TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State football will play its second consecutive ranked opponent on Saturday when the team travels to No. 7 Illinois State, October 26. Kickoff is slated for 3 p.m. ET from Hancock Stadium in Normal. The game will air on ESPN 3 and will serve as the Valley Game of the Week with Brad Wells (play-by-play), Danan Hughes (color) and Kelly Burke (sideline) calling the action.
Sycamore fans can also hear the game 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) on the call.
SERIES HISTORY WITH ILLINOIS STATE
Illinois State leads the all-time series with Indiana State, 37-31-2. The Sycamores defeated Illinois State last year in Terre Haute, 28-23 during a five-game winning streak to end the season. Illinois State took the last meeting in Normal in 2017, 24-13 and hold a 25-9 series lead at home against the Sycamores. Since 2010, Illinois State has taken six of the nine meetings, including five-straight from 2011-15.
DEFENSIVE DUO SETTING THE TONE
Linebackers
Jonas Griffith and
Clayton Glasco have dominated the defensive side of the ball for the Sycamores in 2019. Griffith is leading Indiana State with 62 tackles while Glasco has made 59 stops with the next best mark in tackles on the squad being 36 courtesy of safety
Michael Thomas. The duo have combined for 16.5 of the team's 51 tackles-for-loss, five of the 17 sacks and two of the six interceptions.
GRIFFITH MOVING TOWARD TOP-10 IN CAREER TACKLES
Louisville, Kentucky native
Jonas Griffith finished Saturday with eight stops from the linebacker position. With the performance, the redshirt senior moved into 12th place in career tackles (338) in program history, passing ISU Hall of Famer John Allman. Griffith is just five tackles away from moving into sole possession of 10th place.
WILDERMAN MAKES FIRST CAREER START AT QUARTERBACK
Redshirt sophomore
Kurtis Wilderman made his first career start at quarterback against No. 3 South Dakota State Saturday. The Wadesville, Indiana product passed for 196 yards on 19-of-31 attempts, including a pair of touchdowns. Wilderman had seen action in three previous games this season in a backup role. In total, he has thrown for 451 yards and five touchdowns for a 140.9 passer rating this season.
KERLEGRAND PICKS UP ANOTHER 100-YARD RUSHING GAME
Peterson Kerlegrand rushed for 107 yards on 19 carries Saturday against No. 3 South Dakota State. It marked the juniors third 100-yard rushing game of the season after crossing the century mark against Eastern Kentucky and Dayton. On the year Kerlegrand has rushed for 557 yards and a trio of touchdowns. A Fort Wayne, Indiana native, Kerlegrand is averaging 6.6 yards per carry and 92.8 yards per game.
NUNEZ CONTINUES TO ADD TO ALL-TIME PROGRAM MARKS IN FG's, PAT's & SCORING
Senior kicker
Jerry Nunez etched his name in Sycamore history after breaking three program records this season. The Naples, Florida native secured the all-time scoring (221) as well as the all-time field goal (42) mark in a win over Eastern Illinois. Just a week earlier, Nunez set the ISU all-time PAT record – a record that had stood since 1985. Nunez has currently scored 241 points, kicked 48 field goals and 97 PAT's.
THIRD DOWN DEFENSE
The defensive unit of the Sycamores has been stout this season on third down, holding opponents to just a 31.9 percent conversion rate which is 22nd-best in the nation. The Indiana State defense held Western Illinois to just 1-of-15 on third down on the day during a Homecoming win.
LIMITING THE DIRTY LAUNDRY
One area that a Mallory coached team has excelled at over his three seasons at the helm of the Sycamores has been discipline. The Sycamores currently rank 13th nationally and tops in the MVFC in fewest penalties with just 31 on the season. The Sycamores finished 2017 and 2018 ranked 19th and 27th respectively in fewest penalties.
STOPPING THE PASS GAME
ISU secondary has been solid through seven games, allowing just 179.6 yards per game passing which ranks 17
th in the country. Starting cornerbacks
Keawvis Cummings (8) and
Mekhi Ware (4) have done a good job breaking up passes while the defensive line and front seven have pressured opposing quarterbacks 16 times. In total, ISU defenders have been aggressive on pass breakups, recording 33 on the season.
A MAINSTAY AT CENTER
Redshirt senior
Wyatt Wozniak has been the steady hand on the Sycamore offensive line, starting 29-straight games. 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. Wozniak, a Cypress, Texas product, led the charge from his center position, as the Sycamores racked up 569 total yards of offense at No. 3 South Dakota State in 2018 -- the most yards since the Sycamores put up 671 yards against Quincy in 2013.
A DECADE OF POSTSEASON DOMINANCE FOR THE VALLEY
In the current decade, MVFC teams are 59-25 in the playoffs, and only one other conference (the CAA at 40-36) has a winning record. Since 2004, league teams have combined for a 73-38 record in playoff games, with seven titles – both tops in the FCS. Notably, only the MVFC (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018), CAA Football (2016) and Big Sky Conference (2010) have an FCS title this decade. Valley Football is celebrating its 35th season in 2019. In its first 34 seasons the league owns nine national crowns.
MISSOURI VALLEY FOOTBALL CONFERENCE CELEBRATES 35 YEARS OF EXCELLENCE
The 2019 season is an anniversary for the Missouri Valley Football Conference as it celebrates its 35th birthday this year (founded in 1985 as the Gateway Conference). The 2019 season also is an anniversary season for college football as it celebrates its 150th birthday. League schools will be donning a CFB150 patch on uniforms this year.
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
Facebook and
Twitter.
