Setting The Stage: The Indiana State Sycamores embark on a new era Saturday, September 29, with the Gateway Football Conference opener versus Southern Illinois. Today's game is set for a 12:07 p.m. (ET) kick at Memorial Stadium (12,400). Leading Indiana State will be interim head coach Dennis Raetz, who will be coaching his first game at the helm of the program this 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 on Fox College Sports Atlantic for digital cable subscribers across the nation. It will also air on a tape-delayed basis on FCS Atlantic (3 a.m., Sept. 30) and FSN Midwest at 1 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 4. Scott Warmann, Danan Hughes and Mick Shaffer 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, 436 losses and 22 ties on the gridiron. Indiana State is competing for the 23rd consecutive season as a member of the Gateway Football Conference.
Back To The Future: Returning to the sidelines today for Indiana State is longtime head coach Dennis Raetz, who is taking over the program for the rest of the season on an interim basis. On Monday, September 24, ISU Director of Athletics Ron Prettyman announced that he had relieved former head football coach Lou West of his duties and will reassign him to other work on campus. Raetz is the all-time winningest coach in the history of the program, compiling 94 career victories. He recently retired as Associate Director of Athletics at ISU in June. He helped guide the Sycamores to a No. 1 national ranking in 1983 and 1984, and is currently scouting for the Edmonton Eskimos.
The Indiana State Coach: Indiana State is led by interim head coach Dennis Raetz, who returns to the sidelines today for the first time since the 1997 campaign. Raetz compiled a career record of 94-105-1 in his 18 seasons at the helm of the program (1980-1997). Raetz last faced Southern Illinois in 1997, earning a 19-14 victory at Memorial Stadium. Overall, Raetz is 9-10 all-time against SIU, having won each of his last four meetings versus the Salukis (1994-97).
The Southern Illinois Head Coach: Leading the way for Southern Illinois today is seventh-year head coach Jerry Kill. Kill has compiled a career record of 96-55, including a mark of 47-30 at the Carbondale, Ill., school. Kill is 4-2 against Indiana State, having won each of his last four meetings versus the Sycamores.
The Sycamores Against The Salukis: Indiana State and Southern Illinois meet today for the 44th time on the gridiron with ISU holding a 23-21-0 margin in the all-time series. At Memorial Stadium, ISU is 15-9 against the Salukis while SIU holds a 12-8 lead in games played at Carbondale. ISU has lost each of its last four meetings against SIU, dating back to a 21-14 victory over the Salukis on November 9, 2002 in Carbondale, Ill. Prior this the recent four-game skid against SIU, the Sycamores had won nine consecutive games versus the Salukis.
The Scouting Report: Southern Illinois is a member of the Gateway Football Conference and play their home contests at McAndrew Stadium in Carbondale, Ill. The Salukis are a perfect 4-0 on the season, owning home victories over Quincy and Arkansas-Pine Bluff. SIU has gone on the road to down FBS Northern Illinois (34-31) and Southern Utah.
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.
Against A Ranked Opponent: Indiana State enters today's battle against Southern Illinois, facing the Salukis with a lofty No. 7 national ranking by The Sports Network as well as a No. 6 national ranking by the FCS Coaches' Poll. All-time the Sycamores are 8-57 against ranked opponents, including a mark of 6-43 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 No. 19 Western Illinois on October 23 by a score of 39-36.
Big Mac Attack: Senior Bryan McCulley, who earned his second career start against Eastern Illinois last week, responded with a solid 94-yard effort against the No. 20 nationally-ranked Panthers. McCulley broke through for a long rush of 23 yards, as he averaged 7.2 yards per carry versus EIU.
High Scoring Affair: Last Saturday night, Eastern Illinois and Indiana State combined for 74 points - the most scored in the 81-game series between the two schools. The previous high came in 2000, a 42-24 EIU victory. That game marked the first career collegiate start for current Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo. Eastern Illinois has won each of the last three meetings against ISU.
Over The River And Through The Woods: Junior defensive back Mike Woods forced an Eastern Illinois fumble early in the second quarter against the Panthers at his own 19-yard line and scooped the ball en route to going untouched the other way for an 81-yard touchdown fumble return. The play by Woods marked the first ISU fumble return for a touchdown since the 2003 season. Woods added three tackles, including one for a loss while also returning four Panthers kickoffs for an average of 23.3 yards per return.
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 its three-game homestand when they host Western Illinois on October 6 at Memorial Stadium. Kick-off is slated for just after Noon (EST). The game against the Leathernecks will be televised locally on WTWO-TV (NewsChannel 2).
