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 Missouri State Head Coach: Terry Allen is in his third season at the helm of the Bears' sideline. Allen has posted a mark of 11-21 in three seasons, plus an overall record of 106-70 in 15 years as a collegiate head coach. Prior to working as the head coach at Missouri State, Allen spent time as the sideline boss at both Kansas and Northern Iowa.
Missouri State Scouting Report: The Bears (3-7, 2-5 MVFC) enter Saturday's game against Indiana State tied for sixth place in the league with Youngstown State and Illinois State. The Bears are led on offense by quarterback Cody Kirby, who has completed 57.5 percent of his passes this season (164-for-285) while throwing for 1,821 yards and 14 touchdowns. Kingjack Washington leads the way on the ground with 106 rushing attempts for 528 yards and a pair of touchdowns while Clay Harbor has caught a team-high 39 passes for 441 yards and two scores. On defense, Roger Wright leads the way with 84 total tackles, including 3.5 tackles for loss.
The Last Time Out Against Missouri State: Missouri State sprinted out to a 28-0 advantage against Indiana State and did not look back as the Sycamores fell to the Bears 63-7 at Plaster Field last season. Redshirt freshman quarterback Charles Dowdell reached the end zone on a 5-yard rush to cut the MSU lead down to 28-7 with 3:59 left on the clock before halftime. Dowdell's scoring rush capped a 12-play, 80-yard drive. Dowdell enjoyed a solid day running the football, gained 78 yards on 17 attempts with a score. He was 8-of-17 passing for 141 yards and a pair of interceptions.
Hardly A Rookie Anymore: Freshman DT Rod Hardy had one of the best games of his career Saturday. He tied his career high with six tackles, including two solo stops, and added a half tackle for loss. He also came up with a big stop on a fourth-and-inches play in ISU territory that denied the Panthers a first down on their first possession of the game.
Here's The Low Down: ISU freshman FB Brock Lough was a vital part of the offense for the Sycamores on Saturday against the No. 4 ranked Panthers. Due to wet and windy conditions at game time, the running game had to control the clock for ISU and Lough was a big part of that. The Terre Haute, Ind., native carried the ball six times for 35 yards for an average of 5.8 yards per carry against UNI. On the season, Lough is carrying the ball for an average of 3.5 yards per rush and ranks fifth on the team with 139 total yards.
A T-Total Team Effort: Seven Indiana State players recorded at least six tackles or more in the game, with Jerry Calvert, C.J. Cook and Jayden Everett leading the way with eight tackles each. Donye McCleskey, Darius Middlebrooks and Alex Sewall each added seven stops from the secondary and defensive tackle Rod Hardy added six tackles to complete the team effort.
We'll Take That: Indiana State took advantage of a couple of mistakes made by Youngstown State, which helped the Sycamores take a 21-7 lead at one point in the second quarter. As YSU running back Kamryn Keys attempted to gain a first down for the Penguins, ISU linebacker Darrell Ricker forced a fumble and safety Donye McCleskey scooped the ball up and returned it 47 yards for the touchdown with 10:04 remaining in the half. The fumble return for a touchdown was ISU's first since 2007, when Mike Woods returned one against Eastern Illinois. In all, the Sycamores forced three fumbles during the game and recovered two of those miscues.
What's The Rush?: Indiana State featured the rushing game heavily against Youngstown State, racking up a total of 211 yards on the ground. That performance was the second-highest effort of the season (218 yards vs. SEMO) but it accounted for nearly all the team's total offense yards of 238 against the Penguins. Darrius Gates led the way with 116 yards, a career-high.
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.
