SETTING THE STAGE
Indiana State continues year three of the Trent Miles Era on Saturday, Oct. 16, with the final leg of a season-long three-game homestand against Missouri State, presented by Pepsi. Saturday's game is set for a 4:05 p.m. (ET) kickoff at Memorial Stadium (12,734). The game will air live world-wide on MVC Live with Joe Zydio and Nick Hill calling the action. The game will also be carried live on ESPN Radio (92.7 FM & 1300 AM), with Brian Fritz and Ernie Thompson calling the action for the Nelligan Sports Marketing Radio Network. Action can be heard live worldwide on GoSycamores.com. ISU will also be running a live blog on GoSycamores.com and will be providing regular updates at facebook.com/Sycamores as well as twitter.com/IndStAthletics. Fans interested in watching the online broadcast on Valley Live can access the free web stream on either Sycamore Vision or on the Missouri Valley Football Conference's web site (valley-football.org).

THE MISSOURI STATE SERIES
Missouri State leads the all-time series against Indiana State by a 16-8 margin. The Sycamores and Bears are deadlocked with a 6-all tie in games played at Memorial Stadium. The Bears have won three straight in the series, with ISU's last victory coming on Oct. 21, 2006 with a 28-22 victory at home.

THE COACHES
INDIANA STATE: Trent Miles (Indiana State '87)
- Overall: 4-24 (3rd Season)
- at Indiana State: 4-24 (3rd Season)
- vs. Missouri State: 0-2
- vs. Missouri Valley Football Conference: 2-16
MISSOURI STATE: Terry Allen (UNI, '79)
- Overall: 115-88 (18th Season)
- at Missouri State: 20-29 (Fifth Season)
- vs. Indiana State: 10-2
- vs. MVFC: 51-27

QUICK HITS
- Indiana State quarterback Ronnie Fouch has tossed for over 200 yards in the each of the last two games and can tie Blayne Baggett in 2005 for the school record of three straight 200-yard passing performances with another one this week against Missouri State. Baggett had two separate streaks of three in 2005.
- The Sycamores could start the season with a 4-2 record for the first time since 2004 with a victory over Missouri State.
- Indiana State posted a school record 44 points in a half against Illinois State, which is a new school record for points in a half during a conference contest. The Sycamores' 35-point margin of victory (59-24) versus the 'Birds is its largest ever in a conference contest and the 59 points is the second-most ever scored against a league opponent (record is 66 at Southern Illinois in 1999).

The Indiana State Head Coach
Indiana State head coach Trent Miles (Indiana State, 1987) is 4-24 (.143) overall in his third season as a head coach, all with the Sycamores. He is 2-16 all-time in MVFC games, including a 2-7 mark at home. During his career, he is 4-10 in all home games and 1-2 in games decided by three points or less. Miles is 0-2 all-time against Missouri State, including a 0-1 record at Memorial Stadium. With the Trees, Miles is 0-2 in overtime games, and 0-5 in shutouts. Saturday's game is Trent Miles' 29th game as Indiana State head coach.

The Missouri State Head Coach
Missouri State head coach Terry Allen (Northern Iowa, 1979) is 115-88 (.567) overall in his 18th season as a head coach. He is also 20-29 (.408) in his fifth season at Missouri State. He is 51-27 all-time in MVFC games, including a 22-17 mark on the road. During his career, he is 38-58 in all road games and 23-12 in games decided by three points or less. Allen is 10-2 all-time against Indiana State, including a 5-2 record at Memorial Stadium. With the Bears, Allen is 7-17 away from Plaster Field, 11-20 in MVFC play (5-10 away and 6-10 at home), 1-1 in overtime games, and 0-1 in shutouts. Today's game is Terry Allen's 50th game as Missouri State head coach and 204th overall as a collegiate head coach.

Scouting The Bears
Missouri State is a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference and come into Memorial Stadium with a 2-3 overall record as well as a mark of 1-1 in league play. The Bears outlasted Youngstown State, 35-25 at home and fell 44-41 in overtime at Illinois State. Missouri State quarterback Cody Kirby tops the league in scoring with a 10.8 points per game average while junior kicker Jordan Chiles is third with a 8.0 ppg average. The Bears have scored 190 points through their first five games which is the most since the 1922 squad notched an 241 points during the same stretch of games.

A Little History
This marks the 106th 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 342-467-22 and is competing for the 25th consecutive season as a member of the MVFC.

What's Transpired
Indiana State won its season opener with a 57-7 decision over St. Joseph's (Ind.) on Sept. 4. The Sycamores scored the game's first 23 points against the Pumas en route to the 50 point victory. ISU was led by senior Darrius Gates who finished with 160 rushing yards while freshman Shakir Bell burst onto the scene with 133 yards on the ground in his Sycamore debut. ISU trailed just 12-7 at halftime at two-time defending BIG EAST Champion Cincinnati en route to falling 40-7. Ronnie Fouch found 11 different receivers as he finished 23-of-38 passing for 161 yards and a touchdown pass to Alex Jones. Indiana State dropped its Missouri Valley Football Conference opener at Western Illinois by the score of 40-7 on a sloppy track in Macomb, Ill. ISU was led by Brock Lough who compiled 38 muddy yards on the ground and scored the lone ISU touchdown of the contest with his 1-yard run in the third quarter. The Sycamores improved to 2-2 on the season with a convincing 56-22 victory over Quincy. Bell and Gates both eclipsed the 100-yard rushing mark and Ronnie Fouch became the first Sycamore quarterback to go over the 200-yard passing mark and throw four touchdowns in a single-game since the 2006 season. The Sycamores kept up their winning ways and improved to 3-2 on the season with a convincing 59-24 Homecoming victory over Illinois State. The Sycamores were led by Ronnie Fouch, who completed 16-of-22 passes for 250 yards and four touchdowns while Shakir Bell ran the ball 14 times for 146 yards with a touchdown. Bryant Kent paced the Trees with seven receptions for 118 yards and a pair of receptions.

Fouch Is League's Top Offensive Player And Newcomer Of The Week
Ronnie Fouch took home his first Missouri Valley Football Conference Offensive Player Of The Week award as well as the school's first Newcomer Of The Week Award for his performance against Illinois State on Homecoming. Fouch completed 16-of-22 passes for 250 yards and four touchdowns in the Sycamores' 59-24 victory over Illinois State on Homecoming at Memorial Stadium. Fouch led ISU to touchdowns on their first seven possessions en route to scoring on nine of the Sycamores' 12 possessions in the game. Additionally, Fouch also caught a 34-yard pass out of the "Wild Sam" formation from Darrius Gates and Fouch find five different receivers in the contest. His long pass of the day was a 44-yard TD strike to Justin Hilton in the game's second quarter. Fouch has now reached the 200-yard passing mark in each of the last two games and is the first Sycamore quarterback to throw four touchdowns in consecutive games.

Fouch And Two Others Earn National Honorable Mention Honors From College Sports Performance Awards
Fouch, took home honorable mention honors as the National FCS Quarterback Of The Week for his efforts against Illinois State. Shakir Bell was also an honorable mention selection for National FCS Running Back Of The Week for his efforts against the Redbirds. Bell went over the 100-yard rushing mark for the second consecutive game, tallying 146 yards on the ground as part of the 59-24 Homecoming victory over Illinois State. Bell had a long rush of 62 yards on the day, which proved to be his lone touchdown in the contest. Bell sparked a rushing attack that tallied 295 yards on the ground as part of the victory. Finally, Bryant Kent was an honorable mention selection for National FCS Wide Receiver Of The Week for his efforts versus Illinois State. Kent became the first wide receiver for the Sycamores in five years that reached the 100-yard receiving mark in back-to-back contests with his seven catch, 118-yard performance against Illinois State. Kent caught a pair of touchdown passes for Fouch in the victory. The purpose of the College Football Performance Awards is to provide the most scientifically rigorous conferments in college football. Recipients are selected exclusively based upon objective scientific rankings of the extent to which individual players increase the overall effectiveness of their teams. As prominent scholars from a wide variety of disciplines note, CFPA eliminates the politics and biases that vitiate balloting-based awards. Furthermore, CFPA is the only awards organization to receive praise from both Republican and Democratic White House officials for promoting objectivity and fairness in college football.

Getting Some National Respect
Indiana State received eight votes in this week's The Sports Network/Fathead.com Top 25 after their 59-24 Homecoming victory over Illinois State. It is the third poll this season that the Sycamores have received votes. The eight votes puts ISU 50th on the list this week. The Sycamores received a season-high 12 votes in the preseason poll.

Obviously, Obaseki
Sophomore Ben Obaseki recorded six total tackles, including a trio of tackles for loss and a pair of quarterback sacks in the 59-24 Homecoming victory over Illinois State. Obaseki's second quarterback came midway through the fourth quarter and resulted in a safety which put the Sycamores over the 50-point mark for the second consecutive week.

Keepin' Them Busy In The Booth
Indiana State's 44 points scored in the first half against Illinois State is the most a Sycamore team has ever scored in a half during league play. Indiana State scored 44 first points as part of the 59-24 victory over Illinois State, which is the most for the Sycamores in one half since they posted 49 in the first half against West Virginia Tech in 1994. Additionally, the 59 points that the Sycamores scored in the game is the second-most for an ISU team in league play, just behind the 66 points tallied in 1999 against Southern Illinois. ISU's 56 points versus Quincy and 59 versus Illinois State is the first time in the history of the program that the Sycamores have eclipsed the 50-point mark in consecutive games. Add in the 57-point performance against St. Joseph's and the Sycamores have reached the 50-point milestone a total of three times through their first five games.

Doin' Something For The First Time!
Indiana State has had a 200-yard passer, a 100-yard rusher and a 100-yard receiver in consecutive games for the first time in school history with several individual performances against Quincy and Illinois State. Ronnie Fouch has been over the 200-yard mark in both contests while Shakir Bell has reached 100-yards rushing in both games and Bryant Kent has reached 100 yards receiving in each of the last two weeks.

This Is Our House!
Indiana State improved to 3-0 for the 2010 season at Memorial Stadium, giving the Sycamores a trio of home victories for the first time since 2004. With the victory over Illinois State, the Sycamores have assured themselves of at least a .500 winning percentage at home for the first time since going 3-2 during 2004.

Touchdown Passes At A Rapid Rate
Indiana State quarterback Ronnie Fouch has completed a total of nine touchdown passes this season, including eight in the past two weeks against Quincy and Illinois State. Fouch's nine touchdown passes through five games has broken quite a dry spell for the Sycamore passing attack as you have to go back a total of 29 games to tally nine passing touchdowns prior to Fouch's first scoring strike of the season against Cincinnati in the season's second game. In a span that began with the Illinois State contest in 2007 and concludes with the 2010 season opener against St. Joseph's, the Sycamores completed a total of nine touchdown passes. Fouch has matched that total in the last four games (1 at Cincinnati, 0 at Western Illinois, 4 vs. Quincy and 4 vs. Illinois State). Fouch as also reached the 200-yard passing mark in each of the last two games could tie an ISU record with three consecutive games of over 200 yards passing against Missouri State (currently held by Blayne Baggett who did it twice in 2005). Fouch currently leads the league with a 146.09 pass efficiency rating, which is 13th best in the nation.

Points Are Starting To Pile Up
Indiana State has scored 186 points through its first five games this season, averaging 37.2 points per game which ranks second in the league to Missouri State and is seventh-best in the nation. The school record for points in a season is 319, which was tallied by the 1992 squad. Through the first five games of the record breaking 1992 season, the Sycamores had scored 119 points. ISU's 186 points through just five games has already passed the Sycamores' season totals from each of the last three seasons (123 in 2007, 101 in 2008 and 99 in 2009).

Gates Leading The Scoring Charge & Nearing Top 10 Rushing At ISU
Indiana State senior Darrius Gates has reached the end zone a total of eight times this season and leads the team in scoring with 48 points, which is tied for the 23rd most points scored by one player in a year. The school record is 82 points, held by Scott Bridges in 1984. Gates 9.6 ppg average ranks second in the league and is tied for sixth nationally. His 48 points are the most in a season since Jake Shields tallied the same amount in 2002 and his eight TD's are also the most since Shields' 2002 effort. The school record for touchdowns scored in a season is 13 by Willie Lee in 1972. Gates has also amassed 1,300 career rushing yards, which is just 196 yards away from catching Dean Klink (1966-68) for 10th on ISU's all-time list.

Bell Tracking Some Freshman Records
Indiana State freshman tailback Shakir Bell has tallied 525 rushing yards on 61 attempts this season in his initial season with the Sycamore football program. The ISU freshman record for rushing yards is 1,313, tallied by David Wright in 1992. Bell needs 788 more rushing yards this season to tackle Wright's freshman rushing record, which would be an average of 131 yards per game through the season's final six contests. Bell is currently leading ISU with a 105 rushing yards per game average, which is third in the league and 16th in the nation. Wright's 225 rushing yards against Western Illinois in 1992 in the program's single-game freshman rushing record. Bell's 525 rushing yards this season is already the 33rd-most for a Sycamore in a single-season.

Sycamores Have Doubled Up On The Ground Twice This Season
Shakir Bell paced Indiana State with 156 yards rushing to led the Sycamores' ground attack against Quincy. He was joined over the 100-yard mark by Darrius Gates who rushed for 139 yards. It marked the second time this season that the Sycamore duo have both reached the century mark on the ground in the same game as both also did it in the season opener against St. Joseph's. Gates also scored three touchdowns versus the Hawks, marking the second time this season he has reached the end zone three times in a game (the other coming against the Pumas in the opener). Gates and Bell became the first Sycamore duo since the 2004 campaign to each reach the 100-yard rushing mark in the same game when they accomplished that feat against St. Joseph's (Ind.). Gates had 160 yards on the ground while Bell posted 133 matching the double 100-yard rushing efforts of Sidney Montfort and Jake Shields in 2004 against UT-Martin.

Sycamores Getting It Done On The Line
Indiana State is amassing rushing yards at a 242.2 per game average, which is third in the league and 11th in the nation, which is a credit to the offensive line. The Sycamores have also allowed just .60 quarterbacks per game, which leads the MVFC and is tied for the eighth-best mark in the nation. Conversely, the Sycamore defensive line is getting it done as Ben Obaseki is second in the league with his .70 quarterback sacks per game average, a number which is tied for 38th in the nation. Obaseki's 1.5 tackles per loss average is tops in the league and ranks in a tie for 21st nationally.

Can't Get "Pass"ed Us
Indiana State is allowing a paltry 160.2 yards passing per game, which is third in the Missouri Valley Football Conference and also ranks 23rd in the nation.

Sycamores Against The Missouri Valley Football Conference
Indiana State is in its 25th 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 41-113 in MVFC contests and have won two of their last six league matchups, marking the first time since the 2002 season that an ISU team has won multiple league contests over a similar stretch.

Preseason Selections
Indiana State sophomore Aaron Archie and junior Rod Hardy each garnered Preseason All-Missouri Valley Football Conference mentions as announced by the league office before the start of fall camp. The Sycamores were picked to finish ninth in the MVFC this season.

Darrius Gates Named Preseason All-American
Indiana State senior Darrius Gates has been named to the College Sporting News FCS All-American Second Team at the end of the summer. All14 FCS Conferences as well as 58 schools and 99 student-athletes nationwide were represented on one of the three squads. CSN is the largest news organization exclusively covering the FCS at CollegeSportingNews.com and ChampionshipSubdivisionNews.com.

Last season he was an All-MVFC Honorable Mention selection as a return specialist. In addition to his exploits as a running back, he tallied 514 yards on kickoff returns in 19 attempts, averaging 27.1 yards per return, including a season-best 57-yarder against Eastern Illinois. His kickoff return average led the MVFC and was ranked fifth nationally. His 82.2 all-purpose yards per game was 12th-best in the league.

The National Eye
Indiana State junior kicker Brett Sheldon, who was born with a physical handicap, was featured this summer on an episode of The Dr. Phil Show titled "Driven To Succeed." Sheldon walked on to the team in the spring and is listed on the team's depth chart out of preseason camp. During the Dr. Phil Show he was featured along with New Orleans Saints head coach -- and former Sycamore assistant -- Sean Peyton. The Dr. Phil film crew was inside Memorial Stadium during the Spring Game and footage of the Sycamores' spring scrimmage was featured on the national television program.

Sycamores In The Pros
Two former Sycamores played in NFL Preseason contests this fall. Donye McCleskey played in one preseason contest for the Indianapolis Colts where he made a trio of tackles while Jamie Petrowski played in a pair of preseason contests with the Carolina Panthers. Former Sycamore DeJuan Alfonzo plays for the Chicago Rush of the Arena Football League and was named the 2010 Ironman Of The Year.

Few Seniors
Indiana State has just eight players on its roster who are seniors. Of those, Darrius Gates and Pat Burke are fifth-year seniors, while Milton Redwine, Bryant Kent, Josh Jellison and Nate Brown are in their fourth year. Jordan Scott and Larry Lacotti transferred into the Sycamore program and are in their final season as well.

In 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. ISU's last overtime victory came in the form of a 41-38 victory over Illinois State in 2004. The Sycamores have dropped each of their last two overtime contests.

Up Next
The Sycamores travel to North Dakota State for their second Missouri Valley Football Conference road contest of the season on October 23. Kickoff at the Fargodome is set for 4:00 p.m. (ET) and can be heard live on ESPN Sports Radio 92.7 FM & 1300 AM.