No. 22/24 INDIANA STATE AT No. 19/20 SOUTHERN ILLINOIS
Saluki Stadium (15,000), Carbondale, Ill.
October 25, 2014, 7:00 p.m. ET

QUICK HITS
>> The No. 22/24 Indiana State Sycamores continue the 2014 season when they travel to No. 19/20 Southern Illinois on Saturday, October 25. Kick-off is set for 7:00 p.m. (ET) and will be televised locally on WTWO-TV as well as worldwide on ESPN3. This is the 110th season of intercollegiate football at Indiana State University.
>> Indiana State will be playing their fifth consecutive nationally-ranked opponent when they travel to No. 19/20 Southern Illinois. The Sycamores began their current streak of playing the nation's best with home victories over Liberty and Northern Iowa. It continued against Illinois State in the annual Homecoming contest and on the road versus No. 1 North Dakota State.
>> Junior linebacker Connor Underwood recorded at least one quarterback sack in each of the Sycamores' first six games. Underwood now has 22 quarterback sacks for his career and needs just 3.5 more to tie Kyle Mitchell's record of 25.5. Additionally he is just 12.5 tackles for a loss off that Sycamore school record as well.

An Indiana State Win Over Southern Illinois Would …
• Give the Sycamores a 3-2 record against nationally-ranked opponents over the last five weeks and be Indiana State's second since joining the MVFC in a game featuring two nationally ranked opponents (11th such occurrence).
• Give the Sycamores two wins in their last two trips to Carbondale.
• Be Indiana State's first road MVFC victory since a 23-7 victory at Western Illinois on October 20, 2012.

The Indiana State Head Coach
Indiana State head coach Mike Sanford (Southern California, 1978) is 21-57 (.269) overall in his seventh season as a head coach and is 5-14 (.263) in his second season with Indiana State. He is 1-10 all-time in MVFC games, including an 1-5 mark at home and an 0-5 mark on the road. During his career, he is 17-23 in all home games, 4-34 on the road and 6-8 in games decided by three points or less. Sanford is 0-1 all-time against Southern Illinois and is 0-0 against the Salukis on the road. With the Trees, Sanford is 0-0 in overtime games and 0-1 in shutouts. Saturday's game is Mike Sanford's 20th as the Indiana State head coach and his 79th as a collegiate head coach.

The Southern Illinois Head Coach
Dale Lennon is the seventh-year head coach of Southern Illinois. He is 47-31 in Carbondale while he is 149-64 in 19 seasons overall.

Scouting The Salukis
Southern Illinois checks in at No. 19/20 in the two major FCS national polls and are also riding a two-game losing streak, which includes a loss in Fargo. The Salukis won each of their first three games before falling in Week 4 at Purdue. SIU opened MVFC play with a pair of victories over Western Illinois and South Dakota before falling on the road to No. 1 North Dakota State and No. 19 Youngstown State over the past two weeks. Mark Iannotti has completed 152-of-246 passes for 1,753 yards and 16 touchdowns while his top target is MyCole Pruitt who has 53 receptions for 628 yards and eight touchdowns. On defense, Chase Allen has 58 total tackles, including four for a loss and one sack. Tyler Williamson leads with four sacks while Lamonte Edwards has six tackles for a loss.

A Little History
This marks the 110th 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 363-492-22 and is competing for the 29th consecutive season as a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference.

The Southern Illinois Series
Indiana State and Southern Illinois are meeting for the 52nd time on the gridiron this Saturday with the Salukis holding a 27-24 advantage. In Carbondale, SIU holds a 14-9 advantage. The Sycamores earned a 24-3 win in their last trip to Carbondale on September 29, 2012. That marks the only win over the Salukis that the Sycamores own since 2003.

Television Particulars
The Southern Illinois game can be seen live locally on WTWO-TV (Channel 2) as well as on ESPN3. Fans can watch the game online at WatchESPN.com or by downloading the Watch ESPN app on their smartphone or tablet.

Sycamores In The National Rankings For Fourth Consecutive Week
Seven Missouri Valley Football Conference programs find themselves ranked in both major national polls, including Indiana State. The Sycamores are No. 22 in The Sports Network FCS Top 25 and are ranked for the fourth consecutive week. In The FCS Coaches Poll, Indiana State checks in at No. 24 and this marks their third straight mention in the Top 25, according to FCS Coaches.

Indiana State Counted Among The Most Improved In FCS Football
The Sycamores are second to Albany for the biggest turnaround in FCS football this season. Indiana State has improved its 1-11 record in 2013 to a 4-3 mark so far in 2014. That equates to a +5.5 differential (take difference in number of wins, add difference in number of defeats and divide by 2) which is second nationally. Plus six is the current MVFC record, achieved twice in league history by Southern Illinois (2003) and Western Illinois (2010).

Connor Underwood Leading League In Quarterback Sacks; Named To Buchanan Award Watch List
Indiana State junior linebacker Connor Underwood took home Missouri Valley Football Conference Defensive Player Of The Week honors for his efforts against Liberty and has been added to the 2014 Buck Buchanan Award Watch List, which is giving annually to the nation's top defensive player in FCS football. Underwood recorded at least one quarterback sack in each of the first six weeks of the season. Underwood is averaging 7.0 tackles per game to rank tied for 11th in the league. Underwood is second in the league in quarterback sacks per game with a 1.00 average, a mark which ranks tied for 13th nationally. He has seven total sacks for a loss of 31 yards. He now owns 22.0 for his career and is only 3.5 away from Kyle Mitchell's current school record of 25.5. He also has 14.5 tackles for a loss this year which is tops in the MVFC and ranks tied for fourth in FCS football. Underwood has 42.0 tackles for a loss in his career and needs only 12.5 more to tie Kyle Mitchell's school record of 54.5.

Gary Owens Leads Sycamores In Receiving; Among The Top In The MVFC
Indiana State junior Gary Owens ranks third in the league with an average of 5.4 receptions per game as he has hauled in 38 receptions for 539 yards and four touchdowns. Owens owns a pair of 100-yard receiving efforts so far this year and became the first Sycamore since 2005 to record at least 10 receptions in one game with his 10-catch performance against Liberty. Additionally, Owens is averaging 77.0 receiving yards per game to rank fifth in the league. A.J. Johnson, who recorded a 120-yard receiving effort at No. 1 North Dakota State, ranks ninth in the MVFC with his 4.0 catch per game average as he has 28 receptions for 363 yards and three touchdowns.

Sycamores Earn First-Ever Victory In Ranked Vs. Ranked Game; Face Another This Week
No. 22/24 Indiana State is in The Sports Network FCS Top 25 for the fourth consecutive week and are playing a team, No. 19/20 Southern Illinois, ranked in the nation's Top 25 for the fifth consecutive week. The current run began against No. 22/23 Liberty and continued versus No. 10 Northern Iowa, No. 15 Illinois State and No. 1 North Dakota State. The Sycamores are 2-2 on the season against nationally-ranked opponents and will be playing their fourth game of the season which features two ranked teams. Prior to the 2014 campaign, the Sycamores had played in just seven ranked vs. ranked contests and Saturday will be their fourth of the season.

Sycamore Passing Game Leads The MVFC As Conference Play Rolls Along
Indiana State leads the Missouri Valley Football Conference in passing yards per game with a 258.3 average, a number which ranks 11th nationally. Mike Perish is 144-of-224 passing for 1,569 yards and 10 touchdowns against one interception to lead the Sycamores through the air as he also leads the league in passing average per game and is ranked 10th nationally. Perish is third in the league with a 243.0 yards of total offense average per game. He has 1,458 yards of total offense through six games (total offense combines passing and rushing yards).

Mike Perish Climbing The Sycamore Record Books As Senior Quarterback
Mike Perish enters week eight of his senior season, and his third season as the Sycamore starting quarterback, ranked fourth all-time in career passing yards with 4,574. For his career he is 538-of-747 for 4,770 yards and 34 touchdowns. He needs 324 more yards to top Reggie Allen's total of 5,094 yards from 1978-81 for third on the Sycamores all-time list.

Indiana State's Travis Starks and DeJuan Lang Among Top Valley Defenders
Indiana State's Travis Starks and DeJuan Lang are among the Missouri Valley Football Conference's top pass defenders as Starks leads the league with 11 passes defended while Lang has six and is tied for sixth. Lang is tied for the league lead with three interceptions while Starks has two to rank tied for sixth.

Osborn Umeh Ranks Fourth In MVFC In Punting Average
For the season, Osborn Umeh has punted 48 times for 1,957 yards (a league high) and is averaging 40.8 yards per punt to rank fourth. Against North Dakota State, Umeh did his part of control field position as he punted seven times for 325 yards – an average of 46.4 yards per punt. He booted three punts of over 50 yards inside Fargodome and pinned the Bison inside their own 20 twice. His long punt of the day was a 56-yard effort.

Sycamores Grab Victory Bell With First Win Over Ball State Since 1987
The Indiana State celebrated the 28th anniversary of their first Missouri Valley Football Conference contest and victory over Missouri State in 1986 by taking the Blue Key Victory Bell from in state rival Ball State for the first time since 1987. The Sycamores' 27-20 road victory in front of a near sell-out crowd in Muncie renewed a series that dates back to 1924 for the first time since 2003. The win was ISU's first over Ball State since 1987 and its first in Muncie since 1982. Additionally, the Sycamores picked up their second win over an FBS opponent in the last four seasons and its first over a Mid-American Conference team since a 2001 win at Eastern Michigan.

Sycamores Face 1st-and-55 Situation And Still Convert Touchdown
The Sycamore offense pulled off an extremely rare feat in their final drive of the first quarter against Tennessee Tech. The Sycamores took over at their own 17-yard line and drove all the way to the Tennessee Tech 33 in 11 plays. On 1st-and-10 from the TTU 33-yard line, the Sycamores were called for an illegal block and two dead ball personal foul penalties which accounted for 45 lost yards on the play. That resulted in the ball being moved all the way back to the Indiana State 22-yard line, which is just five yards ahead of where the drive began. ISU completed back-to-back seven-yard passes to make it 3rd-and-41 before Mike Perish found Gary Owens for a 63-yard pass which moved the ball down to the Tennessee Tech 1-yard line. Not only did ISU face a 1st-and-55 and had over 40 yards to gain on third down, they also overcame the tough down and distance to not only pick up the first down but scored as time ran out in the period on a one-yard touchdown run from LeMonte Booker.

Connor Underwood Named To All-MVFC Preseason Team
Indiana State junior linebacker Connor Underwood was named to the Missouri Valley Football Conference Preseason Team as announced late in the summer by the league office. The MVFC Preseason selections were made via a poll of the league's head coaches, sports information directors as well as a media panel. Last season Underwood earned a place on the All-MVFC First Team and was the team's fourth-leading tackler with 76 total tackles, including a team-best 18 for a loss and nine quarterback sacks. He added a 31-yard interception return for a touchdown in the season opener at Indiana and was credited with five pass breakups and seven quarterback hurries as well as one fumble recovery and one forced fumble. Underwood owned three double digit tackle performances on the year, including a season-best 13 against Western Illinois and recorded six tackles for a loss at Tennessee Tech, with four quarterback sacks which tied a school record. He ranked tied for 17th in total tackles in the league and was tied for third in quarterback sacks as well as tied for second in tackles for a loss. Additionally, Underwood was named to the MVFC All-Newcomer Team in 2012 and garnered a third place finish in the league's newcomer of the year award. He was an All-MVFC Honorable Mention selection as a redshirt freshman.

Sycamores Against The Missouri Valley Football Conference
Indiana State is in its 29th 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 53-125 in MVFC contests all-time.

In Overtime
The Sycamores have played in 12 overtime contests since the rule was established for regular season games in the NCAA FCS Subdivision in 1996. The Sycamores are 7-5 in games that have used an extra period. ISU's last overtime contest came in the form of a 38-35 victory against Missouri State in the sixth game of the 2010 season.

Up Next
Indiana State returns home to face Missouri State on Saturday, November 1 inside Memorial Stadium. Kick-off is set for 1:00 p.m. (ET).