Saluki fans gear up for the ‘War of the Wheel’

CARBONDALE, Ill. (KFVS) - There is no home game at Saluki Stadium on Thursday night, but the vibe around Carbondale is Saluki fans are ready to watch a top ranked team.

“We’re hoping people are going to be out, people are excited about the new season,” said Jeff Vaughn, owner of Tres Hombres.

He is ready to have football season back.

“We like to be involved and we want other people to be involved as well,” he said.

Tres Hombres will be airing the game inside the bar and outside on the patio, but some lucky SIU Dawg Pound fans will be traveling to Cape Girardeau for the game.

“This past week we sold 75 tickets to Dawg Pound members and regular students and we sold them all we sold out last night,” said President of the Dawg Pound, sophomore Dylan Chambers

Chambers is expecting a hyped up SIU student section for the “War of the Wheel” game.

“I think we’re going to show up and show out that’s what we expect, that’s who we are, we’re here to show who we are.”

Chambers said members of the Dawg Pound will be carpooling together to the game.

“We’re going to meet, you know, we’re all trying to meet at the same time,” he said. “We’re all going to leave at the same time that way we all pull up together.”

Back in Carbondale, Vaughn is optimistic about this football season

“We’re just hopeful that the Salukis have a good season,” he said. “I think they mostly have everybody back, so, you know, they have a playoff team last year so hopefully we can build on that.”

If you are a Saluki fan looking for a home game, you’ll have to wait a couple weeks.

The first home game is September 18 against Dayton.

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