The Daily Egyptian is published by the students of SIU at Carbondale. Except during vacations and exam weeks, The Daily Egyptian is published Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters and TWThF during the summer semester."

WKU stays near top of 1-AA with Elson

After graduating from Butler in 1994, Western Kentucky head coach David Elson came to Carbondale ˜ and he liked what he saw.

The stadium was a dump, there were no lights and the program, as usual, was struggling.

Yet, as he served as a graduate assistant under Shawn Watson during the 1994 and 1995 seasons, he saw a program with great potential.

„In my years there I thought it was a great place to recruit to and thought that the right person could get the job done,‰ Elson said.

Now head coach Jerry Kill ended up being that man, and Elson said what Kill has done with the Salukis is nothing short of amazing.

Elson, the youngest coach in all of Division I at age 32, has been just as impressed with the Salukis this year as his own team, which has emerged as one of the best in I-AA football.

Two things in particular have impressed Elson this season: SIU‚s diverse offensive weaponry and the SIU defensive line.

Elson thought it was spectacular how quarterback Joel Sambursky has hit 15 different targets this year, and is wary of the big playmakers that have emerged.

„The thing that‚s impressed me the most about their offense this year is how many weapons they‚ve got,‰ Elson said. „You always talk about the stable of tailbacks they have, but they‚ve found a couple other guys.‰

As far as defense, Elson was not shy about handing out praise to the SIU defensive line, saying it is the best he has ever seen.

Given SIU‚s overall package, Elson knows he is facing an uphill battle Saturday.

„They‚re worthy of that No. 1 ranking, that‚s for sure,‰ Elson said. „They‚re as good as I‚ve seen in I-AA football, both sides of the ball.‰