TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Indiana State football makes its first trip back to Brookings, South Dakota since 2015 this weekend when the team takes on No. 3 South Dakota State. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET from Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Saturday night.
The game will air live on ESPN+ with Tom Nieman handling the play-by-play duties while Hank McCall will serve as the color commentator. Elaina Lanson will handle sideline duties during the broadcast.
Sycamore fans can listen live on the radio on WIBQ 97.9 FM (1230 AM) locally or online at GoSycamores.com/Watch free-of-charge with
Luke Martin (play-by-play) and
Brian Fritz (color).
QUICK HITS
• South Dakota State holds a 6-2 advantage in the series that dates back to 2008. The Jackrabbits have won the last four meetings, with the Sycamores' last victory coming in 2011 in Brookings by a score of 38-28. The victory marked the second-straight win for ISU in the series after winning the 2010 meeting at Memorial Stadium, 41-30.
OFFENSIVE NOTES
• The rushing attack -- it has been one of the best parts of ISU's game this season. Indiana State has run the ball for 999 yards on the ground in four games, averaging 249.8 yards per contest.
Ja'Quan Keys holds nearly half the total rushing yards for the Sycamores with 492 while
Christian Covington and
Titus McCoy each have tallied more than 150 yards on the ground each. On the flip side, the ISU defense has held opponents to 147.8 yards per game on the ground.
• Keys entered 2018 with 519 yards' career rushing yards in two seasons, and with 492 yards after five weeks, the Hammond Louisiana native has surpassed the 1,000-career rushing mark. Keys has averaged 123 yards per game this season with his biggest output of the year coming at Eastern Illinois when he rushed for 234 yards and four touchdowns.
• Keys finished off Indiana State's victory at Eastern Illinois with a career-high 234 yards rushing on 34 attempts, including four trips to the end zone. It was the sixth-highest single-game rushing total in program history. He has now eclipsed the 100-yard rushing mark in in two of the last three games this season. Keys became the first Sycamore to eclipse the 200-yard rushing mark since Shakir Bell tallied 201 at Tennessee Tech in 2013.
• Keys is the first Sycamore to score three touchdowns in one half of football since
LeMonte Booker did it in the first half of ISU's 2015 season opening victory over Butler. Keys is the first Sycamore to score four touchdowns in a game since Booker did it against Butler in 2015 and the first Sycamore to record four rushing touchdowns since Bell did it (in the first half) against Youngstown State in 2011.
• Keys was one of four Sycamores to rush for a touchdown during Indiana State's season opening win over Quincy. Keys reached the end zone twice in the game, rushing for 80 yards on 13 attempts for a 6.2 yards per carry average. He broke off a run of 31 yards in the third quarter. Keys put the Sycamores on top in the first quarter with a three-yard touchdown before adding his second score in the third quarter.
• Keys currently ranks 10th nationally and second in the MVFC with 123 rushing yards per game and 35st with 5.93 yards per carry. Keys also ranks 35th nationally and 5th in the MVFC with 125 all-purpose yards per game.
• Read a feature on
Ja'Quan Keys at
sycamor.es/TheSmileThatSurvivedTheStorm
•
Ryan Boyle made his first start of the season at Eastern Illinois, passing for 209 yards on 13 completions, including a 50-yard pass to open the game. Boyle rushed for 30 yards in the game and ran in a three-yard touchdown in the third quarter for his first score in a Sycamore uniform.
• In his first Missouri Valley Conference game under center for the Sycamores, Boyle went for 136 yards on 13 competitions against UNI. He completed three passes of 20+ yards -- two to
Dante Hendrix and one to
Michael Thomas. Currently, Boyle ranks 37th nationally with a 13.27 yards per completion mark in two games at quarterback.
• Boyle spent three seasons at the University of Iowa before joining the team prior to training camp in August. He brings with him many high school accolades including the Iowa Gatorade Player of the Year his junior and senior seasons. He was named to the Des Moines All-State Elite team his senior season and earned All-State, All-District and was tabbed Class 4A Offensive Player of the Year two times.
• Making his return to the gridiron after a season ending injury a year ago is redshirt freshman wide receiver
Dante Hendrix. Hendrix is one of the top receivers in the history of high school football in the state of Kentucky, ranking eighth in career TD (40), 15th in yards (3,107) and 17th in receptions (171). Hendrix had SportsCenter's No. 1 play in its daily Top-10 following a diving one-handed catch on Oct. 14, 2016.
• Hendrix leads the Sycamores with 202 yards receiving and averages 16.8 yards per catch. Hendrix also leads the Sycamores with 12 catches in four games and is averaging 50.5 yards receiving per game. He caught two passes against Quincy for 27 yards in the season opener, including a 20-yard reception in the third quarter. He added two receptions against Eastern Illinois, one on the first offensive play of the game for 50 yards. Hendrix has five catches of 20 yards or more this season to lead the Sycamores. He finished with two catches of 20 or more yards against Northern Iowa in week five.
• RB
Titus McCoy returns for his sophomore season. As a true freshman, McCoy rushed for 74 yards on 23 carries for a 3.2 yards per carry average. McCoy put together an extremely productive career at Center Grove High School, which he led to the state finals twice and a state title in 2015. There, McCoy recorded an incredible 3,828 career rushing yards, 645 career receiving yards and 54 total TD.
• True freshman
Christian Covington has made a statement in the Sycamore ground game. The Snider HS product has four touchdowns through his first four games and has rushed for 167 yards and 4.6 yards per carry.
• Redshirt junior
Wyatt Wozniak has been the steady hand on the Sycamore offensive line. Wozniak is one of the most experience interior lineman on the roster after seeing game action in five contests in 2016 including three starts. Wozniak is the lone Sycamore on offense that started every game at the center position in 2017.
•
Michael Thomas played in all 11 games his freshman season on campus. He finished with eight catches for 86 yards and caught a pair of touchdowns on the season with the first coming on a four-yard gain at Illinois State (9/30) and the second at Missouri State (10/28). Thomas caught five passes for 95 yards (19 yards per catch) in four games before being injured against UNI. He will miss the remainder of the 2018 season.
DEFENSIVE NOTES
• Redshirt junior
Jonas Griffith returned to his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky in week two to face the Cardinals. Griffith led the way on the defensive side of the ball with 11 tackles, including five solo stops as well as his first career interception. Griffith returned the interception 20-yards into Louisville territory to setup the Sycamores' first touchdown.
• Griffith ranks second on the Indiana State defense and 34th nationally with 36 tackles, including 19 solo tackles to go along with 2.0 tackles for loss and a half sack. He currently ranks seventh in the conference in tackles.
• LB
Katrell Moss leads the Sycamores with 37 tackles this season and ranks sixth in the MVFC in the category. Moss, an Indianapolis native, 16 solo stops and finished with seven tackles (five solo) against Louisville.
• DB
Kaelub Newman is one of four Sycamores with 20 or more tackles this season. The cornerback has 19 solo stops alone from his cornerback position, including a career high seven tackles against Louisville. Newman also forced a fumble at Louisville in the third quarter. The junior recorded 32 tackles, two interceptions, eight pass breakups and a sack in 2017 at the College of Dupage.
• With two forced fumbles this season, Newman ranks eighth nationally and second the MVFC with 0.50 forced fumbles per game.
• Redshirt senior
Jamal Jones and junior
Denzel Bonner enter the starting lineup at the safety position for the Sycamores. Jones, a Carrolton, Texas product, saw action in two games last season with 14 total tackles and nine unassisted. Jones racked up seven tackles against both Eastern Illinois and at Tennessee. Bonner enters his first season with the Sycamores after transferring from East Mississippi CC where he totaled 67 tackles to help the Lions to a National Championship.
• Jones ranks fourth on the team with 21 tackles, including 15 solo stops for the Sycamores after missing last season with an injury. He has one pass breakup and one forced fumble in three starts.
•
Inoke Moala made his presence known on the defensive line during a 49-0 shutout victory over Quincy to open the year. Moala recorded five tackles in the victory including 1.5 sacks for six yards, a forced fumble and one quarterback hurry. He helped the Sycamore defense hold the Hawks to just 159 yards of total offense and 81 rushing yards. Following week five, Moala led the Sycamores with three sacks for 10 yards before a season-ending injury would end his 2018 campaign.
SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES
• Freshman
Dakota Caton was named the Missouri Valley Football Conference Special Teams Player of the Week, following week one. Caton, a Sullivan, Indiana native made his Sycamore debut against Quincy and on his first touch in an Indiana State uniform, he electrified the crowd at Memorial Stadium with a 71-yard punt return touchdown. The touchdown marked the first punt return touchdown in nearly three years for the Sycamores with the last coming by way of Tyler Denton at Missouri State in 2015.
• Caton ranks eighth nationally in combined kick returns (403 yards) and 37th with a 23.7 yards per kick return.
• Entering his third season as the Sycamore kicker,
Jerry Nunez opened the 2018 season a perfect 7-for-7 on extra point attempts against Quincy. Through four games, Nunez is 15-of-15 on PAT's and 2-of-3 on field goals.
• Indiana State brings in a new punter in
Travis Reiner with the graduation of
Thomas Bouldin. Reiner comes to ISU as a redshirt sophomore from College of the Canyons in California where he earned Second Team All-Conference honors in 2017 after averaging 43.1 yards per punt. He pinned the opponent inside the 20-yard line 21 times and finished with a long punt of 64 yards.
• Reiner has punted 22 times in 2018 with an average of 39.5 yards. He booted a long of 58 yards to pin Louisville at their own two-yard line during week two.
OTHER NOTES
• Indiana State has signed two players from the Netflix series "Last Chance U" in OL
Isaiah Edwards (Independence CC) and DB
Denzel Bonner (East Mississippi CC).
ESPN PLUS
• The ESPN App is the home to MVFC and curates all of ESPN's incredible content into a personalized experience unique to each fan's tastes. All MVFC home games will be available through the App via "TV Everywhere" (airing on ESPN3 or ESPN+). Fans can subscribe to ESPN+ for just $4.99 a month (or $49.99 per year) and cancel at any time. For questions about the new ESPN App or ESPN+, please contact the ESPN customer care team at support.espn.com or 1-888-549-ESPN.
For the latest information on the Sycamore Football team, make sure to check out
GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including
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