The new season begins.

After a solid 2-2 start the SIUC football team opens Gateway Conference play at Indiana State Saturday night.

The Salukis have momentum going into this weekend’s game coming off a 48-20 blowout of Nicholls St. and the first home win in two years.

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We are very happy and pleased with our performance, Saluki head coach Shawn Watson said. Especially the way the kids stood up and answered the challenge we put on them.

I feel like we’re getting better as a football team. We’ve made some strides in the last two weeks.

While this is SIUC’s first league game, the Sycamores won their conference opener over than 23rd-ranked Western Illinois 30-13. Indiana State comes into the contest with Salukis at 3-1.

Watson said Indiana State is better than in past years because of their new found passing attack.

Last year they had the great running backs and they’ve maintained that this year, Watson said. What makes them better this year is they have a quarterback and a passing game to go along with that run game.

Junior Kevin Cox leads a passing attack that averages 176 yards per game, which is up from a Gateway low of 125 yards per game last year. Another key for Cox is he has only thrown one interception this season.

Even with Indiana State’s passing game the Sycamore’s offense is still led by David Wright. Wright has been named to the Gateway First Team and to the Gateway’s All-Decade Team.

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In his four games he has 324 yards with an average of five yards per carry.

Watson’s main concern on the other side of the ball is the defensive front where the Sycamores boast All-America tackle Dan Brandenburg.

They’re another good, solid unit we are going to play on Saturday, he said. The defensive line is not as big as they were last year, but maybe more active.

They do a lot of good things upfront with those kids to enhance their athleticism. The Brandenburg kid is the best defensive lineman we’ll face all year long. He is an outstanding talent he’s a kid you have to reckon with when you draw up your game plan.

The defensive as a whole has allowed just 27 points in their three wins.

The Salukis will try and slow down the Sycamore ground game with a solid defensive line led by sophomore Ryan Smith. The Dawgs gave up a league-high 247 yards per game on the ground last year, but have shrunk that down to 155 yards a contest this year.

On offense, SIUC hopes to get the same kind of performance from quarterback Danny Smith that the Salukis got last week. Smith passed for 264 yards against Nicholls State and threw a touchdown as well as running one in.

Kickoff in Terre Haute is at 6 p.m. Saturday.