The Indiana State Coach: Indiana State is led by interim head coach Dennis Raetz, who has returned 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 Illinois State in 1997, when he won a 16-13 decision on the road. Overall, Raetz was 8-9 against ILSU.

The Illinois State Head Coach: Leading the way for Illinois State today is eighth-year head coach Denver Johnson. Johnson has compiled a career record of 64-55, including a 43-43 mark at the Normal, Ill., school. In addition to his eight seasons at Illinois State, Johnson coached for the prior three seasons at Murray State. Johnson is 7-2 against Indiana State, including a mark of 6-1 at Illinois State.

The Sycamores Against The Redbirds: Indiana State and Illinois State meet today for the 61st time on the gridiron with the all-time series knotted at 29-29-2. At Illinois State, ISU is just 9-19 against the ?Birds while the Sycamores hold a 20-9-2 lead in games played at Memorial Stadium. ISU has lost each of its last two meetings against ILSU, dating back to a 41-38 overtime victory over the Redbirds on October 2, 2004 in Terre Haute.

The Scouting Report: Illinois State is a member of the Gateway Football Conference and play their home contests at Hancock Stadium in Normal, Ill. The Redbirds are 2-4 on the season, owning victories over Eastern Illinois and Murray State. Illinois State has dropped each of first two league games, including a home decision against No. 2 nationally-ranked Northern Iowa as well as a road loss at Missouri State last weekend. ISU opened its schedule with a narrow 27-24 loss to Drake and have also fallen at FBS Missouri.

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.

Meet The Faulkner: Senior linebacker Shonda Faulkner posted a career-high 19 tackles against Western Illinois as the Sycamores showed a much improved defensive effort versus the Leathernecks. Faulkner made nine solos stops and posted 10 total assists.

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.

Can't Solve The Leathernecks: The Indiana State Sycamores dropped its eighth consecutive game at the hands of Western Illinois with its most recent 19-7 loss to Leathernecks. ISU defeated Don Patterson and his squad the first time that he faced them, but WIU has responded with victories in eight of the last meetings.

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 returns home for the annual Homecoming contest against Western Kentucky on Saturday, October 20. Kick-off is set for 2:05 p.m. (EDT) and the game will be broadcast live on ESPN Radio 1130 & 1300 AM.