Reserve quarterback Foss sets Colonel teammates straight on facts about SIU

When it comes to facts about Southern Illinois University, members of the Nicholls football team turn to Jakob Foss.

Foss, a reserve quarterback on the Nicholls football team, spent his first year out of high school at the Carbondale, Ill., university. To his Colonel teammates, that makes him the resident expect about the team Nicholls found out it will be playing in the opening round of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs on Saturday.

“Something I think that’s really funny they hear the word ‘Illinois’ and everybody thinks Chicago, and SIU is five hours south of Chicago. ‘They’re like, Chicago, that’s so cool.’ I’m like, ‘nah, it’s not that far north. We’re just right above Tennessee,” informed Foss.

For the record, Carbondale is 333 miles or a drive of about 5 hours, 12 minutes. Carbondale is farther away from Chicago than Thibodaux is from Shreveport. The distance between the two Louisiana cities is 308 miles or a drive of 4 hours, 42 minutes.

His Colonel teammates also were curious as to how frigid it’s going to be in Carbondale.

“Since they think it’s near Chicago, they think it’s negative 20 degrees up there,” said Foss. “They’re like, ‘oh my gosh, is it going to be snowing?’

“I’m like, ‘it’s not too bad. It’s just a little bit north of Nashville. It’s going to be fine.’”

For the record, the forecast for Saturday’s game is approximately 50 degrees with winds of seven miles per hour.

When the Colonels were on the practice field Wednesday morning, the temperature was 51 degrees and the wind at nine miles per hour.

What was another burning question the Colonels had for their red-shirt sophomore teammate about SIU?

“A lot of people ask, ‘what is a Saluki? Nobody knows. They’re like, ‘What kind of dog is that? I’ve never heard of that,’” Foss related.

For the record, the SIU mascot is a sighthound, a dog that hunts mostly by sight rather than a strong scent. An adult male can reach a size of up to 28 inches high and weigh anywhere between 35 and 70 pounds. An elite Saluki can reach a speed of almost 43 miles per hour.

One question his teammates didn’t ask is how fast is a Saluki football player?

For the record, not quite as fast as the mascot.