Ace Hunt
GoSycamores.com

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- For the fifth consecutive week the No. 22/24 Indiana State Sycamores faced a nationally-ranked opponent and for the third time during that stretch, Indiana State earned a victory with a 41-26 triumph over No. 19/20 Southern Illinois in front of 10,255 fans at Saluki Stadium.

The Sycamores improved to 5-3, 2-2 MVFC while Southern Illinois dropped to 5-4, 2-3 MVFC. The victory improved Indiana State to 3-2 on the season against nationally-ranked opponents and was the second win this season -- as well as during the MVFC era -- in a battle of two teams ranked in the nation's Top 25. Indiana State has now won each of its last two trips to Carbondale and is the first Sycamore road victory in conference play since 2012.

Mike Perish completed 27-of-41 passes for 353 yards, including four touchdowns. Perish now has 38 career touchdown passes which is just two away from Jeff Miller's school record of 40 set from 1982-85. It was also his fourth game this season with at least 300 yards passing. His top target was Kyani Harris who had five receptions for 129 yards and two touchdowns.

Robert Tonyan had five receptions for 76 yards and the other touchdown reception from Perish. Perish found 11 different receivers on the night, including Issac Beverstock who had a six-yard touchdown reception in the second half.

Buck Logan became the first Sycamore to eclipse the 100-yard rushing mark on the season as he had 142 on the ground on 15 attempts. LeMonte Booker tallied 48 rushing yards while Dimitri Taylor posted 41 on the ground.

Indiana State's offense gained a Saluki Stadium record 563 yards of total offense in the victory while the defense held the Salukis to just 278. The Sycamores tallied 210 yards on the ground and posted 353 in the air. The Sycamores forced four Saluki turnovers and only committed one to own a 17-0 advantage in points off turnovers.

Mark Sewall led the Sycamore defense with eight total tackles. Connor Underwood had five tackles, including 1.5 for a loss as well as the same amount of quarterback sacks. Travis Starks and Alex Stowers each had interceptions while Donovan Layne posted a fumble recovery to set up a field goal right before halftime. 

Indiana State elected to defer to the second half and it worked as planned as the Sycamore defense held the Salukis to a three-and-out before Perish found Gary Owens for a seven-yard reception and then Kyani Harris on a six-yard strike which set up a pinpoint pass from Perish to Harris 47 yards over the middle and a 7-0 Indiana State with 12:40 to go in the first quarter.

The Sycamore defense allowed just one Saluki first down on the next drive and it took just a 17-yard rush from Buck Logan and then a 38-yard scoring strike from Perish to Robert Tonyan at the 9:24 mark of the first quarter for Indaina State to own a 14-0 advantage.

Southern Illinois drove into the Sycamore territory looking for an answer to the quick Indiana State start but Travis Starks ended the drive with his third interception of the year as they started on their own 20-yard line with 4:05 remaining. Indiana State would drive deep into Saluki territory before a missed field goal ended the threat early in the second quarter.

The Salukis converted their next drive with a methodical 11-play, 80-yard drive which was capped by a three-yard touchdown pass from Mark Iannotti to MyCole Pruitt with just over nine minutes remaining to cut the Sycamore advantage down to 14-7.

The Sycamores would drive down to the red zone but a pair of costly penalties knocked them out of field goal range and forced Osborn Umeh into his first punt of the game which pinned the Salukis down at their own 10. On the first play following the punt, Iannotti scrambled into the back field where he fumbled and Alec Lyons pounced on the ball at the five-yard line.

It would take four plays before Buck Logan plunged in on fourth-and-goal from one-yard out to stretch the Sycamore lead out to 21-7 with 2:14 remaining in the first half. 

Each team traded punts before Southern Illinois drove near midfield as time began to dwindle on the opening half. Donovan Layne forced a MyCole Pruitt fumble which was returned to the SIU 32-yard line to give the Sycamores a chance with 15 seconds remaining.

A sack of Perish moved the Sycamores towards midfield but he came back with a 19-yard completion to Harris which ended out of bounds with one second on the clock. Eric Heidorn then booted a 40-yard field goal as the clock expired on the first half with the Sycamores owning a 24-7 lead.

The Sycamores opened the second half with a 32-yard kickoff return from Lemonte Booker and churned out one first down as they advanced into Saluki territory. Indiana State was forced to punt before a 26-yard pass from Ryan West to Tay Willis with 11:49 remaining in the third quarter cut the lead down to 24-14. 

Indiana State responded to the Southern Illinois score with a third down conversion completion from Perish to Chris O'Leary for 29 yards and then consecutive run plays from Logan and Perish to get down to the SIU 24. An offensive pass interference penalty as well as a quarterback sack moved the Sycamores back to the 36 where Umeh punted into the end zone. A penalty on the Salukis would force them to start at their own 10-yard line with 7:21 remaining in the third quarter.

The Sycamore defense forced a pair of three-and-outs with the second resulting in a 50-yard SIU punt. On third-and-one, Logan broke through the line for 59 yards to get down to the Southern Illinois eight. After a two-yard rush by Dimitri Taylor, the Sycamore ran a bootleg play which resulted in a six-yard touchdown pass from Perish to Isaac Beverstock as Indiana State regained a 31-14 lead with 1:55 remaining in the third quarter.

An Indiana State turnover in special teams was erased by an Alex Stowers interception near the end of the third quarter as the Sycamores took over at their own two-yard line. Indiana State moved out of the shadow of their goal line with a third down completion from Perish to Sampson Levingston. From there, Perish moved over 300 yards passing on the day for the fourth time this season with consecutive completions to Travis Reyes of 11 and 19 yards which moved the ball into SIU territory. 

The Sycamores moved into the red zone and eclipsed the 500-yard mark on offense with a 12-yard completion from Perish to Tonyan and then a four-yard rush from Taylor. After a false start penalty, Perish tossed his third touchdown pass of the contest -- this one a 22-yard completion to Harris and the Sycamores found themselves up 38-14 over SIU. It was Harris' second receiving touchdown of the contest.

Up 38-20, the Sycamore benefited from a short field after a kickoff out of bounds and he converted a 36-yard field goal with 4:39 remaining to stretch the lead out to 41-20.

Indiana State returns to the friendly confines of Memorial Stadium on Saturday, November 1 when they host Missouri State at 1:05 p.m. (ET).