No. 23/25 INDIANA STATE AT No. 15/16 YOUNGSTOWN STATE
Stambaugh Stadium (20,630), Youngstown, Ohio
November 15, 2014, 2:00 p.m. ET

QUICK HITS
>> The No. 23/25 Indiana State Sycamores continue the 2014 season when they travel to No. 15/16 Youngstown State on Saturday, November 15. Kick-off is set for 2:00 p.m. (ET) and will be televised worldwide on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app. This is the 110th season of intercollegiate football at Indiana State University.
>> Indiana State has played six of its last seven games against nationally-ranked teams and are currently 3-3 against those teams. This is the first season an Indiana State team has defeated three nationally-ranked teams since joining the MVFC 29 seasons ago.
>> Connor Underwood set the new Indiana State school record with 26 career quarterback sacks after his 1.5 against Missouri State. Mike Perish is one touchdown pass away from breaking Jeff Miller's school record of 40.

An Indiana State Win Over Youngstown State Would …
• Give the Sycamores their school-record fourth victory this season over a nationally-ranked opponent as well as the program's third-ever victory in a ranked vs. ranked battle.
• Give the Sycamores their seventh victory of the season -- a mark that would be reached for just the third time in 29 seasons as a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference.
• Give the Sycamores wins in back-to-back Missouri Valley Football Conference road contests for the first time since 2012 (won at Southern Illinois, North Dakota State and Western Illinois).

The Indiana State Head Coach
Indiana State head coach Mike Sanford (Southern California, 1978) is 23-58 (.284) overall in his seventh season as a head coach and is 7-15 (.318) in his second season with Indiana State. He is 3-11 all-time in MVFC games, including an 2-6 mark at home and an 1-5 mark on the road. During his career, he is 18-24 in all home games, 5-34 on the road and 7-8 in games decided by three points or less. Sanford is 0-1 all-time against Youngstown State and is 0-0 against the Penguins 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 23rd as the Indiana State head coach and his 82nd as a collegiate head coach.

The Youngstown State Head Coach
Eric Wolford is in his fifth season as the head coach at Youngstown State. Wolford is 31-24 both in Youngstown and as a collegiate head coach. He owns a 2-2 record against Indiana State, including a mark of 1-1 in Youngstown.

Scouting The Penguins
Youngstown State enters Saturday's game with a 7-3 record as well as a 4-2 mark inside the Missouri Valley Football Conference. The Jackrabbits are ranked No. 15/16 in the national polls. Youngstown dropped its season opener at Illinois by the score of 28-17 before winning the remainder of its non-conference games over Duquesne, Butler and Saint Francis (Pa.) by a combined score of 130-59. The Penguins won their Valley opener at Missouri State (14-7) and fell 30-24 at home to Western Illinois. They then won three in a row over South Illinois, at South Dakota State and at home to South Dakota before falling last week at Illinois State (35-21). Quarterback Hunter Wells is 95-of-153 passing for 1,531 yards and 11 touchdowns. Martin Ruiz has 220 carries for 1,145 yards and eight touchdowns while Joey Webb has reached the end zone a total of 11 times. Andrew Williams is the Penguin's leading receiver with 40 catches for 839 yards and five touchdowns. Dubem Nwadiogbu has 82 total tackles, including 7.5 for a loss and one quarterback sack.

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 365-493-22 and is competing for the 29th consecutive season as a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference.

The Youngstown State Series
Youngstown State owns a 21-3 edge in the all-time series over Indiana State. In Youngstown, the Penguins are 9-2 against the Sycamores with Indiana State's two victories coming in 1995 and 2010. The Penguins have won each of the last two meetings against the Sycamores.

Television Particulars
The Youngstown State game will be televised worldwide on ESPN3 as well as the WatchESPN app. ESPN3 is an internet based service that is free to those with a valid internet or television provider subscription. ESPN3 is also free for use on college campus and United State military bases.

Sycamores In The National Rankings For School Record Seventh Consecutive Week
Seven Missouri Valley Football Conference programs find themselves ranked in a major national poll this week, including Indiana State. The Sycamores are No. 23 in The Sports Network FCS Top 25 and are ranked for a school-record tying seventh consecutive week. The only other time (in the MVFC era) that Indiana State has been ranked that many weeks in a row came in 2012. In The FCS Coaches Poll, Indiana State checks in at No. 25 and this marks their sixth straight mention in the Top 25, according to FCS Coaches. Saturday's opponent Youngstown State is ranked No. 15/16 in the national polls.

Indiana State Counted Among The Most Improved In FCS Football
The Sycamores are tied with Albany for the biggest turnaround in FCS football this season. Indiana State has improved its 1-11 record in 2013 to a 6-4 mark so far in 2014. That equates to a +6.0 differential (take difference in number of wins, add difference in number of defeats and divide by 2) which is tied with Albany's current mark for the national lead. Plus six is the MVFC record, achieved twice in league history by Southern Illinois (2003) and Western Illinois (2010).

Jameer Thurman Named To Capital One Academic All-District Team
Indiana State sophomore linebacker Jameer Thurman has been named to the Capital One Academic All-District Team as selected by the members of the College Sports Information Directors of America. Thurman maintains a 3.71 grade point average in Civil Engineering. He has 65 total tackles on the year, including 6.5 for a loss and two quarterback sacks. He also owns a team-best three fumbles forced as well as a fumble recovery. Thurman's 6.5 tackles for per game ranks 25th in the MVFC while his 6.5 tackles for a loss are ranked tied for 18th. He is tied for the league lead in fumbles forced.

Hidden Ball Trick Leads To Lead And National Honors; Goes Viral On Internet
Trailing 18-17 to Missouri State, the Indiana State Sycamores needed a big play on special teams and they received it when the team used a hidden ball, rugby-type huddle play which netted a key 32-yard kickoff return by Aaron Killebrew to put the Sycamores on the edge of field goal range. Following four plays from scrimmage, junior kicker Eric Heidorn hit a 38-yard field goal with six seconds remaining for a 20-18 lead and the eventual victory. Killebrew and Heidorn combined to share the Missouri Valley Football Conference's Special Team Player Of The Week award while Heidorn was also named a College Sporting News National All-Star. Additionally, the play was named ESPN SportsCenter's No. 3 Top Play and was rated as ESPN.com's Top College Football Trick Play this week. The play was also featured on the front of both Yahoo! Sports and SB Nation. A clip of the play posted on Youtube garnered over 1.1 million views this week as well.

Winning The Turnover Battle And Ranked Second Nationally Doing It
Indiana State enters this week's game leading the nation with a +13 turnover margin. They are one just eight teams nationally that has a double digit positive turnover margin so far in 2014. For the season, Indiana State has made those turnovers count as they hold a 98-24 advantage in points off turnovers. Mike Perish has thrown 16 touchdown passes against just three interceptions. The Indiana State single-season school record for fewest interceptions thrown by a starting quarterback is four from Jeff Miller in 1982.

Looking For Seventh Victory For Just Third Time Since Joining MVFC
The Indiana State Sycamores currently stand at 6-4 with a 3-3 record in Missouri Valley Football Conference play. With one more victory the Sycamores will have their seventh victory of the season – a mark just twice (1995 & 2012) in 29 seasons of MVFC play. The Sycamores would also have their fourth league win – a mark achieved just four times (1988, 2010, 2011, 2012) since joining the conference. Indiana State won a school record five MVFC games in 2012.

Connor Underwood Sets New School Record For Career Sacks
Indiana State junior linebacker Connor Underwood recorded 1.5 quarterback sacks last week in the 20-18 victory over Missouri State to set a new Sycamore career record in that category with 26. He passed Kyle Mitchell's mark of 25.5 for the new school standard. Underwood is averaging 7.1 tackles per game to rank tied for 14th in the league. Underwood is third in the league in quarterback sacks per game with a 1.00 average, a mark which ranks tied for 11th nationally. He has 11 total sacks for a loss of 47 yards. He also has 19.5 tackles for a loss this year which is tops in the MVFC and ranks tied for sixth in FCS football. Underwood has 47 tackles for a loss in his career and needs only 7.5 more to tie Kyle Mitchell's school record of 54.5.

Sycamores Have Earned Two Victories This Year In Ranked vs. Ranked Games
Indiana State is in The Sports Network FCS Top 25 for the seventh consecutive week and this week will be playing its seventh opponent in the last eight games that also appear in the nation's Top 25. The run began against No. 22/23 Liberty and continued versus No. 10 Northern Iowa, No. 15 Illinois State, No. 1 North Dakota State, No. 19 Southern Illinois and No. 22 South Dakota State. The Sycamores are 3-3 on the season against nationally-ranked opponents and played their fifth game of the season which features two ranked teams last week against the Jackrabbits. Prior to the 2014 campaign, the Sycamores had played in just seven ranked vs. ranked contests and Saturday was their fifth of this season. Indiana State entered the season with no victories against a ranked team while ranked themselves. The Indiana State wins against UNI and SIU this season are their first in the MVFC era in a battle of two ranked FCS teams.

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 251.1 average, a number which ranks 30th nationally. Mike Perish is 216-of-350 passing for 2,249 yards and 16 touchdowns against three interceptions to lead the Sycamores through the air as he also leads the league in passing average per game and is ranked 15th nationally. Perish is fourth in the MVFC with a 234.6 yards of total offense average per game. He has 2,111 yards of total offense through ten games (total offense combines passing and rushing yards).

Mike Perish Climbing The Sycamore Record Books As Senior Quarterback
Mike Perish enters week 11 of his senior season, and his third season as the Sycamore starting quarterback, ranked second all-time in career passing yards with 5,450. For his career he is 510-of-873 for 5,450 yards and 40 touchdowns. Perish needs just one more touchdown pass to break Jeff Miller's (1982-85) mark for career touchdowns thrown and will need 998 more through the remainder of his senior season to top Miller's current mark of 6,448 passing yards.

Indiana State's Trio Among Top Valley Pass Defenders
Indiana State's Travis Starks, Mark Sewall and DeJuan Lang are among the Missouri Valley Football Conference's top pass defenders as Starks leads the league with 17 passes defended while Sewall has 11 and is tied for fourth and Lang owns 10 and is tied for sixth. Starks is also tied for the league lead with four interceptions while Lang is tied for third with three picks.

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.

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 55-125 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
The Sycamores conclude the regular season at Western Illinois on Saturday, November 22. Kick-off is set for 2:00 p.m. (ET) and the game will be televised nationally on ESPN3.