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Salukis healing up

Joel Sambursky is catching up with homework and taking a mental break from 11 straight weeks of football.

The assistant coaches are out recruiting.

Arkee Whitlock, along with Craig Turner and the rest of the walking wounded, are healing and gearing up for the playoffs.

Whatever the members of the No. 1 SIU football team are doing with it, they are enjoying their "week off."

"It just kind of helps the old body heal up," Sambursky said. "I'm a fan of that."

SIU has not practiced for more than an hour most of this week, and the primary focus of the time off is recuperation.

The Salukis do not play for another eight days, and by then, head coach Jerry Kill expects all those with nagging injuries to play. Whitlock will play, as will Turner. Starting linebacker Tony Rinella, who was in crutches Saturday night, is also expected to suit up.

Kill also thinks it's possible for cornerback Brandon Bruner to play Nov. 27 if his hamstring isn't bothered by the expected cold weather.

Healing their wounds, staying loose and working on the little things are pretty much all the Salukis have to do this week.

There is no game plan until Sunday at noon, when SIU finds out who it will host in the first home playoff game since 1983.

"It's just like spring ball. It's just like the spring," Whitlock said. "You're not out here, preparing, you're just running around trying to get better."

SIU is wise to improve, because once the rest period is over, SIU has a ton of work to do. He doesn't define it as a guarantee, but Kill did say SIU would win a national championship during a speech Sunday at the SIU Arena. Now the team has to back it up.

Jacksonville State is among the likely opponents, but for all SIU knows, it could be playing Western Kentucky. The Salukis remember last year's ordeal, being the No. 5 team in the country and starting on the road.

Sambursky, though he knows a home game is pretty much guaranteed, is not banking on it - even though SIU is a nearly undisputed No. 1 in both polls and tops the power ratings.

"I'm kind of hesitant because of what happened last year," Sambursky said. "But knowing that we should be at home - and it should be undisputed - the fact that we are at home the first game is a great feeling."

When a home game is likely announced, Sambursky wants the stadium packed.

The Athletic Department has done its part - convincing Chancellor Walter Wendler to buy 500 student tickets and give them away, lobbying to allow students into the dorms early and having potential free tickets at the gate on game day compliments of local businesses.

SIU Athletics is hoping for a slightly better turnout than last Saturday, when less than 8,000 people showed up on a cold night for the Gateway Conference coronation.

Sambursky may throw his hat into the publicity game as well because, he said, SIU needs every fan it can pack into McAndrew Stadium. He, like political pundits earlier in the month, is focused on turnout.

"It's crucial," he said. "We need everybody to come out. I feel like I need to go run for president, knock on doors and get people to come out."