Saluki Stadium - Buy Tickets
Thursday night's historic game marks a new era in Southern Illinois football, as the Dawgs are set to christen Saluki Stadium. The new 15,000-seat facility has 1,080 prime chairback seats and a 20x40 foot scoreboard with video replay capabilities. The two-story press box has 12 club suites, a 2,500-square foot VIP Club Room, along with traditional booths for radio, television, coach and the print media. The FieldTurf that was installed is the same that is used at Gillette Stadium, home of the New England Patriots. Without a doubt, it is one of the premier stadiums in the FCS and fans will truly enjoy the inaugural season in Saluki Stadium.

Saluki Football finishing last-minute preparations

Sep. 1, 2010
The Saluki Football team had a brief, private ceremony after today's practice in which a time capsule was placed under the pyramid monument of King Tut. Contents of the time capsule included newspaper clippings, photos and various other artifacts.

As you may recall, the pyramid marker used to reside in the remote northeast corner of McAndrew Stadium, but has since been moved near the main entrance of Saluki Stadium. Beginning tomorrow night, players will touch the pyramid on their way into the stadium just before kickoff. Fans inside the stadium will get to watch this ritual on the stadium's video board.

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You'll want to get to your seats early tomorrow night as kickoff vs. Quincy will take place at 7 p.m. sharp. Also, the national anthem will be played at 6:46 p.m., followed by a flyover from a massive C-17 military transport aircraft.

At 6:53, there will be an introduction of former players, who will be led onto the field by former head coach Rey Dempsey, who won a national title at Southern in 1983. Next will be a special intro video that will pave the way for the team to make its first official entry into Saluki Stadium.

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It's been a hectic week for the ticket office. Phones have been ringing off the hook, and a steady stream of buyers have been lined up at the ticket window in the Boydston Center. While a sell-out is not expected, advance sales have been brisk, and a large walk-up crowd is anticipated. You can still buy tickets on-line at the official website.

There's definitely some electricity building around this first game. You don't want to miss it.

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The all-new Saluki Game Central made its debut on the official site last week. For long-distance Saluki fans, it's designed to be one-stop shopping for streaming audio, video and live stats for Saluki games. Here's how it works:

On the left-hand side of the screen is the window where you will watch or listen to the streams. You have the option of enlarging to full screen or doing a split screen with video on one side and stats on the other.

On the right hand side of the page, you'll find three tabs for Live Events, On-Demand and My Events.

In the Live Events tab, you'll see a complete list of upcoming broadcasts and the various options for each one (Listen, Watch, Live Stats). Notice that this includes the weekly Lennon Live radio show as well.

In the On-Demand tab, you'll find previously recorded events, such as the Saluki Sports Today updates from Mike Reis, plus archives of previous live broadcasts. Video archives should be available within two hours of the completion of a broadcast.

In the My Events tab, you can customize which broadcasts you're interested in, so you don't have to scroll through the full schedule. Also note that there is a sport filter, which allows you to pull up just the events for a particular sport.

Saluki Sports Today and Lennon Live are free, while the live events are available for purchase.

The production quality of home football and basketball games will be much improved this year with a three-camera shoot that is being mixed by our video coordinator, Chris Hagstrom.

In terms of the schedule, we will offer audio streaming of all football and basketball games. We will provide video streaming of seven football games and 16 men's basketball games. This is a tentative schedule that is based upon the current TV schedule.

Check it out.

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It appears unlikely that SIU will have a third-tier television partner this year. For the past five years, Mediacom Cable, based out of Springfield, Mo. has produced up to 10 football and basketball telecasts each year. Mediacom is cutting back on its live sports production, however.

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The Salukis have narrowed the field at running back, as it appears both senior Richard White and freshman LaSteven McKinney will redshirt. White is not fully recovered from last season's knee injury.

The starting tailback will be Lucien Walker. The depth chart lists both Shariff Harris and Steve Strother as the No. 2 back, while Anton Wilkins is behind them.

Game Central
Game Central is your one-stop spot for all your video and audio streaming demands. Sign up now for live video and audio broadcasts of the Salukis by clicking here.

Saluki Sports Today
Listen to SIU Hall of Fame Broadcaster Mike Reis' daily updates on Salukis Sports Today by visiting the Game Central ON DEMAND tab.

The Game
Southern Illinois' 2010 season opener marks a new era of SIU football, as the Dawgs are set to christen Saluki Stadium with a 7 p.m. game on Thursday against the Quincy Hawks...This marks the 98th season of football at Southern Illinois and the Salukis have a 70-19 record since 2003...Fans can listen to the game on the Saluki Sports Network beginning with the pregame show at 6 p.m. on WVZA 105.1-FM in Carbondale (Click Here for Complete Network Listing)...Southern Illinois is ranked No. 5 in both The Sports Network and FCS Coaches preseason polls...SIU has won seven of its last eight season openers, with the one loss coming last year at Marshall...Senior kicker Kyle Dougherty needs to make two field goals to set a new school record for most in a career...The Salukis had five players on The Sports Network/Fathead.com FCS Preseason All-America Team, second only to Appalachian State's seven (Story).

SASF
The Southern Illinois University Foundation was established in 1942 to solicit, receive, hold, and administer gifts from private sources for educational purposes. The Foundation provides alumni and other friends a means to invest in the future of their University. The Foundation is an independent, nonprofit corporation, which exists solely to further the mission of Southern Illinois University Carbondale.