Ace Hunt
GoSycamores.com
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. -- Indiana State has defeated a member of the NCAA FBS Subdivision for the first time since 2001 in downing former Missouri Valley Football Conference rival and current member of the Sun Belt Conference, Western Kentucky by the score of 44-16 in front of 15,793 fans at Houchens Industries-L.T. Smith Stadium.
ISU improves to 2-1 on the young season while WKU fell to 0-3. It was the first victory for Indiana State over WKU since 1995 and its first victory in Bowling Green since 1994. The Sycamores had lost each of the previous 12 meetings in the all-time series. The two teams had not met since 2007.
More importantly, Indiana State earned its first victory over an FBS program since a 2001 victory over Eastern Michigan -- also on the road. ISU's 2-1 start to the season is its best since a 4-1 burst out of the gate in 2004. The win, coupled with Indiana State's victory last week over Butler, gives the Sycamores its first consecutive non-conference victories over NCAA Division I foes since 2004. The win was also Indiana State's first road non-conference victory since a 2004 win at Eastern Illinois.
The Sycamores' 44 points against Western Kentucky ties the school record for most points scored against an FBS school with a 44-point outburst in 1984 against Louisville.
Indiana State opened up the scoring with a 14-yard touchdown pass from Ronnie Fouch to Justin Hilton as he tip-toed just inside the end line for a quick 7-0 advantage with 8:32 left in the first half. The drive covered just two plays and 74 yards as the touchdown was set up by a 70-yard bomb from Fouch to Hilton and was followed by a pair of Indiana State false start penalites and then the scoring pass.
Neither team scored again until Jesse Roy connected on a 40-yard field goal with 6:45 left in the second quarter to make it 7-3 in favor of the Trees. ISU answered right back with a quick, three-play, 60-yard drive in just 1:09 which was capped with a 46-yard rushing touchdown by sophomore Shakir Bell to push the Sycamores ahead 14-3 with 5:36 remaining in the half.
WKU threatened to add a score in the waning seconds of the first half, but senior Larry Carter stepped up with an interception and returned it 65-yards which set up Cory Little's career-long 43-yard field goal as time expired as ISU took a 17-3 lead into the locker room.
In the first half, ISU amassed 160 yards of total offense on just 21 plays while WKU had 151 total yards on 37 plays.
The second half began the way that the first half ended with Larry Carter garnering a turnover, this time recovering a WKU fumble and the Sycamores scored six plays later on Fouch's second TD pass of the game to Hilton -- this one a 27-yarder throught the air with 9:45 left in the third quarter for a 24-3 advantage.
ISU stretched their lead out to 27-3 with a 42-yard field by Cory Little with 5:02 left in the third quarter and added a six-yard pass from Fouch to Alex Jones with 3:38 on the clock to make it 34-3.
Western Kentucky's Kawaun Jakes hit Kadeem Jones for a 21-yard touchdown with 2:52 left in the third quarter but the extra point was missed as ISU kept its lead at 34-9. WKU kept the pressure on the Sycamores with a 26-yard touchdown pass from Jakes to Marcus Vasquez with 12 seconds left in third quarter as ISU continued to hold the advantage of 37-16 heading into the final stanza.
In the 4th quarter Bell moved the ball down the field before finally scoring on a 13 yard rush to put the Sycamores ahead 44-16 with just under eight minutes to play. The Sycamores then stopped the Hilltoppers from closing the gap any further when with 45 seconds remaining in the game the Sycamores forced a fumble before getting in the victory formation to end the game by a final score of 44-16.
The win marks the first BCS school the Sycamores have beat since 2001 when they beat Eastern Michigan.
Bell led the way for the Sycamores with 221 yards rushing on 25 carries for the Sycamores with two touchdowns. His 221 yards rushing are a career-high, the most in a game by a Sycamore since 2008 and the fifth-best single-game rushing total in school history. Fouch finished the game going 14-24 with three touchdowns and one interception. Hilton also had 143 receiving yards and two touchdowns for ISU.
As a team the Sycamores racked up 436 total yards of offense and scored on all four of their chances in the red zone.
One scary moment on the day came during the opening kickoff when sophomore running back George Cheeseborough went down on the return and was taken off the field in an ambulance. Cheeseborough will be staying overnight in the Bowling Green Medical Center for observation. He does have consciousness and feeling in all extremities but has tingling in his shoulder.
Indiana State returns to action on Saturday, September 24 in the Missouri Valley Football Conference opener for the Sycamores as they host Youngstown State at Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 2:05 p.m. (ET) and will be televised on Valley Live, the league's all digital network.
