Setting The Stage: The Indiana State Sycamores begin year three of the "Lou West Era" on Saturday, September 1, with the regular season opener at Indiana. Saturday night's game is set for an 8:05 p.m. (ET) kick at Memorial Stadium (52,354). The game will be carried live on the Big Ten Television Network. Wayne Larrivee and Chris Martin will describe the action while Trenni Kusnierek will patrol the sidelines. The game will also be broadcast live on WSDM-FM (92.7). 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.crock927.com and live stats can be found at www.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, 432 losses and 22 ties on the gridiron. Indiana State is competing for the 23rd consecutive season as a member of the Gateway Football Conference.

For Openers ? The Sycamores are 42-44-7 in seasons openers, a .452 winning percentage. ISU will be looking for its first lid lifting win since the 1996 season on Saturday, when the Sycamores opened that campaign with a 48-0 victory over Mars Hill. The only two previous times an Indiana State team has opened a season versus a member of the Big Ten was in 1925, when the Sycamores dropped a 31-0 decision at Indiana as well as last season's 60-35 opening loss at Purdue.

Road Openers ? The 2007 season will mark the 35th time in 103 seasons that the Sycamores have opened their slate on the road. They are just 7-21-6 in the previous 34 road openers, sporting a .250 winning percentage. That compares to a 35-22-1 record (.614 winning percentage) when opening the season at home. The Sycamores' last season opening win on the road came in 1992, via forfeit from Oklahoma State. The last on-the field road opening win was in 1980, when the Sycamores defeated Drake 13-10 in Des Moines, Iowa.

Lou West In Openers ? Indiana State head coach Lou West is 0-2 in season opening games as he begins his third year as a collegiate head coach. West dropped his first game of the 2005 campaign to Eastern Illinois by a score of 24-13 at home before falling 60-35 in last season's lid lifting contest. Overall, West is 0-1 at home and 0-1 away in season opening games.

The Indiana State Coach ? Indiana State head coach Lou West is 1-21 with the Sycamores as a collegiate head coach. He has never faced Indiana. Coach West is 0-1 against members of the Big Ten, falling at Purdue last season. He picked up his first collegiate victory on October 21, 2006 ? a 28-22 victory on Homecoming over Missouri State.

The Indiana Head Coach ? Indiana is led by first year head coach Bill Lynch, who took the reigns of the program early this past summer. Lynch has spent time in the past as head coach of Butler, Ball State and DePauw before taking the helm of the Hoosier program. He is 1-0 against the Sycamores all-time, a 23-21 victory over ISU in 2001 which coaching Ball State.

The Sycamores Against The Hoosiers ? Despite sitting only 50 miles apart, this will be just the third time that Indiana State and Indiana have locked horns on the gridiron. The Hoosiers took a 33-3 decision in 2003, while the first meeting was back in 1925, when IU was victorious 31-0. Both previous meetings have taken place in Bloomington, Ind.

The Last Time They Met ? It was the first time since 1925 that both Indiana and Indiana State put their teams on the same gridiron and while ISU was able to hold their own against the instate foe for some of the game, the Indiana offense and special teams proved too mighty for the visiting Sycamores. ISU's lone score of the evening came on a 36-yard field goal late in the first quarter that edged the Sycamores back to within six points at 9-3.

IU responded to the Sycamore field goal with time-consuming 11-play drive of their own that covered 71 yards, giving the Hoosiers a 16-3 lead over ISU when BenJarvus Green-Ellis scored from a yard out. Green-Ellis ran for a career-high 107 yards and two touchdowns, and Taylor added 90 yards and a TD as the Sycamores struggled to find an answer to the Hoosiers ground attack throughout the night.

Green-Ellis and Taylor each carried 20 times, while filling for injured starter Brian Lewis, and Indiana finished with 201 yards rushing.

After falling behind 23-3 heading into the half, the Sycamores came out and started to move the ball down the field as transfer Thomas Plummer received his first game action as a Sycamore and promptly helped move the ball down the Hoosier one-yard line. On the final play of the drive, Plummer fumbled while trying to reach for the end zone and the Hoosiers were able to recover to stop the scoring threat.

ISU held until the Hoosiers' Bryan Roberston connected on a 21-yard field goal with 2:26 left in the third quarter to push the lead to 26-3. The final score of the game came on a Green-Ellis 11-yard rush that capped an eight-play, 58-yard drive with 3:52 left to put the score out of reach at 33-3.

The Sycamores were led by Jake Shields, who carried 15 times for 58 yards, and Jake Schiff, who completed 16 of 22 passes for 179 yards.

Against The Big Ten ? Indiana State is 0-7 all-time against members of the Big Ten. The last time ISU faced a member of the Big Ten Conference came in the 2006 season opener when the Sycamores fell, 60-35, to the Purdue Boilermakers in West Lafayette, Ind. In addition to previous meetings against Purdue and Indiana, ISU has also faced Minnesota (1989, 1993) from the Big Ten Conference.

The Scouting Report ? Indiana is a member of the Big Ten Conference and play their home contests at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, Ind. The Hoosiers are also opening their season on Saturday night against Indiana State.

Scoring Sycamores ? Indiana State's 35 points scored at Purdue last season marked the most they have ever scored versus a Big Ten foe and the most it has scored against a NCAA Division FBS opponent since hanging 40 on Cincinnati in 1987. The 35 points were the most in a road season opener for the Sycamores since scoring 32 at Eastern Illinois in 1966. Ironically, on the day ISU scored its 35 against Purdue, the Boilermakers honored their 1966 Rose Bowl Championship team at halftime.

Against The FBS ? Tonight's game against Indiana is the lone game for the Sycamores against NCAA FBS opposition this year. Indiana State opened the 2006 season against Big Ten Conference foe Purdue and then faced off against Northern Illinois in going up against a pair of FBS foes one year ago. ISU is 53-110 against teams that currently play NCAA FBS football. The most wins versus any member of that group is the 23 that the Sycamores own over Ball State. The last time the Sycamores defeated an NCAA FBS team was in 2001, when ISU won at Eastern Michigan by a score of 21-14.

Coming Out Party ? Junior quarterback Reilly Murphy became just the sixth signal caller in the history of Indiana State football to pass for at least 200 yards in a season opening game last season at Purdue. Murphy finished the day against the Boilermakers by hitting 23-of-36 passes for 235 yards. His 235 yards through the air are the fourth-most in the history of the program for a season opener. Of the six times that an ISU quarterback has eclipsed the 200-yard mark in a season opener, two of them have occurred under head coach Lou West. An Indiana State quarterback has passed for at least 200 yards in each of the past two Sycamore season opening games.

266 Jeff Miller vs. St. Cloud State (1985)

241 John Stites vs. Central Missouri State (1990)

206 John Sahm vs. Salem College (1987)

205 John Sahm vs. Central Missouri State (1989)

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.

Murphy Named One Of League's Top Newcomers In 2006 ? Indiana State junior quarterback Reilly Murphy (San Diego, Calif./Grossmont JC) was named to the Gateway Football Conference's All-Newcomer Team last season.

Murphy, a seven-game starter at quarterback, completed 143-of-261 passes for 1,747 yards and eight touchdowns this year. He tossed a season-long 55-yard pass in the season opener at Purdue. An able bodied runner, Murphy rushed for 167 yards on 73 attempts with six touchdowns during the season.

His 212.7 yards of total offense per game were ranked second-best in the league and finished 27th in the nation. Murphy connected on 26-of-46 passes for 279 yards with a passing TD as well as a rushing score in the season finale against Illinois State.

Up Next ? Indiana State opens the home portion of the 2007 season next Saturday, September 8 when they host Austin Peay at Memorial Stadium. Kick-off is set for 6:00 p.m. (ET).