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GoldanDBlack express • volume 25, express 4 • 11 BY TRAVIS BAUGH AND ALAN KARPICK J ust two weeks after going up against Michigan transfer Thom- as Rawls, Purdue will face another former Power Five running back in Malcolm Agnew of Southern Illinois. Agnew ran for 692 yards and six touchdowns in two years at Oregon State, even leading the Beavers in rushing in 2011 despite appearing in only six games due to injury. He's been even better as a Saluki, running for 888 yards last season and at least 145 yards in each of Southern Illinois' games thus far in 2014. His six rushing touchdowns rank second nationally, while his 450 rushing yards are second in the FCS. IannottI's excellence Saluki quarterback Mark Iannotti gives the Salukis a bal- anced offense to pair with Agnew. Iannotti, an Eastern Michigan trans- fer, tied a school record with six touchdowns against Southeast Missouri State in an efficient per- formance that saw him complete 15-of-21 passes for 225 yards. The MVFC Newcomer-of-the-Week ranks second in the FCS in passing touchdowns (10), third in comple- tion percentage (71.8 percent) and third in passing efficiency (185.5). tIght end threat Purdue didn't face a major weapon at tight end in its first three games. That changes Saturday with MyCole Pruitt, who earned consen- sus first-team All-America honors in 2013 and was a third-team All- American in 2012. He's the school's career leader in both receptions and receiving yards as a tight end with 156 catches for 1,910 yards. Pruitt has at least two catches in 20 straight games. second half shutdown The Saluki defense has been lights out after halftime this season. SIU has given up just three points after intermission this sea- son, which happened when South- east Missouri kicked a 43-yard field goal in the third quarter last week. The Salukis rank 14th in the FCS in scoring defense (14.7). hIstorIcally speakIng Purdue has never lost to an FCS opponent and most of the nine games haven't been close. Last year's 20-14 win over Indiana not- withstanding, Purdue has histori- cally had little trouble disposing of schools from the FCS. Yet, most are expecting the game vs. SIU will be in doubt well into the second half as it was with last year's nail-biter against the Sycamores. The Boilermakers have scored in bunches against FCS opponents, eclipsing the 50-point mark three times and 60-point level once (2006 vs. Indiana State). But there have been two games when Purdue was outgained by its FCS opponent: 2010 vs. Western Illinois (406-402) and last year vs. ISU (295-284). In - diana State is the FCS opponent the Boilermakers have faced most (three times) and there have been three former Purdue assistants who were the head coach of FCS teams facing the Boilermakers: Bob Spoo (2006 Eastern Illinois), Scott Down- ing (2008 Northern Colorado) and Mike Sanford (2013 Indiana State). Purdue scheduled Eastern Ken- tucky in 2012 when Danny Hope was still the coach, but by the time the game was played, Hope was in his fourth season at Purdue. j What You Need To Know About Southern Illinois Tom Campbell Ricardo Allen's last-minute interception eliminated Indiana State's hopes for an upset in Purdue's six-point win on Sept. 7, 2013. The Boilermakers have played FCS opponents in each of the last five seasons, but won't play one again until it faces Eastern Kentucky on Sept. 3, 2016. The lasT Time... Agnew's Another Power Five Load For daily headlines on recruiting and other Purdue sports news, check out