Setting The Stage: The Indiana State Sycamores continue its season on Saturday, October 6, with a Gateway Football Conference contest versus Western Illinois. Saturday's game is set for a 12:05 p.m. (ET) kick at Memorial Stadium (12,400). Leading Indiana State will be interim head coach Dennis Raetz, who is the skipper of the Sycamores for the remainder of the 2007 season. No stranger to ISU football, Raetz spent the 1980-1997 seasons as the head coach of the Sycamores. Today's game will be televised live locally on WTWO-TV across the Wabash Valley. Jason Pensky, Rick Semmler and Damon Lewis will call the game from Memorial Stadium. The game will also be carried live on ESPN Radio (1130 & 1300 AM). Brian Fritz and Pete Emmert will call the action once again for the WTWO NewsChannel 2 Radio Network. The game can be heard live world-wide on www.espnsportsradio.com and live statistics can be found at GoSycamores.com. In addition, the game will be televised live over the internet using the latest web stream technology on GoSycamores.com. Cameras high atop Memorial Stadium will send digital images directly into Sycamore fans' homes while the call of Fritz and Emmert resonate in the background. The cost of this pay-per-view event is $6.95 and can be purchased directly on GoSycamores.com.
A Little History: This is the 103rd season of college football at Indiana State University, dating back to 1896. The university did not field teams from 1899-1900; 1908 or from 1910-1919. ISU owns an all-time record of 338 wins, 437 losses and 22 ties on the gridiron. Indiana State is competing for the 23rd consecutive season as a member of the Gateway Football Conference.
Versus The Nation's Best: Indiana State enters this week's battle against Western Illinois, facing the Leathernecks with a No. 22 national ranking. All-time the Sycamores are 8-58 against ranked opponents, including a mark of 6-44 versus ranked Gateway opponents. ISU's best victory against a highly-ranked opponent was over No. 10 Northern Iowa in 1990. Dennis Raetz was the head coach for the Sycamores in that victory.The last time ISU defeated a ranked opponent came in 1999, when the Sycamores topped Saturday's opponent, No. 19 Western Illinois, on October 23 by a score of 39-36.
The Indiana State Coach: Indiana State is led by interim head coach Dennis Raetz, who is returning to the sidelines for the remainder of the 2007 season. Raetz compiled a career record of 94-105-1 in his 18 seasons at the helm of the program (1980-1997). Raetz last faced Western Illinois in 1997, when he lost a 37-3 decision at Memorial Stadium. Overall, Raetz was 6-7 all-time against WIU.
The Western Illinois Head Coach: Leading the way for Western Illinois today is ninth-year head coach Don Patterson. Patterson has compiled a career record of 58-39, all of which have come at the Macomb, Ill., school. Patterson is 7-1 against Indiana State, having won each of his last seven meetings versus the Sycamores.
The Sycamores Against The Leathernecks: Indiana State and Western Illinois meet today for the 31st time on the gridiron with WIU holding a 18-12 margin in the all-time series. At Memorial Stadium, ISU is 9-6 against the Leathernecks while WIU holds a 12-3 lead in games played at Macomb. ISU has lost each of its last seven meetings against WIU, dating back to a 39-33 overtime victory over the Leathernecks on October 2, 1999 in Terre Haute, Ind.
The Scouting Report: Western Illinois is a member of the Gateway Football Conference and play their home contests at Hanson Field in Macomb, Ill. The Leathernecks are 3-2 on the season, owning a triple overtime victory over South Dakota State as well as wins against St. Francis (Ill.) and Stephen F. Austin. The Leathernecks have dropped decisions at Illinois and last week fell to future GFC member North Dakota State at home.
What's Transpired: Indiana State opened its season at Indiana and fell by the score of 55-7. ISU's lone touchdown in the game came late in the first quarter when Alex Thomas recovered a loose fumble near the goal line and rolled untouched into the end zone to cut the Hoosier advantage down to 14-7 with just over four minutes remaining. In week two, the Sycamores dropped a hard-fought 32-17 decision to Austin Peay of the Ohio Valley Conference. Last week, the Sycamores nearly erased a 13-3 fourth quarter deficit thanks to a 42-yard punt return by Ryan Patrick and a 34-yard scoring toss from Reilly Murphy to Rafael Price. The Sycamore defense held, and the offense had the ball with a chance to tie for win at Southeast Missouri State, but it was not meant to be as SEMO walked away with a narrow 13-10 non-conference victory. In week four, Eastern Illinois waltzed out to a 20-0 lead in the first quarter against the Sycamores, but a pair of touchdowns engineered by the play of redshirt freshman quarterback Charles Dowdell as well as a defensive score by Mike Woods helped Indiana State crawl back to within a 27-20 margin. EIU finished the game by scoring 27 unanswered points in leaving Memorial Stadium with a 54-20 victory. Under interim head coach Dennis Raetz, the Sycamores dropped a 72-10 decision against Southern Illinois.
Johansen Excels: Indiana State senior punter Chris Johansen punted six times against the nation's No. 6 nationally-ranked Southern Illinois Salukis for an average of 40.7 yards per kick last week. He booted a long of 50 yards versus the Salukis.
Raetz Back In Charge: Indiana State interim head coach Dennis Raetz returned to the sidelines for the first time since the 1997 season this past week when he led the Sycamores against the No. 6 nationally-ranked Southern Illinois Salukis. Raetz took over the program on an interim basis early this past week, and will lead the program throughout the remainder of the season. Ironically, Raetz's final game in 1997 was at the UNI Dome, a contest which the Sycamores lost in three overtimes, and his final game as interim head coach will once again come at the UNI Dome on November 10.
Record Breaking Performance: The Sycamores surrendered a Gateway Football Conference record 72 points to No. 6 nationally-ranked Southern Illinois this past week. That 72-point output topped the 70 points that Indiana State allowed to Illinois State in 2005, which was the previous conference record. In addition, in 1999, the Sycamores scored 66 points on the Salukis for of the top offensive outputs in this history of the league.
Working Hard On The Field And In The Classroom: Indiana State has captured the Gateway Football Conference All-Academic Award, as announced by the league office at Media Day on Tuesday, July 24.
The All-Academic Award was established in 2004 to help bring attention to institutional academic excellence. It is based on the average student-athlete grade-point average for the academic year. The GPA calculations are calculated for all student-athletes in the Gateway who compete, practice or receive athletic aid during the academic year. The award for Indiana State is based on accomplishments during the 2006-07 academic year. Southern Illinois and Western Illinois shared the initial award (for the 2004-05 academic season), while SIU earned the honor for the 2005-06 season.
Indiana State placed a league-high five student-athletes on the Gateway Football Conference's Academic All-Conference Team. Among the five honorees for Indiana State was first-team member Kyle Hooper, who makes his second consecutive appearance on the league's top academic squad. Representing the Sycamores on the second team were wide receiver Carl Berman; defensive back Bryan Jackson, quarterback/wide receiver Ben Schmidt and offensive lineman Fred Staugh. In addition, Jackson earned First Team Academic All-District Honors from the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
Preseason Selections: The Indiana State Sycamore football team has been picked to finish seventh this fall in the Gateway Football Conference according to a preseason poll of league head coaches, sports information directors and a media panel. In addition, senior Shonda Faulkner was been named an honorable mention selection to the preseason all-conference squad. The preseason poll was released as part of the Gateway Football Media Day activities today (July 24).
Faulkner, a senior this fall for the Sycamores, is a linebacker. Last season, he played in nine games, posting 63 total tackles. He was credited with 27 solo stops, including six tackles for losses as well as a trio of sacks. Faulkner recorded a season-best 13 tackles at Western Illinois, while his three sacks finished the year ranked 11th-best in the Gateway. His 63 total stops were 17th-best in GFC play.
Northern Iowa garnered 11 first place votes in earning the league's preseason championship nod. Right behind the Panthers were Illinois State, Youngstown State and Southern Illinois. Rounding out the poll were Western Illinois, Missouri State and the Sycamores.
Up Next: Indiana State travels to Illinois State for its Gateway Football Conference road opener next Saturday, October 13. Kick-off is set for 2:30 p.m. (EDT) and the game will be broadcast live on ESPN Radio 1130 & 1300 AM.
