1983 Southern Illinois Salukis football team

The 1983 Southern Illinois Salukis football team was an American football team that represented Southern Illinois University (now known as Southern Illinois University Carbondale) in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) during the 1983 NCAA Division I-AA football season. In their eighth year under head coach Rey Dempsey, the Salukis compiled a 13–1 record (4–1 in conference games), finished second in the MVC, and outscored their opponents by a total of 448 to 187. They played in the Division I-AA playoffs and won the Division I-AA national championship with a victory over Western Carolina in the championship game.^[1][2]

1983 Southern Illinois Salukis football
NCAA Division I-AA national champion
NCAA Division I-AA Championship Game, W 43–7 vs. Western Carolina
Conference	Missouri Valley Conference
Record	13–1 (4–1 MVC)
Head coach	Rey Dempsey (8th season)
Home stadium	McAndrew Stadium
Seasons ← 1982 1984 →

1983 Missouri Valley Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Tulsa $	5	–	0	–	0			8	–	3	–	0
No. 1 Southern Illinois ^	4	–	1	–	0			13	–	1	–	0
No. 5 Indiana State ^	3	–	2	–	0			9	–	4	–	0
New Mexico State	3	–	2	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Illinois State	2	–	2	–	1			6	–	4	–	1
Wichita State	3	–	3	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Drake	1	–	6	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
West Texas State	0	–	5	–	1			0	–	10	–	1
$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant The conference was a hybrid of NCAA Division I-A and I-AA programs. New Mexico State, Tulsa, and Wichita State were I-A and the other teams were I-AA. Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll

The Salukis scored an average of 32.6 points per game and allowed opponents to score 14.3 points per game.^[1] They set multiple school records, including most victories (13), most points (448), and most total offense (4,399 yards).^[3] Quarterback Rick Johnson ended his SIU career with the school record with 5,804 passing yards. Placekicker Ron Miller set the school's season scoring record with 110 points.^[3]

The defensive secondary set a school record with 41 interceptions (including eight against New Mexico State),^[3] and was led by three veteran defensive backs:

• Cornerback Terry Taylor was named to the Division I-AA All-America team.^[4] He later played 12 years in the NFL. Quarterback Rick Johnson later described Taylor's impact on opposing quarterbacks: ""With Terry Taylor, you could see the fear in the quarterback's eyes."^[1]
• Cornerback Donnell Daniel was named MVC Defensive Player of the Year.^[4]
• Free safety Gregg Shipp, a fifth-year senior, led the defensive backfield with 72 tackles.^[5] He set a school single-game record with four interceptions against Western Carolina.^[3]

The team was inducted as a group into the SIU Salukis Hall of Fame in 2023.^[6]

The team played its home games at McAndrew Stadium in Carbondale, Illinois.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 3	at Western Illinois*		Hanson Field Macomb, IL	W 38–6	8,893	[7]
September 10	Eastern Illinois*		McAndrew Stadium Carbondale, IL	W 17–14	12,800	[8]
September 17	Southeast Missouri State*		McAndrew Stadium Carbondale, IL	W 56–7	10,200	[9]
September 24	at Northern Iowa*	No. 8	UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA	W 52–9	11,613	[10]
October 1	at Arkansas State*	No. 5	Indian Stadium Jonesboro, AR	W 35–28	10,281	[11]
October 8	Drake	No. 3	McAndrew Stadium Carbondale, IL	W 28–9	14,700	[12]
October 15	at Southwest Missouri State*	No. 2	Briggs Stadium Springfield, MO	W 24–6	7,700	[13]
October 22	at No. 14 Indiana State	No. 2	Memorial Stadium Terre Haute, IN	W 34–21	14,111	[14]
October 29	New Mexico State	No. 1	McAndrew Stadium Carbondale, IL	W 41–3	14,000	[15]
November 5	Illinois State	No. 1	McAndrew Stadium Carbondale, IL	W 28–26	16,600	[16]
November 12	at Wichita State	No. 1	Cessna Stadium Wichita, KS	L 6–28	3,911	[17]
December 3	No. 5 Indiana State*	No. 1	McAndrew Stadium Carbondale, IL (NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal)	W 23–7	8,000	[18]
December 10	No. 11 Nevada*	No. 1	McAndrew Stadium Carbondale, IL (NCAA Division I-AA Semifinal)	W 23–7	12,000	[19]
December 17	vs. No. 9 Western Carolina*	No. 1	Johnson Hagood Stadium Charleston, SC (NCAA Division I-AA Championship Game)	W 43–7	15,950	[20]
*Non-conference game Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee Poll released prior to the game