Setting The Stage: The Indiana State Sycamores conclude the home portion of the schedule on Saturday, November 3, with its final home contest of the year versus Youngstown State. Today'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 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 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, 441 losses and 22 ties on the gridiron. Indiana State is competing for the 23rd consecutive season as a member of the Gateway Football Conference.
Punting Highlights: Indiana State senior punter Chris Johansen recorded five punts against Missouri State for an average of 38.4 yards. His best accomplishment of the day may have been the fact that of his five punts, four pinned the Bears inside their own 20-yard line. In addition, of the four times the Bears got the ball following a Johansen punt that was downed inside the 20, MSU's average starting field position was their own 10-yard line and the Bears were able to post a touchdown on just one of those four such drives. The other three ended with MSU punting the ball back to the Sycamores. Of Missouri State's nine touchdowns scored against Indiana State on Saturday, only two of those scores came after a Johansen punt.
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 Youngstown State in 1997, when he dropped a 31-0 Homecoming decision at Memorial Stadium. Overall, Raetz is 1-6 against Youngstown State, including a 13-6 victory at YSU in 1995.
The Youngstown State Head Coach: Leading the way for Youngstown State is seventh-year head coach Jon Heacock. Heacock has compiled a career record of 48-31, all of which have come at the Youngstown, Ohio school. Heacock is a perfect 6-0 against Indiana State.
The Sycamores Against The Penguins: Indiana State and Youngstown State meet today for the 17th time on the gridiron with YSU holding a 15-1 margin in the all-time series. At Memorial Stadium, ISU is 0-8 against the Penguins while YSU holds a 7-1 lead in games played at Youngstown. ISU has lost each of its last 10 meetings against YSU, dating back to a 13-6 victory over the Penguins on October 28, 1995 in Youngstown. Dennis Raetz was the head coach of the Sycamores for that victory.
The Scouting Report: Youngstown State is a member of the Gateway Football Conference. The Penguins play their home contests at Stambaugh Stadium in Youngstown, Ohio. YSU is 5-4 on the season, owning victories over South Dakota State, Stony Brook, Lock Haven, Missouri State as well as Southern Utah. The Penguins have dropped games against Southern Illinois and Illinois State as well as FBS No. 1-ranked Northern Iowa and FCS No. 1-ranked Northern Iowa ? both on the road.
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. Quarterback Charles Dowdell recorded his first career rushing touchdown against Missouri State on a 5-yard scamper, but it was not enough as the Bears took a 63-7 decision in Springfield, Mo.
Meet The Faulkner: Senior linebacker Shonda Faulkner posted a team-high 15 tackles at Missouri State on Saturday. He made three solo stops as well as 12 assisted tackles in the road Gateway defeat. Faulkner also teamed with fellow linebacker Brandon Logan on a tackle for loss.
What A Difference A Year Makes: Indiana State defeated the Missouri State Bears last season at home by a score of 28-22 to break a 24-game losing streak, but could not do the same on the road this season to as the Sycamores' current skid hit 12 games with the loss to Missouri State.
Fresh Faces Making Plays: A pair of true freshmen combined for the Sycamores in the fourth quarter of the Missouri State game to create the lone Bear turnover of the day. The Bears' Jonathan Davis was met in the backfield by freshman Derelle Hankins, who forced a fumble and fellow freshman Brandon Pence pounced on the ball to give Indiana State life in the fourth quarter. The play was the first career forced fumble for Hankins and the first career recovered loose ball for Pence, who started his first game of the season at defensive end after spending the early part of the year at linebacker.
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).
Up Next: The Indiana State Sycamores travel to No. 1 nationally-ranked Northern Iowa on Saturday, November 10 for the final game of the season. Kick-off versus the Panthers is set for 5:05 p.m. (EST). The game can be heard live on ESPN Radio 1130 & 1300 AM.
