When the SIUC football team hosts Nicholls State Saturday both teams come in to the game with similar situations.

Both teams have coaches who are just beginning to place their mark on their respective programs. Darren Barbier begins his first season as the Colonels head coach with a 0-3 record, while Saluki head coach Shawn Watson is in his second year and comes in with a 1-2 mark on the season.

Each team is coming off a sub-par season as the Colonels from Louisiana went 5-6 and the Dawgs are coming off a 1-10 campaign.

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Watson said he can see parallels in the road both teams are taking.

Watching them (Nicholls State) on film I believe they are probably a program like ours, in a transition and building process, he said.

Barbier comes out of the high school ranks and is in his first year as a collegiate coach. Watson is impressed by what Barbier brings to the game.

Just watching them play against the people they’ve played against, he’s given them unconventional things that you don’t see in college football, he said. Some of the greatest coaches, some of the best minds have been high school coaches and he’s going to do very well there.

Overall, Watson said Nicholls State is not big, but the Colonels are fast and athletic.

They have a linebacking corps that run very well and a good skilled secondary, he said. They are not real big on defense, but they’re very athletic, Watson said.

On defense the Colonels have giving up 377 total yards a game. The Salukis will try and run the ball behind their 300-pound plus offensive line against a defense that is giving up five yards per carry.

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Offensively, Nicholls State runs the I-bone, which Watson said will be unusual and has only been seen in SIUC’s victory over Western Kentucky last year.

They run an offense very similar to Western Kentucky’s that we faced last year, he said. They do some unconventional things both offensively and defensively.

It makes you have to prepare a little bit harder because your not used to seeing those things.

The Colonels are led by quarterback Corey Thomas, who leads the Southland Conference in passing and is second on the squad in rushing. However, Thomas has also thrown four interceptions and no touchdowns.

They have a very skilled quarterback, a guy who can run that option game and they have a good backfield, Watson said.

The Salukis are coming off a good effort against Division 1-A Arkansas St. and will try to get to the .500 mark before their Gateway Conference season begins next week at Indiana State.

Watson said it is important to get a victory in this game to build momentum getting into the conference schedule.

This one has more significance than others, he said. We need to win this one, especially going into what now is our conference schedule we need this added confidence.

Saturday’s game at McAndrew Stadium kicks off at 1:30 p.m.