Ace Hunt
GoSycamores.com
INDIANA
STATE WEEKLY RELEASE
MISSOURI VALLEY
FOOTBALL CONFERENCE WEEKLY RELEASE
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Setting The Stage
Indiana State continues year two of the Trent Miles Era on Saturday, Oct. 24, as the Sycamores host Western Illinois in the annual Homecoming contest. Saturday's game is set for a 3:05 p.m. (ET) kickoff at Memorial Stadium (12,704). The game will also be carried live on ESPN Radio (1130 and 1300 AM), with Brian Fritz and Dave Sabaini calling the action for the Nelligan Sports Marketing Radio Network. Action can be heard live worldwide on ESPNSportsRadio.com, and live stats are available at GoSycamores.com. The game is also available on a pay-per-view basis on GoSycamores.com, for the cost of $6.95.
The Indiana State Head Coach
Indiana State is led by head coach Trent Miles, a 1987 ISU graduate and Terre Haute native. Miles made his head coaching debut last season against Eastern Michigan and carries a record of 0-19 into Saturday's game. Miles previously spent three seasons (2005-07) as the running backs coach at Washington and three years at Notre Dame (2002-04) as the wide receivers coach. Miles is 0-1 against the Fighting Leathernecks, and is 0-12 against members of the Missouri Valley Football Conference.
The Western Illinois Head Coach
The Western Illinois acting head coach is Mark Hendrickson, who took over for head football coach emeritus Don Patterson earlier this season. The Fighting Leathernecks are 0-3 under Hendrickson since he took over for Patterson on September 25. Hendrickson was the WIU acting head coach last season when they earned a 56-0 victory over the Sycamores in Macomb.
Scouting Western Illinois
Western Illinois is a member of the NCAA FCS Subdivision and competes in the MVFC. The Fighting Leathernecks are 1-5 on the season, coming off a last minute 17-16 home loss to Missouri State last week. WIU opened the season with a 35-28 road victory over Sam Houston State and has since lost five consecutive contests. Dre Gibbs leads WIU with 620 rushing yards on 141 attempts in six games played. Quarterback Matt Bar is 50-of-104 passing for 914 yards and five touchdowns. Lito Senatus leads WIU with 36 pass receptions for 518 yards, averaging 14.4 yards per catch with three touchdowns. He is averaging 86.3 yards per game on pass receptions.
A Little History
This marks the 105th season of football at Indiana State, dating back to 1896. The University did not field teams from 1899 to 1900, 1908 or from 1910 to 1919. ISU owns an all-time record of 338-462-22 and is competing for the 24th consecutive season as a member of the MVFC.
What's Transpired
Indiana State opened the season with a 26-20 overtime loss against Quincy at Memorial Stadium. The game drew regional attention, as 7,216 fans were in attendance. The Sycamores bounced out to a quick 17-0 lead in the first quarter against the Hawks - ISU's largest lead over an opponent since 2004 -- but Quincy came back to knot the score at 20 with 43 seconds left in regulation. Darrius Gates paced the Sycamores with 102 yards on the ground and also threw a 75-yard touchdown pass as the offense showed spark early in the game.
ISU enjoyed its closest game against a member of the NCAA Division I FBS Subdivision since 2003 with a 30-10 loss at Louisville. Santino Davis recorded a pair of interceptions in falling to the BIG EAST opponent.
The Sycamores were shut out in their third contest of the season against Eastern Illinois by a 31-0 count. It marked the first time ISU was shut out by the Panthers since 1962 and their 95 yards of total offense was the Sycamores' lowest total since the 2003 campaign.
Indiana State battled tough at No. 18 South Dakota State in the first half, but it wasn't enough, as the Jackrabbits took it to the Sycamores late in the second quarter en route to a 41-0 win over ISU. ISU trailed just 3-0 in the waning moments of the first half, but a blocked punt and a touchdown with less than a minute remaining helped SDSU to the game's momentum and the eventual victory. Senior Donye McCleskey recorded a season-best 15 tackles in defeat, plus his first interception of the season. ISU was shutout in back-to-back games for the first time since the 1999 season.
The Sycamores were shutout for the third consecutive game, falling 28-0 to Youngstown State. The Penguins owned just a 7-0 lead in the fourth quarter as the Sycamores held YSU without a score for nine consecutive possessions and did not allow a first down to Youngstown in third stanza. Indiana State went over the 100-yard mark in total offense, but were not able to reach pay dirt, falling to 0-2 in league play.
Indiana State defensive tackle turned fullback Rod Hardy got the Sycamores on the board in the third quarter of the Northern Iowa contest to break a 17-quarter streak without scoring a touchdown. The Sycamores fell to No. 3 nationally-ranked Panthers on Oct. 3 by the score of 62-7.
ISU put on its best offensive performance of the season on the road against Illinois State as they scored a season-high 21 points versus the Redbirds, but the Sycamores fell 38-21. Ryan Roberts found the end zone twice for Indiana State and the Sycamores rolled up 354 yards of total offense, including a 37-yard scoring pass from Roberts to Bryant Kent in the final two minutes of the game. Antoine Brown recorded 102 yards on the ground to become just the Sycamores' second rusher to top the century mark this season.
Homecoming Notes
It's Homecoming on the Indiana State campus this week as the Sycamores host Western Illinois on Saturday to cap off a week full of festivities. The contest between Western Illinois and Indiana State is the 81st Homecoming football game to be played at ISU. All-time, the Sycamores are 43-35-2 in Homecoming games, including a mark of 3-0 against the Fighting Leathernecks. The last time WIU was the Sycamores' Homecoming opponent came in 1999, when the Sycamores earned a 39-36 overtime victory. That game also was the last time that Indiana State downed a nationally-ranked opponent. Indiana State has also been victorious versus WIU on Homecoming in both 1985 (W, 42-24) as well as 1972 (W, 41-7). ISU last won its Homecoming game in 2006 with a 28-22 Gateway Football Conference victory over Missouri State, 28-22. Indiana State has dropped each of its last two Homecoming contest (2007, vs. Western Kentucky, 56-7 & 2008, vs. South Dakota State, 49-6).
Getting Down With Antoine Brown
Senior tailback Antoine Brown enjoyed his most productive day as a Sycamore last week against Illinois State when he became just the Sycamores' second 100-yard rusher of the season with a 17 rush, 102-yard effort versus the Redbirds. Darrius Gates opened the season a 102-yards on the ground against Quincy in the season opener. Brown broke off a team season-long rush of 39 yards against Illinois State and averaged six yards per carry. ISU was the most effective it has been all season on offense as they gained a weekly Missouri Valley Football Conference high 232 yards on the ground against Illinois State and posted 354 yards of total offense.
Getting In The End Zone
Making his third start this season as quarterback, sophomore Ryan Roberts had something to with all three of Indiana State's three offensive touchdowns against Illinois State last week as the ISU scored a season-high 21 points versus the 'Birds. Roberts became the first Sycamore since the 2008 season finale (Darrius Gates against Missouri State) to score two touchdowns in a single game. Roberts reached pay dirt on the ground from 17 yards out and then scored again from six yards away as the Sycamores fell 38-21 to Illinois State. Roberts also connected on a 39-yard scoring pass with Bryant Kent in the final two minutes of the contests, to give ISU its longest play from scrimmage since the season opener against Quincy.
Sycamores Have Three Of Top Six Tacklers In The League
Indiana State redshirt freshman linebacker Aaron Archie ranks third in the Missouri Valley Football Conference with a 9.6 tackles per game average, which leads the Sycamores. He heads up a group of three Sycamore defensive starters, which rank in the Top six league-wide for tackles per game. Behind Archie is Donye McCleskey, who is averaging 9.3 stops per contest and is fourth in the league. Sophomore Alex Sewall is sixth with an 8.7 tackles per game average.
Return To Sender
Indiana State has been solid in special teams, as the punt return squad ranks 25th nationally with an 10.78 yards-per-return average. That mark is good enough for second in the MVFC. Individually, Darrius Gates is averaging 28.62 yards per kickoff return which is second in the league and eighth-best nationally. As a team, the Sycamores average 19.91 yards per kick return, which is 68th nationally and in a league which boasts some of the best special teams in all of the FCS Subdivision, is fifth in the MVFC.
Facing The Best
The Sycamores face have already faced a pair of nationally ranked foes this season, both on the road, at South Dakota State and Northern Iowa. ISU has not beaten an opponent in the Top 25 since downing No. 19 Western Illinois on Oct. 23, 1999. The Sycamores are 8-68 all-time against FCS nationally-ranked opponents, including a mark of 6-49 against league members that are nationally ranked. Indiana State's next two opponents, Illinois State & Western Illinois, are not expected to be nationally ranked.
Sycamores Against The Missouri Valley Football Conference
Indiana State is in its 24th season as a member of the MVFC. ISU's first season as a league member came in 1986 when it went 1-5 through a six-game league schedule. The Sycamores are 39-110 in MVFC contests and have lost each of their last 21 league matchups. ISU's last victory over a member of the league came on Oct. 21, 2006 against Missouri State (28-22). The Sycamores' last road victory over a MVFC opponent came on Nov. 9, 2002 at Southern Illinois, a 21-14 ISU victory.
BARRELLING IN
Indiana State debuted a new jumbo package against No. 3 Northern Iowa in the Sycamores' last game before the open week and the benefactor was Rod Hardy, who has started all six games this season at defensive tackle. Hardy, who recovered a UNI fumble to give the Sycamores a short field offensively, plunged into the end zone to give ISU its first offensive points since the second game of the season at Louisville. Hardy was the first ISU player since 2005 to score an offensive touchdown despite starting the game on defense. Josh Jones scored on a pass reception that season against Western Kentucky in a game in which he also started at linebacker.
We Are Mostly...Young
Of the 84 players on the current Indiana State roster, a total of 65 student-athletes are underclassmen -- or just over 76 percent. There are 38 true or redshirt freshmen on the roster currently. A total of 19 student-athletes have seen their first collegiate action this season, including 18 true or redshirt freshmen.
Few Seniors
Indiana State has just 10 players on its roster who are seniors. Of those, Mike Woods and Elliott Thomas are fifth-year seniors, while Donye McCleskey, Jeramie Gray, Jerry Calvert, Dan Millington, Pat Burke, and Bill McGrath are in their fourth year. Antoine Brown and Gabe Mullane transferred into the Sycamore program and are in their final season as well. Indiana State has the fourth fewest seniors on a 2009 roster nationally.
Working Overtime
The Sycamores have played in 11 overtime contests since the rule was established for regular season games in the NCAA FCS Subdivision in 1996. The Sycamores are 6-5 in games that have used an extra period, including a 33-30 overtime win over Eastern Illinois in 2004.
Up Next
Indiana State stays at home to face nationally-ranked Southern Illinois on Halloween Saturday, October 31. Kickoff is set for Noon (ET).
