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The South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team will host the Southern Illinois Salukis at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium on Saturday in each team’s Missouri Valley Football Conference opener.
The game (1 p.m. ET start time) won’t be on regular TV anywhere, but you can watch it live right here on ESPN+, the digital streaming service from ESPN that has exclusive coverage of dozens of college football games and other live sports every week, all the 30-for-30 documentaries and additional original content (both video and written) all for $4.99 per month.
You can sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then watch SDSU vs Southern Illinois live on your computer via ESPN.com, or on your phone (Android and iPhone compatible), tablet, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, or other streaming device via the ESPN app.
Southern Illinois vs South Dakota State Preview
The Salukis are coming off a bye week. Their last time out, they lost to the Arkansas State Red Wolves 41-28, falling to 2-2 on the year.
SIU junior transfer quarterback Karé Lyles impressed in his first NCAA start, however, completing 19 of 31 passes for 288 yards, 2 touchdowns, and an interception, and carrying 6 times for 24 yards and another score.
Lyles joined the Wisconsin Badgers out of high school, redshirting in 2016 before not seeing action in 2017. Last season, he starred for Scottsdale Community College in Arizona, earning an NJCAA All-American honorable mention.
He saw his first action for the Salukis in a 28-14 victory over the UT Martin Skyhawks a week before the Arkansas State loss, coming on when junior signal-caller Stone Labanowitz suffered a shoulder injury.
“I think that he brings a great deal of experience to the team,” SIU head coach Blake Rolan said of Lyles, according to the Daily Egyptian. “In terms of preparation, he comes into practice everyday with a great attitude to learn and he really dives in. He’s always around the office, and he’s always watching film. He eats it up and lives and breathes the game.”
He added: “I think a lot of the hard work he does makes him a good quarterback.”
The Jackrabbits also haven’t played in two weeks. They’ve won three straight since dropping their season opener to the Minnesota Golden Gophers 28-21.
SDSU most recently downed the Southern Utah Thunderbirds 43-7 in redshirt freshman quarterback J’Bore Gibbs’ return to the starting lineup.
After missing the previous two contests with a hand injury, Gibbs completed 15 of 24 passes for 215 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions.
“It’s good to be back,” he said, according to The Collegian. “Getting back out here, throwing the ball around with my guys. It felt good.”
The Thunderbirds reached Jackrabbits territory seven times, but they turned the ball over on downs three times, had two field goals blocked, and missed another kick.
“We gave up some big plays, but when it came down to it, it was kind of that bend but don’t break mentality,” SDSU redshirt junior linebacker Logan Backhaus said, per The Collegian. “Once they got inside the 20, something just clicked. To hold a team to seven points, we’re going to win a lot of games doing that.”
The Jackrabbits also blocked a punt out of the back of the end zone for a safety.
“Special teams played a big role today,” Backhaus added, per The Collegian. “It’s one-third of the game, and it’s going to help us win a lot of games this year.”