Scouting: Southern Illinois @ Illinois

Southern Illinois (1-0) at Illinois (0-1)When: 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Memorial StadiumTV: BTN; Radio: WIND 560-AMSeries: Illinois leads 2-0Coaches: Dale Lennon (21-5, third year at SIU; 123-38 overall); Ron Zook (21-40, sixth year at Illinois; 44-54 overall)Players to watch: Southern Illinois senior QB Chris Dieker is in his third year as a starter and gets to operate behind FCS all-American linemen David Pickard and Bryan Boemer. Senior Lucien Walker (114 yards) and Pittsburgh transfer Shariff Harris (44 yards, 2 TDs) pace the running game. Rolling Meadows grad Joe Okon led the defense with 7 tackles in the season-opening 70-7 win over NAIA Quincy.Illinois redshirt freshman QB Nathan Scheelhaase committed 4 turnovers in his college debut, but he showed poise that should benefit him going forward. Junior RB Mikel Leshoure (112 yards) delivered his typical power and speed against Missouri. More important, offensive coordinator Paul Petrino fed him 20 carries - 1 off his career-high. Senior Clay Nurse moves from rush end to "Bandit" for the suspended Michael Buchanan. Can he cover receivers as well as harass SIU's Dieker?The skinny: If ever there was a recipe for an FCS team to knock off an FBS team, it's right here. Actually, there should be so many alarms going off about the Salukis' No. 2 national ranking and hunger to beat the state's flagship school, it ought to work in Illinois' favor. "We have everything to gain," Illinois coach Ron Zook insisted. SIU's defense prides itself on interceptions (23 last year) and Scheelhaase threw 3 last week. He must make the necessary adjustments in order to allow the Illini to win its FCS in-state game for the fifth year in a row.