TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Indiana State football will travel to Missouri State Saturday (Oct. 28) for a Missouri Valley Football Conference showdown with the Bears. Kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET from Robert W. Plaster Stadium in Springfield.
Saturday's game will be broadcast live on The Valley On ESPN3. On the call will be Don West (play-by-play) and Corey Riggs (color). Sycamore fans can also listen live on the radio on WIBQ 97.9 FM (1230 AM) or online at GoSycamores.com/Watch with
Luke Martin (play-by-play) and
Brian Fritz (color).
Missouri State leads the all-time series 18-13. ISU has won five of the last seven contests, but the Bears took last season's game in Terre Haute, 45-24. In the series, no team has won or lost more than three games straight.
OFFENSIVE NOTES
• Senior
TE Jacquet McClendon leads ISU and ranks fifth in the Valley with 37 receptions for 395 yards and two touchdowns. McClendon was the second-best returning receiver for the Sycamores from 2016, when he recorded 157 yards on 14 receptions.
• Booker eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark for his career in rushing yards this year, currently sitting at 1,542 career yards. Booker is just 47 yards away from 3,000 all-purpose yards in his career with Indiana State. So far in 2017 Booker has 563 rushing yards, 73 receiving yards. In seven games, he has averaged 84.4 all-purpose yards a game which ranks 10th in the MVFC. The redshirt senior will become just the seventh Sycamore in program history to surpass the 3,000-career all-purpose yard mark.
• Redshirt senior
WR Bob Pugh has 877 all-purpose yards this year: 43 rushing yards including 24 at Tennessee. Pugh caught two passes against Eastern Illinois for 47 yards before exploding for 260 yards on eight receptions and two touchdowns at Liberty. He added 64 yards on two receptions against Illinois State and 69 yards on two catches against the Bison.
• Pugh caught his second touchdown pass more than 60-yards Saturday against the Salukis during the Sycamores' first drive of the game. The wide receiver is third in the country and tops in the MVFC with 27 yards per catch. So far this season Pugh has 21 catches for 568 yards and three touchdowns. The Foley, Alabama product is averaging 81.1 yards receiving through seven games.
DEFENSIVE NOTES
• ISU forced four turnovers against Southern Illinois (3 INT, 1 FR). Indiana State now has six picks in seven games after forcing just five interceptions total in 2016.
• Redshirt sophomore
LB Jonas Griffith has leads the Sycamores in tackles with 64 through six games -- recording a career high 15 vs. SIU, 13 vs. EIU and nine at Tennessee. Griffith ranks fourth in the Valley in total tackles. Griffith had three tackles for loss against Illinois State for 18 yards.
• LB
Katrell Moss owns 5.5 TFL on the season, including 2.5 sacks (21 yards). Moss is second on the team and fifth in the MVFC with 63 tackles including 26 solo tackles. He recorded a career high 20 tackles against SIU.
• Griffith and Moss dominated the defensive side of the ball against Southern Illinois, both eclipsing the 15-tackle mark. Moss had a career best 20 tackles while Griffith had 15.
• Junior
CB Rondell Green ranks second in the Valley with 1.43 passes defended per game -- two pass breakups vs. Eastern Illinois and an interception in the end zone to stall a red zone drive at Tennessee. On his career, Green now owns 16 pass breakups and three interceptions, including a 17-yard pick six against the Salukis this season. Green ranks third on the team with 43 tackles and leads the team with eight pass breakups.
• Sycamore cornerback
Anthony Tucker came away with his first two career interceptions Saturday against the Salukis. Tucker became the first Sycamore with two picks in a single game since 2015 when
Jameer Thurman did so against Butler.
SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES
Senior punter
Thomas Bouldin etched his name into the Indiana State and Missouri Valley Conference record book Saturday against the Salukis. Bouldin uncorked a 90-yard punt late in the first half to break the previous school record of 80-yards set by Jim Shaughnessy in 1969. The punt also topped an 89-yard punt by Mike Scifres of Western Illinois in a game against Missouri State back in 2000 for the new Valley Football standard. His punt fell just three yards short of the NCAA record and is the longest punt in all of college football this season. The punt was also the fifth longest in FCS history. Bouldin finished the game with eight punts for an average of 50.5 yards, including four of over 50 yards. Bouldin recorded the longest punt in the Valley in 2016, registering at 70 yards at SIU.
For the latest information on the Sycamore Football team, make sure to check out
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