2003 Southern Illinois Salukis football team

2003 Southern Illinois Salukis football
Gateway co-champion
NCAA Division I-AA First Round, L 7–48 vs. Delaware
Conference	Gateway Football Conference
Ranking
Sports Network	No. 9
Record	10–2 (6–1 Gateway)
Head coach	Jerry Kill (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Matt Limegrover (3rd season)
Defensive coordinator	Tracy Claeys (3rd season)
Home stadium	McAndrew Stadium

2003 Gateway Football Conference standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 5 Northern Iowa +^		6	–	1					10	–	3
No. 9 Southern Illinois +^		6	–	1					10	–	2
No. 6 Western Illinois ^		5	–	2					9	–	4
No. 7 Western Kentucky ^		5	–	2					9	–	4
Illinois State		3	–	4					6	–	6
Youngstown State		2	–	5					5	–	7
Southwest Missouri State		1	–	6					4	–	7
Indiana State		0	–	7					3	–	9
+ – Conference co-champions ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll

The 2003 Southern Illinois Salukis football team represented Southern Illinois University as a member of the Gateway Football Conference during the 2003 NCAA Division I-AA football season. They were led by third-year head coach Jerry Kill and played their home games at McAndrew Stadium in Carbondale, Illinois. The Salukis finished the season with a 10–2 record overall and a 6–1 record in conference play, making them conference co-champions with Northern Iowa. The team received an at-large bid to the Division I-AA playoffs, where they lost to Delaware in the first round.^[1] Southern Illinois was ranked No. 9 in The Sports Network's postseason ranking of FCS teams.^[2]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
August 28	Quincy*		McAndrew Stadium Carbondale, IL	W 64–14	7,854	[3]
September 6	at No. 22 Southeast Missouri State*		Houck Stadium Cape Girardeau, MO	W 28–7	11,110	[4]
September 13	Murray State*	No. 21	McAndrew Stadium Carbondale, IL	W 32–7	10,167	[5]
September 27	Saint Joseph's (IN)*	No. 13	McAndrew Stadium Carbondale, IL	W 75–0	7,531	[6]
October 4	at Indiana State	No. 11	Memorial Stadium Terre Haute, IN	W 37–14	2,481	[7]
October 11	Illinois State	No. 8	McAndrew Stadium Carbondale, IL	W 45–17	13,247	[8]
October 18	at No. 2 Western Illinois	No. 7	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	W 37–32	19,287	[9]
October 25	Southwest Missouri State	No. 4	McAndrew Stadium Carbondale, IL	W 20–6	8,873	[10]
November 1	at No. 8 Western Kentucky	No. 3	L. T. Smith Stadium Bowling Green, KY	W 28–24	13,430	[11]
November 8	Youngstown State	No. 3	McAndrew Stadium Carbondale, IL	W 24–17	10,814	[12]
November 15	at No. 11 Northern Iowa	No. 2	UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA	L 40–43	15,088	[13]
November 29	at No. 3 Delaware*	No. 4	Delaware Stadium Newark, DE (NCAA Division I-AA First Round)	L 7–48	14,572	[14]
*Non-conference game Rankings from The Sports Network Poll released prior to the game

References

1. "2021 Record Book" (PDF). Southern Illinois University Athletics. p. 78. Retrieved December 29, 2021.
2. "Final Division I-AA Poll". The Gettysburg Times. Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. December 23, 2003. p. B2. Retrieved December 29, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
3. Gordillo, Jim (August 29, 2003). "Dawg Pounding". The Southern Illinoisan. p. 1C. Retrieved December 29, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
4. Gordillo, Jim (September 7, 2003). "SIU shines in win over SEMO". The Southern Illinoisan. p. 1B. Retrieved December 29, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
5. Gordillo, Jim (September 14, 2003). "11-Man Defense". The Southern Illinoisan. p. 1B. Retrieved December 29, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
6. Gordillo, Jim (September 28, 2003). "Almost Perfect". The Southern Illinoisan. p. 1B. Retrieved December 29, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
7. Gordillo, Jim (October 5, 2003). "Lifting a curse". The Southern Illinoisan. p. 1B. Retrieved December 29, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
8. Reinhardt, Randy (October 12, 2003). "Koutsos, Salukis hold 'rush week' against ISU". The Pantagraph. p. D1. Retrieved December 29, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
9. "Unbeaten Salukis rally past WIU". Quad-City Times. Associated Press. October 19, 2003. p. D2. Retrieved December 29, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
10. Scranton, Lyndal (October 26, 2003). "Bears' brutal stretch is over". The Springfield News-Leader. p. 1D. Retrieved December 29, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
11. "Rally pushes Salukis over 'Toppers". The Paducah Sun. Associated Press. November 2, 2003. p. 5B. Retrieved December 29, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
12. Gordillo, Jim (November 9, 2003). "The dream is still alive". The Southern Illinoisan. p. 1B. Retrieved December 29, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
13. Gray, Rob (November 16, 2003). "Amazing comeback saves UNI". Des Moines Register. p. 1C. Retrieved December 29, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
14. Tresolini, Kevin (November 30, 2003). "Blue Hens advance in playoffs". The News Journal. p. A1. Retrieved December 29, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.