1983 Southern Illinois Salukis football team

Last updated

1983 Southern Illinois Salukis football
NCAA Division I-AA national champion
Conference Missouri Valley Conference
Record13–1 (4–1 MVC)
Head coach
Home stadium McAndrew Stadium
Seasons
←  1982
1984  →
1983 Missouri Valley Conference football standings
Conf.Overall
TeamW L TW L T
Tulsa $ 5 –0 –08 –3 –0
No. 1 Southern Illinois ^ 4 –1 –013 –1 –0
No. 5 Indiana State ^ 3 –2 –09 –4 –0
New Mexico State 3 –2 –05 –6 –0
Illinois State 2 –2 –16 –4 –1
Wichita State 3 –3 –03 –8 –0
Drake 1 –6 –01 –10 –0
West Texas State 0 –5 –10 –10 –1
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
  • The conference was a hybrid of NCAA Division I-A and I-AA programs. New Mexico State, Tulsa, and Wichita State were I-A and the other teams were I-AA.
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll

The 1983 Southern Illinois Salukis football team was an American football team that represented Southern Illinois University (now known as Southern Illinois University Carbondale) in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) during the 1983 NCAA Division I-AA football season. In their eighth year under head coach Rey Dempsey, the Salukis compiled a 13–1 record (4–1 in conference games), finished second in the MVC, and outscored their opponents by a total of 448 to 187. They played in the Division I-AA playoffs and won the Division I-AA national championship with a victory over Western Carolina in the championship game. [1] [2]

Contents

The Salukis scored an average of 32.6 points per game and allowed opponents to score 14.3 points per game. [1] They set multiple school records, including most victories (13), most points (448), and most total offense (4,399 yards). [3] Quarterback Rick Johnson ended his SIU career with the school record with 5,804 passing yards. Placekicker Ron Miller set the school's season scoring record with 110 points. [3]

The defensive secondary set a school record with 41 interceptions (including eight against New Mexico State), [3] and was led by three veteran defensive backs:

The team was inducted as a group into the SIU Salukis Hall of Fame in 2023. [6]

The team played its home games at McAndrew Stadium in Carbondale, Illinois.

Schedule

DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 3at Western Illinois *
W 38–68,893 [7]
September 10 Eastern Illinois *
W 17–1412,800 [8]
September 17 Southeast Missouri State *
  • McAndrew Stadium
  • Carbondale, IL
W 56–710,200 [9]
September 24at Northern Iowa *No. 8
W 52–911,613 [10]
October 1at Arkansas State *No. 5
W 35–2810,281 [11]
October 8 Drake No. 3
  • McAndrew Stadium
  • Carbondale, IL
W 28–914,700 [12]
October 15at Southwest Missouri State *No. 2
W 24–67,700 [13]
October 22at No. 14 Indiana State No. 2
W 34–2114,111 [14]
October 29 New Mexico State No. 1
  • McAndrew Stadium
  • Carbondale, IL
W 41–314,000 [15]
November 5 Illinois State No. 1
  • McAndrew Stadium
  • Carbondale, IL
W 28–2616,600 [16]
November 12at Wichita State No. 1
L 6–283,911 [17]
December 3No. 5 Indiana State*No. 1
W 23–78,000 [18]
December 10No. 11 Nevada *No. 1
  • McAndrew Stadium
  • Carbondale, IL (NCAA Division I-AA Semifinal)
W 23–712,000 [19]
December 17vs. No. 9 Western Carolina *No. 1
W 43–715,950 [20]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "1983 National Championship". SIU Salukis.com. Retrieved March 1, 2025.
  2. ↑ "Southern Illinois Saluki Football 2019 Media Guide" (PDF). Southern Illinois University. 2019. p. 118. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Southern sets records". Herald and Review. December 25, 1983. p. 12 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. 1 2 "Daniel, Taylor to play in bowls". Southern Illinoisan. December 21, 1983. p. 11 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ Scott Monserud (December 9, 1983). "Unsung Greg Shipp is a defensive leader who's lost in the crowd". Southern Illinoisan. p. 9 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ "1983 Football Team". SIU Salukis Hall of Fame. Retrieved March 1, 2025.
  7. ↑ "Southern Illinois rolls over Western Illinois". The Pantagraph. September 4, 1983. Retrieved November 10, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ "Miller's field goal sparks So. Illinois". The Indianapolis Star. September 11, 1983. Retrieved November 10, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ "Salukis destroy Southeast, 56–7". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. September 18, 1983. Retrieved November 10, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ "S. Illinois humbles stumbling Panthers". The Gazette. September 25, 1983. Retrieved November 10, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ "Snoozing Salukis awaken to put the bite on ASU". The Commercial Appeal. October 2, 1983. Retrieved October 8, 2022– via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ "Drake suffers 6th straight loss, 28–9, despitee 'best defense game in 2 years'". The Des Moines Register. October 9, 1983. Retrieved November 10, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ "Southern Illinois blasts Southwest". The Kansas City Star. October 16, 1983. Retrieved November 10, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ "SIU ruins ISU homecoming". The Vincennes Sun-Commercial. October 23, 1983. Retrieved November 10, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ "Defense sparks Southern". Herald and Review. October 30, 1983. Retrieved November 10, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
  16. ↑ "Salukis survive scare to go 10–0". Southern Illinoisan. November 6, 1983. Retrieved November 10, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
  17. ↑ "Wichita State shocks Salukis". Southern Illinoisan. November 13, 1983. Retrieved February 25, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
  18. ↑ "Southern Illinois topples Indiana State". Centre Daily Times. December 4, 1983. Retrieved November 10, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
  19. ↑ "Southern boots Reno". Herald and Review. December 11, 1983. Retrieved November 10, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
  20. ↑ "Salukis satisfy their appetites, 43–7". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. December 18, 1983. Retrieved March 23, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.