there you go......
Game 6: INDIANA STATE (0-5, 0-2) at NORTHERN IOWA (3-1, 1-0)
Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009 • Cedar Falls, Iowa • UNI-Dome • 5:05 p.m. ET • Radio: ESPN 1130/1300 AM
Setting The Stage
Indiana State continues year two of the Trent Miles Era on Saturday, Oct. 3, as the Sycamores hit the road to take on No. 3 Northern Iowa. Saturday’s game is set for a 5:05 p.m. (ET) kickoff at the UNI-Dome (17,324). The game will be carried live on ESPN Radio (1130 and 1300 AM), with Brian Fritz and Vaso Michels calling the action for the Nelligan Sports Marketing Radio Network. Action can be heard live worldwide on ESPNSportsRadio.com, and live stats are available at GoSycamores.com.
The Indiana State Head Coach
Indiana State is led by head coach Trent Miles, a 1987 ISU graduate and Terre Haute native. Miles made his head coaching debut last season against Eastern Michigan and carries a record of 0-17 into Saturday’s game. Miles previously spent three seasons (2005-07) as the running backs coach at Washington and three years at Notre Dame (2002-04) as the wide receivers coach. Miles is 0-1 against the Panthers, and is 0-10 against members of the Missouri Valley Football Conference.
The Northern Iowa Head Coach
Northern Iowa is led by head coach Mark Farley, who is in his ninth season at the helm of the Panther program. Farley is 78-29 as a collegiate head coach, third on the UNI all-time coaching victories list. Farley is 7-1 all-time against Indiana State, including a mark of 4-0 in the UNI-Dome.
Scouting Northern Iowa
Northern Iowa is a member of the NCAA FCS Subdivision and competes in the MVFC. The Panthers are 3-1 on the season, having won three in a row, including last week’s MVFC opener against Missouri State. UNI opened the year with a narrow 17-16 defeat at the hands of nationally-ranked Iowa.The Panthers had a pair of field goals blocked in the game’s final seconds which allowed the Hawkeyes to barely escape with a season opening victory. UNI is led by Derrick Law, who amassed 223 yards rushing, while quarterback Pat Grace is 74-of-111 passing for 1,084 yards and nine touchdowns.
A Little History
This marks the 105th 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 338-460-22 and is competing for the 24th consecutive season as a member of the MVFC.
What’s Transpired
Indiana State opened the season with a 26-20 overtime loss against Quincy at Memorial Stadium. The game drew regional attention, as 7,216 fans were in attendance. The Sycamores bounced out to a quick 17-0 lead in the first quarter against the Hawks – ISU’s largest lead over an opponent since 2004 -- but Quincy came back to knot the score at 20 with 43 seconds left in regulation. Darrius Gates paced the Sycamores with 102 yards on the ground and also threw a 75-yard touchdown pass as the offense showed spark early in the game.
ISU enjoyed its closest game against a member of the NCAA Division I FBS Subdivision since 2003 with a 30-10 loss at Louisville. Santino Davis recorded a pair of interceptions in falling to the BIG EAST opponent.
The Sycamores were shut out in their third contest of the season against Eastern Illinois by a 31-0 count. It marked the first time ISU was shut out by the Panthers since 1962 and their 95 yards of total offense was the Sycamores’ lowest total since the 2003 campaign.
Indiana State battled tough at No. 18 South Dakota State in the first half, but it wasn’t enough, as the Jackrabbits took it to the Sycamores late in the second quarter en route to a 41-0 win over ISU. ISU trailed just 3-0 in the waning moments of the first half, but a blocked punt and a touchdown with less than a minute remaining helped SDSU to the game’s momentum and the eventual victory. Senior Donye McCleskey recorded a season-best 15 tackles in defeat, plus his first interception of the season. ISU was shutout in back-to-back games for the first time since the 1999 season.
The Sycamores were shutout for the third consecutive game, falling 28-0 to Youngstown State. The Penguins owned just a 7-0 lead in the fourth quarter as the Sycamores held YSU without a score for nine consecutive possessions and did not allow a first down to Youngstown in third stanza. Indiana State went over the 100-yard mark in total offense, but were not able to reach pay dirt, falling to 0-2 in league play.
DEFENSE...DEFENSE
The Sycamore defense held Youngstown State to just seven points into the fourth quarter, continuing to improve as the season progresses. In fact, the defense did not surrender a first down in the entire third quarter against the Penguins. The Sycamores forced YSU into nine consecutive drives without surrendering a score, spanning from the 5:37 mark of the first quarter until the 10:03 mark of the fourth.
Special Teams a Strength
Senior punter Gabe Mullane was extremely busy against Youngstown State, averaging 37.5 yards per kick on 10 attempts against the Penguins. Mullane’s longest boot on the busy day was 54 yards, and he pinned YSU inside its own 20-yard line once and only had one touchback in the 10 attempts. His 10 punts were just two shy of the school record of 12. For the season he has punted 35 times and has pinned the opposition deep in their own territory (inside the 20) a total of eight times, or 22.8 percent of his attempts.
Return To Sender
Indiana State has been solid in special teams, as the punt return squad ranks 28th nationally with an 10.78 yards-per-return average. That mark is good enough for third in the MVFC. Bryant Kent leads ISU in punt returns with a 6.57 average, which is fourth in the MVFC and tied for 38th nationally. Individually, Darrius Gates is averaging 31.33 yards per kickoff return which is second in the league and eighth-best nationally. As a team, the Sycamores average 21.05 yards per kick return, which is 49th nationally and in a league which boasts some of the best special teams in all of the FCS Subdivision, is seventh in the MVFC.
Facing The Best
The Sycamores face top five nationally-ranked Northern Iowa on Saturday, Oct. 3. ISU looks to down its first opponent in the Top 25 since downing No. 19 Western Illinois on Oct. 23, 1999. The Sycamores are 8-67 all-time against FCS nationally-ranked opponents, including a mark of 6-48 against league members that are nationally ranked.
We Are Mostly...Young
Of the 84 players on the current Indiana State roster, a total of 65 student-athletes are underclassmen -- or just over 76 percent. There are 38 true or redshirt freshmen on the roster currently. A total of 19 student-athletes have seen their first collegiate action this season, including 18 true or redshirt freshmen.
Few Seniors
Indiana State has just 11 players on its roster who are seniors. Of those, Mike Woods and Elliott Thomas are fifth-year seniors, while Donye McCleskey, Jeramie Gray, Jerry Calvert, Dan Millington, Pat Burke, Bill McGrath and Nate Brown are in their fourth year. Antoine Brown and Gabe Mullane transferred into the Sycamore program and are in their final season as well. Indiana State has the fourth fewest seniors on a 2009 roster nationally.
Working Overtime
The Sycamores have played in 11 overtime contests since the rule was established for regular season games in the NCAA FCS Subdivision in 1996. The Sycamores are 6-5 in games that have used an extra period, including a 33-30 overtime win over Eastern Illinois in 2004.
Sycamores vs. the Missouri Valley Football Conference
Indiana State is in its 24th 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 39-108 in MVFC contests and have lost each of their last 19 league matchups. ISU’s last victory over a member of the league came on Oct. 21, 2006 against Missouri State (28-22). The Sycamores’ last road victory over a MVFC opponent came on Nov. 9, 2002 at Southern Illinois, a 21-14 ISU victory.
Flood Gates Open
Junior tailback Darrius Gates opened the season against Quincy by rushing for a team-best 102 yards on 11 carries. He closed out the 2008 campaign against Missouri State by rushing for 237 yards on 29 attempts en route to being named the MVFC Offensive Player of the Week. His performance in the season finale of 2008 against the Bears coupled with the effort versus the Hawks, makes Gates the first Sycamore to record back-to-back 100-yard single-game rushing performances since Jake Shields accomplished the feat in the first two games of 2003 (127 at Ball State; 213 vs. Florida International). To add to his success on the ground, Gates also completed a 75-yard TD pass to Bryant Kent in the first quarter against Quincy, which was the second pass completion of his career (both have gone for touchdowns).
Up Next ...
After an open week, Indiana State returns to action once again on the road, at Illinois State on Oct. 17. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. (ET).
The Last Time They Met: Nov. 15, 2008
The Indiana State football team returned home after playing it last two games on the road, but had to face off against the No. 4 ranked team in the country in Northern Iowa. The game was forced to the ground due to rain and heavy winds, and the Panthers (9-2, 7-1 MVFC) took advantage by amassing 238 rushing on way to a 28-0 win over the Sycamores (0-11, 0-7 MVFC) at Memorial Stadium.
The Sycamore defense had the measure of the fourth-ranked Panthers throughout much of the opening quarter, stopping UNI on its first two possessions. Defensive tackle Rod Hardy came up with a big stop on a fourth-and-inches play that denied the Panthers a first down on UNI’s first possession and the ISU defense forced a Panther punt on UNI’s second possession of the game.
However, the Sycamore offense could not take advantage as the Panther defense force two-straight three-and-out possession to start the game.
Northern Iowa jumped out to a 7-0 lead just before the end of the first quarter by taking advantage of a short punt by ISU’s Gabe Mullane against a stiff west wind. Josh Collins returned the punt to the ISU 27, and it took the Panthers just five plays to go on a 27-yard scoring drive that was capped off by a three-yard touchdown run by Derek Law with 34 seconds remaining.
The Panthers added two more scores in the second quarter to widen the lead to 21-0 halftime. Corey Lewis capped a 46-yard, five-play scoring drive with a three yard run with 5:48 remaining to make the score 14-0 in favor of UNI. Lewis later scored on a 21-yard pass from Zach Davis that completed a three play, 60-yard drive with a minute left in the half that was aided by a pass interference call against the Sycamores.
In the third quarter, UNI’s Jamar Thompson intercepted a pass by ISU’s Ryan Roberts at the ISU 32 yard line and returned the ball to the ISU 21. The Panthers got as close as the ISU three yard line, but the ISU defense stiffened and forced the Panthers to attempt a 21-yard field goal into the win. UNI placekicker Billy Hallgren set up to attempt the field goal, but a bad snap from center gave Indiana State the ball back at their own 14 yard line with 1:50 remaining in the third quarter.
The score stayed that way until the fourth quarter, when the Panthers put the game away at 28-0. On the team’s first possession of quarter, UNI drove 55 yards in just three plays for its fourth touchdown of the game. A 52-yard pass from Pat Grace to Jarred Herring set up the Panthers at the ISU one-yard line after a touchdown-saving tackle by ISU freshman Julian Easterly. Lewis then scored his third touchdown of the day on the next play on a one yard run with 10:05 left in the game. The score remained that way for the rest of the game and the Panthers secured at least a share of the MVFC title.
Roberts finished the day with 45 yards rushing on 17 carries and also completed 3-of-8 passes for 19 yards with an interception. Fullback Brock Lough had a solid day on the ground, as he rushed for 35 yards on six carries for an average of 5.8 yards per carry. The Sycamores were led on defense by Jerry Calvert, CJ Cook and Jayden Everett, who each recorded eight tackles on the day. Hardy finished his day with seven tackles and a half tackles for loss.
