Gameday

Stadium: McAndrew Stadium (17,324)

Television: Fox Sports Midwest

    Play-By-Play: Scott Warmann

    Analyst: Danan Hughes

    Sideline: Erin Bajackson

Sycamore Radio: ESPN Radio AM 1130 & 1300

    Play-By-Play: Brian Fritz

    Analyst: Pete Emmert

Series Information:

    Series Record:  Indiana State leads 23-21

    Last Meeting: INS 10, SIU 72 (9/29/07)

    ISU Win: INS 21, SIU 14 (11/9/2002)

Where To Watch The Game

Setting The Stage

After playing two straight home games in front of their home fans at Memorial Stadium, the Indiana State Sycamores (0-5, 0-1 MVFC) return to the road for the first of two-straight road games beginning on Saturday against the #15/16 Southern Illinois Salukis (2-2, 1-1 MVFC).  Indiana State opened its conference slate last weekend against Illinois State and suffered a 57-6 loss at home.  The Salukis are coming off a disappointing 35-27 loss on the road to North Dakota State last weekend.  Saturday's game at McAndrew marks the 45th meeting between SIU and ISU, with the Sycamores leading the all-time series by a mark of 23-21. SIU has a five-game winning streak against ISU, out-scoring the Sycamores, 265-57, in that span.  Indiana State has not defeated Southern Illinois since the 2002 season, when ISU defeated SIU 21-14 at McAndrew Stadium.

An Indiana State Win Over Southern Illinois Would ...

* Snap the Sycamores' 19-game losing streak, dating back to a 28-22 Homecoming victory over Missouri Valley Football Conference rival Missouri State in 2006.

* Give Indiana State its first conference win since 2006,  when the Sycamores defeated Missouri State, 28-22, on Homecoming in front of a big crowd at Memorial Stadium.

* Give Indiana State its first conference road win since 2002, when  the team defeated Southern Illinois by a score of 21-14 at McAndrew Stadium in Carbondale.

* Give Indiana State its first road win since 2004, when it defeated Eastern Illinois, 33-30, in overtime at O'Brien Stadium in Charleston.

* Give the Sycamores their first win over the Southern Illinois since 2002, when they defeated the Salukis by a score of 21-14 at McAndrew Stadium in Carbondale.

* Give Trent Miles his first collegiate head coaching victory.

The Indiana State Head Coach

Indiana State is led by first-head head coach Trent Miles, a 1987 graduate of ISU as well as a native of Terre Haute, Ind.  Miles made his debut as a collegiate head football coach on against Eastern Michigan and will be looking for his first victory at Indiana State.  Prior to coming to ISU, Miles spent three seasons (2005-07) as the running backs coach at Washington under head coach Tyrone Willingham and three years at Notre Dame (2002-04) as the wide receivers coach.

The Southern Illinois Head Coach

Southern Illinois is led by first-year head coach Dale Lennon, a 1983 graduate of North Dakota.  Lennon is 2-2, 1-1 in his first season with the Salukis and ranks among the NCAA's Top-25 winningest active coaches at all divisions. Lennon is 104-35 (.748) in 12 years overall as a head coach. He spent two years at NAIA University of Mary (1997-1998) and nine at then-NCAA Division II North Dakota (1999-2007) before taking over at Southern Illinois before the 2008 season when former head coach Jerry Kill accepted the head coaching position at Northern Illinois.

Southern Illinois Scouting Report

Southern Illinois (2-2, 1-1 MVFC) is currently the No. 15/16 ranked team in the country and are coming off a 35-27 loss on the road to North Dakota State.  SIU scored the first 20 points of the game en route to a 20-7 halftime lead, but the Bison rallied for 28 second half points, including 21 in the fourth quarter, to give the Salukis their first conference loss.  The team is averaging 24.5 points per game and are amassing 310 yards per contest of total offense.   Larry Warner has been the go-to in the running game, as he is averaging 79.8 yards per contest with three touchdowns on the season.  Quarterback Chris Dieker has also been very efficient, throwing for nearly 175 yards per game and seven touchdowns on the season.

The Last Time Against Southern Illinois

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. ? Turnovers plagued the Indiana State Sycamores Saturday at Memorial Stadium as the No. 6 nationally-ranked Southern Illinois Salukis routed ISU, 72-10, in the Gateway Football Conference opener for both squads. On the day, the Salukis turned five Sycamore turnovers into 28 points and scored on each of its first 10 drives.

Martinez Goes Long

Freshman placekicker Braulio Martinez is finding his niche in the kicking game for the Sycamores and he's doing so from some pretty hefty distances.  On Saturday against Illinois State, Martinez booted a career-long 44-yard field goal to give the Sycamores a score right before halftime.  Of his three field goals made this season, two are from over 40 yards and he's 3-for-4 overall with the only miss coming in the season opener at Eastern Michigan.

Taking An Early Lead

After struggling to score points early in the season, Indiana State has found a way to take early leads in their last two games.  In back-to-back games, the Sycamores have scored on their first possession of the game to jump ahead of their opponents.  Last Saturday against Illinois State, Corey Varnadore connected on a 25-yard field goal to put ISU up 3-0 early in the game and in the team's previous game against Southeast Missouri State, Darrius Gates plunged into the endzone from one yard out to give the Sycamores an early 7-0 lead.

A Balanced Defense

Indiana State had three players with double-figure tackle efforts against Illinois State on Saturday, marking the first time the Sycamores had done that this season.  Junior defensive back Donye McCleskey led the way with a career-high 17 tackles, including eight solo stops and a tackle for loss.  Junior linebacker Quinton Scott also had another solid game, as he tallied 14 stops including seven solo tackles and a tackle for loss.  Rounding out the busy trio was senior linebacker Jayden Everett, who added 13 tackles on the day including five solos. 

Dynamic Duo

It's not quite Batman and Robin, but ISU linebackers Quinton Scott and Jayden Everett are quickly becoming a force in the middle of the defense for the Sycamores.  Scott (49 total tackles) and Everett (47) are the team's top two tacklers, respectively, and each have over three tackles for loss through the first five games of the season.  In addition, both rank near the top in the conference as well with Scott's 9.8 tackles per game ranking second among all defenders in the league and Everett's 9.4 tackles per game are good enough for a tie for fourth place on the list.