2021 Southern Illinois Salukis football team

The 2021 Southern Illinois Salukis football team represented Southern Illinois University Carbondale as a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) during the 2021 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by sixth-year head coach Nick Hill, the Salukis compiled an overall record of 8–5 with a mark of 5–3 in conference play, placing in a three-way tie for third in the MVFC. Southern Illinois received an at-large berth in the NCAA Division I Football Championship playoffs, where they beat South Dakota in the first round before losing to the eventual national champion, North Dakota State in the second round. The team played home games at Saluki Stadium in Carbondale, Illinois.

2021 Southern Illinois Salukis football
NCAA Division I Second Round, L 7–38 vs. North Dakota State
Conference	Missouri Valley Football Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 16
FCS Coaches	No. 17
Record	8–5 (5–3 MVFC)
Head coach	Nick Hill (6th season)
Offensive coordinator	Blake Rolan (3rd season)
Defensive coordinator	Jason Petrino (3rd season)
Home stadium	Saluki Stadium

2021 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 1 North Dakota State $^		7	–	1					14	–	1
No. 14 Missouri State ^		6	–	2					8	–	4
No. 16 Southern Illinois ^		5	–	3					8	–	5
No. 18 South Dakota ^		5	–	3					7	–	5
No. 4 South Dakota State ^		5	–	3					11	–	4
No. 23 Northern Iowa ^		4	–	4					6	–	6
Indiana State		3	–	5					5	–	6
North Dakota		3	–	5					5	–	6
Western Illinois		2	–	6					2	–	9
Illinois State		2	–	6					4	–	7
Youngstown State		2	–	6					3	–	7
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	6:30 p.m.	at Southeast Missouri State*	No. 7	Houck Stadium Cape Girardeau, MO	ESPN+	W 47–21	4,075
September 11	6:00 p.m.	at Kansas State*	No. 8	Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium Manhattan, KS	ESPN+	L 23–31	47,628
September 18	6:00 p.m.	Dayton*	No. 8	Saluki Stadium Carbondale, IL	ESPN+	W 55–3	7,338
September 25	2:00 pm	Illinois State	No. 7	Saluki Stadium Carbondale, IL	ESPN+	W 35–17	8,618
October 2	3:00 p.m.	at Western Illinois	No. 7	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	ESPN+	W 31–30 OT	4,107
October 9	2:00 p.m.	at No. 2 South Dakota State	No. 8	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD	ESPN+	W 42–41 OT	12,216
October 16	2:00 p.m.	No. 22 North Dakota	No. 4	Saluki Stadium Carbondale, IL	ESPN3	W 31–28	10,644
October 30	4:00 p.m.	at No. 16 Northern Iowa	No. 3	UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA	ESPN+	L 16–23	5,902
November 6	12:00 p.m.	No. 17 Missouri State	No. 7	Saluki Stadium Carbondale, IL	ESPN3	L 28–38	7,176
November 13	12:00 p.m.	at Indiana State	No. 15	Memorial Stadium Terre Haute, IN	ESPN3	W 47–21	3,265
November 20	12:00 p.m.	Youngstown State	No. 17	Saluki Stadium Carbondale, IL	ESPN+	L 18–35	4,935
November 27	5:00 p.m.	at No. 17 South Dakota*	No. 21	DakotaDome Vermillion, SD (NCAA Division I First Round)	ESPN+	W 22–10	3,597
December 4	2:30 p.m.	at No. 3 North Dakota State*	No. 21	Fargodome Fargo, ND (NCAA Division I Second Round)	ESPN+	L 7–38	12,557
*Non-conference game Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time