of defeat, scoring 33 second-half points to topple Southwest Missouri State 33-30 in overtime.

Watson said he and his staff were pleased with the Dawgs’ second-half offensive display Saturday against the Bears especially the play of Danny Smith.

We’re very, very pleased with the performance, especially the second-half performance of the offense the wide receivers, in particular Danny Smith at quarterback, he said. He came through and made some big plays.

We’re very excited and pleased to see that because we’ve been spending a lot of time on that (offense) and working to get better in that area.

The Salukis are now 4-3 overall and 2-1 in the Gateway Conference good for third place in the seven-team league. This weekend, SIUC faces a combonation of new challenges.

First is the Dawgs trying to win its third consecutive game for the first time since 1991. The second is going on the road to take on the University of Northern Iowa at the UNI Dome, where the Panthers have not lost a home conference game since 1988.

Advertisement*

Watson said the biggest challenge of a domed stadium is the noise factor.

I know what domes are like, he said. I’ve played in Syracuse’s (Carrier) dome, I’ve played in the Humpdome’ (Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome) up in MInnesota, and I know that if you get 100 people in there screaming and yelling, it can be kind of like a million people.

Should the Salukis knock-off UNI, SIUC would be in a three-way tie for the conference lead with Northern Iowa and Indiana State. The last time SIUC won a Gateway Conference title was 1983.

Watson said the idea of winning a conference title excites him,, as well as the team.

We’re looking forward to it at the same time because the kids are really excited about the progress we’ve made, especially of the last two weeks, he said.

As if those goals weren’t enough, there are those imposed on the squad by the coaching staff.

We’ve got some growing expectations of our defense, and that’s to shut people out to shut them down, Watson said. (Defensive coordinator) Linwood (Ferguson) and the defensive staff would like to just see more big plays out of the defense.

Special teams was an area we felt like we should have done better in. Having the one block on us was disheartening, but at the same time there were some outstanding performances on special teams.

Watson said the challenges that his team is up against do not stop after the Northern Iowa game Saturday.

We’ve got a chance to have an outstanding season, and when I say we’re playing for something, we’re still in the conference race, he said. We have an opportunity to make a serious mark in our second season with a good record.