No. 22 SOUTH DAKOTA STATE AT No. 17/19 INDIANA STATE
Memorial Stadium (12,734), Terre Haute, Ind.
November 8, 2014, 1:05 p.m. ET
QUICK HITS
>> The No. 17/19 Indiana State Sycamores continue the 2014 season when they host No. 22 South Dakota State on Saturday, November 8. Kick-off is set for 1:05 p.m. (ET) and will be televised online via Sycamore Vision on GoSycamores.com. This is Senior Day for nine Sycamore seniors and is the final regular season home game. This is the 110th season of intercollegiate football at Indiana State University.
>> Indiana State played five consecutive nationally-ranked teams from Sept. 27-October 25 and completed the streak with a 3-2 record. This is the first season an Indiana State team has defeated three nationally-ranked teams since joining the league 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 tying the Jeff Miller's school record of 40.
An Indiana State Win Over South Dakota 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.
• Extend the Sycamores' MVFC winning streak to three games -- its longest since 2012 and be just the fifth time the Sycamores have reached four Valley victories in a season.
The Indiana State Head Coach
Indiana State head coach Mike Sanford (Southern California, 1978) is 23-57 (.288) overall in his seventh season as a head coach and is 7-14 (.333) in his second season with Indiana State. He is 3-10 all-time in MVFC games, including an 2-5 mark at home and an 1-5 mark on the road. During his career, he is 18-23 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 South Dakota State and is 0-0 against the Jacks at home. With the Trees, Sanford is 0-0 in overtime games and 0-1 in shutouts. Saturday's game is Mike Sanford's 22nd as the Indiana State head coach and his 81st as a collegiate head coach.
The South Dakota State Head Coach
John Stiegelmeier is in his 18th season as head coach at South Dakota State. He is 116-85 at the Brookings, S.D., school. Stiegelmeier is 4-2 against Indiana State, including a record of 2-1 versus the Sycamores inside Memorial Stadium.
Scouting The Jackrabbits
South Dakota State enters Saturday's game with a 5-4 record as well as a 2-3 mark inside the Missouri Valley Football Conference. The Jackrabbits are ranked No. 22 in both national polls. SDSU opened the season with a loss at Missouri, before rebounding with consecutive non-conference victories over Cal Poly, Southern Utah and Wisconsin-Oshkosh. The Jacks dropped their MVFC opener at Illinois State before rebounding with wins over Missouri State and at Northern Iowa. SDSU is coming off a narrow 30-27 defeat at home against Youngstown State as well as a loss last week at No. 1 North Dakota State. Zach Zenner has 1,233 rushing yards on 220 carries, averaging 5.6 yards per rush. Zach Lujan leads with 1,911 passing yards at quarterback while Austin Sumner returned from an early season injury last week at NDSU. Jake Wieneke leads the team in receiving with 44 catches for 810 yards.
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 365-492-22 and is competing for the 29th consecutive season as a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference.
The South Dakota State Series
South Dakota State holds a 4-2 lead in the all-time series against the Sycamores, including a 2-1 margin in games played at Memorial Stadium. SDSU has won each of the last two meetings, with Indiana State's last victory coming in 2011 in the “Beef Bowl” in Brookings, S.D.
Television Particulars
The South Dakota State game will be televised online by Sycamore Vision, which is a pay-per-view web stream service provided by GoSycamores.com. Fans should point their web browsers to GoSycamores.com for login and subscription information.
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.
Sycamores In The National Rankings For Sixth 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. 17 in The Sports Network FCS Top 25 and are ranked for the sixth consecutive week. In The FCS Coaches Poll, Indiana State checks in at No. 19 and this marks their fifth straight mention in the Top 25, according to FCS Coaches. Saturday's opponent South Dakota State is ranked No. 22 in both 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 6-3 mark so far in 2014. That equates to a +6.5 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).
Winning The Turnover Battle And Leading The Nation Doing It
Indiana State enters this week game leading the nation with a +14 turnover margin. They are one just six 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 98-10 advantage in points off turnovers. Mike Perish has thrown 15 touchdown passes against just two 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 6-3 with a 3-2 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 7.4 tackles per game to rank tied for 11th in the league. Underwood is third in the league in quarterback sacks per game with a 1.11 average, a mark which ranks tied for seventh 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 third 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 sixth consecutive week and this week will be playing its sixth opponent in the last seven 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 and No. 19 Southern Illinois. The Sycamores are 3-2 on the season against nationally-ranked opponents and played their fourth game of the season which features two ranked teams two weeks ago in Carbondale. Prior to the 2014 campaign, the Sycamores had played in just seven ranked vs. ranked contests and Saturday was their fifth of the 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 256.1 average, a number which ranks 26th nationally. Mike Perish is 189-of-303 passing for 2,066 yards and 15 touchdowns against two interceptions to lead the Sycamores through the air as he also leads the league in passing average per game and is ranked 18th nationally. Perish is second in the MVFC with a 241.6 yards of total offense average per game. He has 1,933 yards of total offense through nine games (total offense combines passing and rushing yards).
Mike Perish Climbing The Sycamore Record Books As Senior Quarterback
Mike Perish enters week 10 of his senior season, and his third season as the Sycamore starting quarterback, ranked second all-time in career passing yards with 5,267. For his career he is 583-of-826 for 5,267 yards and 39 touchdowns. Perish needs just one more touchdown pass to tie Jeff Miller (1982-85) for career touchdowns thrown at 40 and will need 1,181 more through the remainder of his senior season to top Miller's current mark of 6,448 passing yards.
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 14 passes defended while Lang has nine and is tied for fifth. 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 take to the road to face their seventh nationally-ranked opponent of the season when they travel to Youngstown State. Kick-off is set for 2:00 p.m. (ET) and the game will be televised nationally on ESPN3.
