Ace Hunt
GoSycamores.com
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- The Indiana State Sycamores achieved numerous defensive stops in the second half but could not fully overcome an early deficit as they dropped their season opener to the Indiana Hoosiers, 28-10, in front of 38,006 fans inside Memorial Stadium.
The Sycamores fell to 0-1 while Indiana improved to 1-0. The start of the game was delayed 50 minutes due to thunderstorms in the area just before kickoff.
Mark Sewall led the Indiana State defense with 11 total tackles while Connor Underwood and Kendall Walker each had nine. Underwood and Antonio Broadus each posted quarterback sacks while Underwood led the way with three tackles for a loss.
Buck Logan led the Sycamore rushing attack with 47 yards on 10 attempts and Mike Perish finished 17-of-32 passing for 140 yards. Robert Tonyan, Jr., caught a team-best four passes for 47 yards while A.J. Johnson added three receptions for 22. In his Sycamore debut, junior Osborn Umeh boomed eight punts for 352 yards -- an average of 44.0 yards per punt.
Indiana State moved the ball well on their first drive of the contest as Buck Logan had a 23-yard rush for a first down and then Chris O'Leary's six-yard reception gave the Sycamores their second first down of the contest. Indiana State drove down to the Hoosier 31-yard line before Eric Heidorn narrowly missed a 42-yard field goal attempt to keep the game scoreless.
Indiana scored first in the contest on a 13-yard rush by Tevin Coleman at the 7:16 mark of the first quarter for the 7-0 advantage. Coleman's rush capped a nine-play, 76-yard drive.
The Sycamores were then forced to punt on the ensuing drive but Indiana fumbled the return attempt and Joshua Appel fell on the ball to five Indiana State new life at the Hoosier's 37-yard line. Perish would find A.J. Johnson for an 11-yard gain and then a pass interference penalty moved the ball to the 15. The Sycamores would gain two more yards before Heidorn converted a 31-yard field goal to cut the Indiana advantage down to 7-3 with 3:46 left in the opening stanza.
Coleman would answer with a 73-yard rushing touchdown just 40 seconds later to stretch the lead back out to 14-3. The Sycamores and Hoosiers would trade punts in the second quarter in a segment which became a battle of field position. Indiana would take over at the Indiana State 32-yard line after the Sycamores were buried deep in their own territory. They made it 21-3 with just 2:46 left before the half on a two-yard rush by D'Angelo Roberts off the short field.
Solid in the first half for the Sycamores was junior transfer punter Osborn Umeh who avereraged over 45 yards per punt (five attempts), including a long of 58 yards to flip field position just before halftime.
The Hoosiers would drive down to the Sycamore 13-yard line on their opening drive of the third quarter back consecutive tackles for a loss by Jameer Thurman as well as Garrick Ratliff and Mark Sewall stopped the drive and gave the Sycamores the ball at their own 15-yard line. Facing a second down, Perish found Jamar Brown for a 20-yard TD which moved the ball to the IU 35. Kyani Harris caught a seven-yard pass, but the Sycamores were forced to punt and a 44-yard kick from Umeh pinned the Hoosiers back at their own 15.
The Sycamore defense came up with the second Hoosier turnover of the contest late in the third quarter when Travis Starks picked off Nate Sudfeld and returned the ball 60 yards down to the IU 15-yard line. Perish found Brown for 11 yards after the inteception and then Buck Logan raced off the left edge for a five-yard touchdown to cut the Hoosier lead down to 21-10 with 3:03 remaining in the third quarter.
Indiana would drive down inside the Sycamore 30-yard line, but the defense faced a fourth-and-one and once again got the stop for no-gain by Ratliff to take over at their own 29-yard line as the third quarter ended. After a punt, the Hoosiers drove down to the Sycamore six-yard line but the Indiana State defense held strong with consecutive tackles for a loss. A 26-yard field goal attempt by Del Grosso clanged off the right upright to keep the defense's second-half clean sheet in tact and the score remaining 21-10 with eight minutes remaining.
The Sycamores wold muster a first down on a 19-yard rush from Logan, but the drive stalled and Umeh pinned the Hoosiers back inside their own 20-yard line. The Hoosiers moved the ball 83 yards on nine plays and went ahead 28-10 on a one-yard rush by Myles Graham.
Indiana State returns to action on Saturday, September 6 when they open the home portion of the schedule against Tennessee Tech. Kick-off is set for 3:00 p.m. (ET).
