Gameday
Stadium: Fargodome (18,700)
Sycamore Radio: The Crock 92.7 FM
Play-By-Play: Brian Fritz
Analyst: Pete Emmert
Series Record: First Meeting
This will be the first between the two schools in the history of both programs. North Dakota State, along with South Dakota State, joined the Missouri Valley Football Conference prior to the 2008 season and is playing several of the league's schools for the first time in 2008.
Setting The Stage
Coming off a loss on Homecoming to South Dakota State last weekend, Indiana State (0-8, 0-4 MVFC) will play No. 24-ranked North Dakota State University (4-4, 2-3 MVFC) for the first time in school history today at the Fargodome (18,700) and will look to win their first game of the 2008 season. Indiana State held the Jackrabbits to just 16 points at halftime and missed out on key scoring opportunities last weekend, but SDSU dominated the second half and went on to secure a 49-9 victory at Memorial Stadium. The Bison defeated Illinois State by a score of 25-7 in Normal to snap a two-game losing streak and four-game road losing string last Saturday. Today's game will be the first in school history for both teams and the first in Missouri Valley Football Conference play, as NDSU joined the league prior to the start of the season along with SDSU.
An Indiana State Win Over North Dakota State Would ...
* Snap the Sycamores' 22-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 in school history over South Dakota State, as this is the first meeting between the two teams.
* Give Trent Miles his first collegiate head coaching victory and first at ISU.
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 North Dakota State Head Coach
Criag Bohl is in his sixth season (47-16) at North Dakota State. Bohl has led the Bison to back-to-back 10 win seasons over the last two years and led the team to the Great West Football Conference championships in 2006. Bohl has been named a finalist for FCS Coach of the Year twice in his time with the Bison. Prior taking over the reigns at NDSU, Bohl spent eight seasons as an assistant coach at Nebraska and helped the Huskers win two national championships.
North Dakota State Scouting Report
The No. 24-ranked Bison (4-4, 2-3 MVFC) defeated Illinois State, 25-7, in Normal last Saturday to snap a two-game losing streak and four-game road losing string. NDSU will play Indiana State today in its 35th annual Harvest Bowl, in which the Bison have posted a 30-1-2 record in 33 previous games. The Bison are led on offense by senior running back Tyler Roehl, who rushed 30 times for a season-high 229 yards and three touchdowns in last week's win over Illinois State to earn MVFC Offensive Player of the Week Honors. Quarterback Nick Mertens has also been solid on the season, as he has completed nearly 60 percent of his passes on the season for 1,575 yards and 12 touchdowns. On defense, the Bison are led by senior linebacker Ramon Humber. Humber leads the team with 66 total tackles, including 42 solo stops, while adding 3.5 sacks and 5.5 tackles for loss. He's also added on an interception, two pass break ups and has forced two fumbles on in eight starts.
The Last Time Out
TERRE HAUTE, IND. ? Indiana State was down 16-0 at the half to South Dakota State and missed out on three scoring opportunities that could have made the game very close. However, the Jackrabbits (4-4, 3-1 MVFC) dominated the action in the second half, rolling to a 49-9 victory and spoiling the Sycamores' Homecoming game in front of a loud crowd of 6,186 fans.
Pulling Out All The Stops
With the Indiana State offense needing to get on the scoreboard on Saturday against South Dakota State, head coach Trent Miles dove into his playbook and pulled out a special scoring play to give ISU its first points of the day. On the team's first possession of the third quarter, the Sycamores had the ball at the SDSU 42 yard line on 1-and-10. Freshman Ryan Roberts took the snap from center and the pitched the ball to running back Darrius Gates. Gates then stopped in the backfield and tossed a 42-yard strike to wide receiver Jeramie Grey that gave the team its first points of the day.
Return To Paydirt
The Sycamores picked up two points in an unconventional way on Saturday against South Dakota State. Early in the fourth quarter, the Jackrabbits scored a touchdown on a six-yard pass to make the score 35-7 at that time. However, on the extra point attempt, senior Dan Millington leaped up and blocked the Kyle Harris kick which allowed Larry Carter to scoop the ball up and return it all the way for two points for the Sycamores.
A Career Day For Everett
Senior linebacker Jayden Everett set a new standard for the Sycamores on Saturday against South Dakota State. The Newton, Kan., native set a career high with 18 tackles, which is also a season high for any Sycamore defender this year. Eight of those 18 tackles were solo efforts on the day and his efforts helped hold the Jackrabbits to just 16 points before halftime.
Cool Under Pressure
Freshman Ryan Roberts saw his first action of the season at quarterback in the team's loss at Western Illinois. His solid performance in that game moved him up to No. 1 on the depth chart last week and earned him his first career start at quarterback when the Sycamores faced off against the Jackrabbits. Based on his performance in the game, Roberts may be keeping that spot for the foreseeable future. Roberts, who played quarterback in high school, finished the game 15-for-24 for 124 yards passing. He also rushed the ball a season-high 25 times, the most by any Sycamore all season.
Young Guns
Of the 53 players that saw action for the Sycamores in the season opener at Eastern Michigan, a total of 34 of those players were seeing their first-ever collegiate action of any kind. ISU started five players on offense, one newcomer on defense, plus one more on special teams against the Eagles.
