After spending the first two weeks on the road, the Skyhawks host the Sulukis in the home opener. 

*All stats are per espn.com, www.ourlads.com or utmsports.com/sports/football.*

For the first time early in this season the Skyhawks will face off against a team with a win, the Southern Illinois Salukis. The Salukis are coming off a dominating performance against the Thomas Moore College Saints. 

Salukis’ senior quarterback DJ Williams was a major part of that win. Williams is a former Ohio Valley Conference freshman of the year in 2021 for the Murray State Racers. Williams was labeled a dual-threat then with 532 yards on the ground and he showed off that ability again four years later in the Salukis’ dominant win. Williams totaled four touchdowns–three through the air and one on the ground–while also keeping the ball clean with zero turnovers and a 75% completion. 

The Salukis defense also had two takeaways, picking off the Saints quarterbacks twice, once from redshirt sophomore Griffin Scalf and once from junior Chase Crone. In addition to the two turnovers, the defense held the Saints to just 199 total yards. The Salukis won 49-3. 

The week two performance was again a game where the team struggled overall. The Skyhawks offense did a complete 180 this game. In their week one matchup versus the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Skyhawks struggled to get the pass attack going, other than a trick play. However, the run game was effective considering how the night went. Now in El Paso, Texas, the passing game did most of the work. 

Skyhawks quarterback Jason Bauer found his footing. While Bauer is known for being a dual-threat, like the most of the offense, the run game just was not working. Bauer, in turn, let it rip. Bauer’s biggest play of the game came to wide receiver Bryce Bailey on a 71-yard completion. The Bauer to Bailey connection is growing. Bailey finished the game with four catches and 92 receiving yards while adding to the struggling rushing game off a jet sweep that he took from 11 yards out to the endzone. 

On the flip sides of things, Bauer also found another wide receiver consistently throughout the night. Junior wide receiver Phaizon Wilson finished the game with seven catches, 74 yards and a touchdown score. Bauer finished the game with 23 completions on 33 attempts resulting in a touchdown and zero turnovers. Expect Bauer to build off that performance heading into week three. 

If this Skyhawks team wants to win and see meaningful football come late November and early December, the defense needs to step up. It did not matter how the UTEP Miners wanted to play, they were scoring with a grand total of 42 points scored–four through the air and two on the ground. It all starts up front and the Skyhawks pass rush played overall fine, tailing three sacks in the loss. They will need the backend of the defense to create some turnovers if they want to win these games. 

The Skyhawks take on the Salukis at Hardy M. Graham Stadium on September 13, 2025, at 6 p.m.