TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State opens the 2023 season with a Thursday night contest underneath the lights of Memorial Stadium as the Sycamores welcome visiting Eastern Illinois to the field on August 31. Kickoff between the Sycamores and the Panthers is set for 6 p.m. and will be carried live on ESPN+ and 105.5 The Legend.
Game Day Information and Activities
Youth Football Night
Indiana State Football looks forward to welcoming all local youth football players. Kids 8
th grade and under wearing their team's youth football jersey get in the game for free, while family and friends who arrive with the youth player receive a ticket for $5. A table will also be set up outside the stadium where kids can sign up to join our Kid's Club presented by Dentistry Just For Kids. The first 30 kids who sign up will receive a signed Indiana State Football Schedule Poster.
Blue Out
Indiana State Football opens up their season in their blue tops for a Blue Out at Memorial Stadium. Greeks Pizza Season Opener T-Shirts to be handed out to first 50 Forest members at the student entrance.
PS We Love You
Indiana State Football will be kicking off the "PS We love you" campaign, designed to help raise money and tackle childhood cancer, taking donations outside the stadium.
Honoring 2023 Indiana State Baseball Team
Indiana State will honor the Sycamore baseball team in an on-field ceremony as ISU recognizes the 2023 Missouri Valley Conference and Terre Haute Regional Champions during the contest.
ISU Koozie Giveaway
Zink Distributing is providing ISU themed Koozies to handout to fans as they walk into the stadium.
Postgame Fireworks
The first game of the season will also feature a postgame fireworks show at Memorial Stadium presented by Country Financial Schofield Agency.
Tailgating and Clear Bag Policies
Indiana State Athletics announced updated tailgating and clear bag policies for the 2022-23 athletic year. The policies are consistent with other members in both the Missouri Valley Conference and Missouri Valley Football Conference.
Tailgating Policies |
Clear Bag Policy
2023 Indiana State Football Season Tickets On Sale
For more information on Indiana State 2022 football tickets, fans can contact Assistant Manager of Athletic Ticketing
Austin Bishop by phone at 812-237-8972 or via email at
Austin.Bishop@indstate.edu. Fans can also call 877-ISU-TIXS or email
ISU-Tickets@indstate.edu.
Fans have the opportunity to also buy or renew season tickets online by clicking
HERE. Fans will also have the option to get their season tickets printed for an additional $5 charge.
Quick Notes
Home Opening Stats
Indiana State is 45-53-5 all-time in their season opening game dating back to the 1898 season. The Sycamores have opened play at home 42 separate times including each of the last two seasons. Indiana State has posted a 29-11-2 overall record in their home openers overall including last year's 24-17 overtime win over North Alabama, and the 26-21 win over Eastern Illinois to open the 2021 season.
2023 Captains Announced
The Sycamores announced their 2023 captains at the end of the fall camp slate.
Cade Chambers (QB),
Dakota Caton (WR),
Lucas Hunter (DL), and
Gianini Belizaire (DL) were all selected to the captaincy for the first time as voted on by their teammates. All four Sycamores receive their first captaincy nods as voted on by the team earlier Sunday evening.
Sycamores on the Preseason All-MVFC
Eight Sycamores were honored on the Missouri Valley Football Preseason All-Conference teams, while Indiana State was selected 10th overall in the Valley poll as voted on by the league's head coaches, media members, and SIDs.
Justin Dinka (RB) and
Rylan Cole (DB) represented the Sycamores on the All-MVFC First Team, while
Jose Vazquez IV (OL),
Lucas Hunter (DL), and
Geoffrey Brown (LB) were all selected to the Second Team.
Gianini Belizaire (DL),
Keagen Trost (OL), and
Johnathan Edwards (DB) were all honored on the MVFC Honorable Mention squad.
On This Date
Indiana State has played four games all-time on August 31 dating back to their first contest against Mars Hill. ISU has lined up against Eastern Illinois twice on the date coming in the opening games of both the 2000 and 2018 seasons. ISU last competed on August 31 back in 2019 at Kansas with the Sycamores falling 24-17 to the Jayhawks.
- 1995 – vs. Mars Hill – W, 31-0
- 2000 – vs. Eastern Illinois – L, 42-24
- 2018 – vs. Eastern Illinois – L, 22-20
- 2019 – at Kansas – L, 24-17
About Eastern Illinois
Eastern Illinois will open its 118th season of football on Thursday night when the Panthers travel to Terre Haute to face Indiana State. The series between the Panthers and Sycamores is the second most played in EIU program history with the schools first meeting in 1901. They have played 87 times, the last meeting in 2021 for the season opener. The two schools have played in EIU's season opener 27 times including every season between 1956-1970. ISU leads in those contests 15-11-1.
Eastern Illinois had ten players featured on that list, second most among the ten league schools. Selected to the preseason watch list were Chad Strickland (OT), Juwon Farri (RB), Justin Thomas (WR), Elijawah Tolbert (LB), Nick Coates (NICK), Russell Dandy (DB), Stone Galloway (K), Mark Aitken (KR), Cooper Willman (PR) and Jack Valente (LS).
Follow the Sycamores
For the latest information on Sycamore Football, visit GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. Fans can also receive updates on Sycamore Athletics by downloading the March On App from both the App Store and the Google Play Store.
