Setting The Stage: The Indiana State Sycamores continue its season on Saturday, October 27, against Missouri State. Today's game is set for a 2:30 p.m. (ET) kick at Plaster Field (16,300). Leading Indiana State will be interim head coach Dennis Raetz, who is at the helm 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 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.
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, 440 losses and 22 ties on the gridiron. Indiana State is competing for the 23rd consecutive season as a member of the Gateway Football Conference.
Homecoming Results: With its 56-7 Homecoming loss to Western Kentucky, the Indiana State Sycamores hosted their first FBS level team at Memorial Stadium since the 1991 campaign. ISU hosted Ball State in that game 16 seasons ago. In addition, the Hilltoppers were the first non-Gateway team to be ISU's Homecoming opponent since 1995, when the same WKU team came to Memorial Stadium.
Going To The Zone: One week after notching his first career touchdown, a rush, senior Bryan McCulley added his second, this time a pass reception, on a 36-yard TD catch against Western Kentucky. After not reaching pay dirt in his first 39 career games, McCulley has scored once in each of the last two.
Last Victory: Indiana State faces off against Missouri State on Saturday afternoon, looking for its first victory since facing the same Bears team one year ago at Memorial Stadium. ISU downed Missouri State on October 21, 2006 to end a 24-game losing streak. Since then, ISU has dropped 11 more football games in a row.
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 Missouri State in 1997, when he dropped a 22-7 decision in Springfield, Mo. Overall, Raetz is 4-8 all-time against MSU.
The Missouri State Head Coach: Leading the way for Missouri State is second-year head coach Terry Allen. Allen has compiled a career record of 101-72, including a 6-13 mark at Missouri State. Allen is 7-2 against Indiana State, which eight of the previous nine meetings coming while he was at the helm of the Northern Iowa program.
The Sycamores Against The Bears: Indiana State and Missouri State meet today for the 22nd time on the gridiron with MSU holding a 13-8 margin in the all-time series. At Plaster Field, ISU is 2-8 against the Bears while ISU holds a 6-5 lead in games played at Memorial Stadium. Indiana State won a 28-22 decision at home last season to break a 24-game losing streak.
The Scouting Report: Missouri State is a member of the Gateway Football Conference. The Bears play their home contests at Plaster Field in Springfield, Mo. MSU is 4-4 on the season, owning victories over Missouri-Rolla, UT-Martin, Central Arkansas and Illinois State. The Bears have dropped games at Kansas State, Youngstown State, Western Illinois and Southern Illinois. The Bears are a perfect 3-0 at home this season, and will play each of their final three games this year 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. The Sycamore defense came out strong in its second game of the year under Raetz, but fell 19-7 to No. 22 nationally-ranked Western Illinois. ISU allowed just a pair of field goals in the first half and scored their touchdown on a three-yard pass from Reilly Murphy to Brian Jackson in the game's fourth quarter. The Sycamores took their first lead of the season, 3-0, following their first drive at Illinois State, but the Redbirds came back roaring to secure a 69-17 victory over the Sycamores. ISU dropped its annual Homecoming game against Western Kentucky by a score of 56-7. Senior Bryan McCulley scored a 36-yard touchdown on a pass reception as he reached pay dirt for the second consecutive week.
Out In Front: With Corey Varnadore's 19-yard field goal in the first quarter the game at Illinois State, the Sycamores owned a short-lived 3-0 lead over the host Redbirds. That 3-0 advantage marked the first time this season that Indiana State had led a game at any point. The Redbirds took control thereafter in notching a 69-17 victory.
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.
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 wraps up the home season against Youngstown State on Saturday, November 3. Kick-off is set for Noon.
