Follow On Twitter: @IndStAthletics & @IndianaStateFB INDIANA STATE TRAVELS TO TENNESSEE TECH SATURDAY NIGHT FOR FINAL NON-CONFERENCE CONTEST SETTING THE STAGE Year one of the Mike Sanford era at Indiana State continues Saturday, September 28, as the Sycamores get back on the road as they travel to Tennessee Tech of the Ohio Valley Conference. Saturday’s game is set for a 8:00 p.m. (ET) kickoff at Tucker Stadium (16,500). The game will be broadcast live for free on the Ohio Valley Digital Network with Roger Ealey (pbp), Buddy Pearson (color) and Dylan Vazzano (sidelines) on the call. The game will also air live on WIBQ (98.5 FM), with Brian Fritz and Tom James calling the action for the Nelligan Sports Marketing Radio Network. Action can also be heard live worldwide on GoSycamores. Live stats for the game will be available via a link on GoSycamores. THE TENNESSEE TECH SERIES Indiana State has never faced off against Tennessee Tech on the gridiron. The Sycamores are 49-58-4 all-time against the current membership of the Ohio Valley Conference (37-43-4 vs. Eastern Illinois, 1-0 vs. UT-Martin, 1-7 versus Eastern Kentucky, 6-3 vs. Murray State, 3-4 vs. Southeast Missouri State, 1-1 vs. Austin Peay). ISU has not played a member of the OVC since a 2009 contest against Eastern Illinois. THE COACHES INDIANA STATE: Mike Sanford (Southern California, 1978) — Overall: 17-45 (6th Season) — at Indiana State: 1-2 (1st Season) — vs. Tennessee Tech: First Meeting — vs. Missouri Valley Football Conference: 0-0 TENNESSEE TECH: Watson Brown (Vanderbilt, 1973) — Overall: 124-192-1 (29th Season) — at Tennessee Tech: 30-41 (Seventh Season) — vs. Indiana State: First Meeting — vs. Missouri Valley Football Conference: 0-0 QUICK HITS — Indiana State has not played a member of the OVC since 2009 (home vs. Eastern Illinois) and has not played a road game versus a member of the OVC since 2008 (away vs. Eastern Illinois). — Senior tailback Shakir Bell enter Saturday’s game with 3,907 rushing yards for his career which is third on the Sycamore all-time list. He needs just 429 yards on the ground during his senior campaign to become Indiana State’s all-time leading rusher and eclipse the total of 4,335 yards set by Vincent Allen from 1973-77. His 3,907 career rushing yards ranks 10th all-time in the history of the Missouri Valley Football Conference and he needs 840 to top Herb Donaldson’s record of 4,746 set from 2005-08 at Western Illinois. Additionally, with 93 more rushing yards, Bell will become just the ninth MVFC player all-time to rush for at least 4,000 career yards. An Indiana State Win Over Tennessee Tech Would … • Give the Sycamores their first-ever victory over Tennessee Tech and their first victory over a member of the Ohio Valley Conference since a 2004 victory against UT-Martin at home and would break a string of 10 consecutive losses to OVC members. • Give Indiana State their first road non-conference victory over a FCS member since a 2004 overtime victory at Eastern Illinois by the score of 33-30. The Indiana State Head Coach Indiana State head coach Mike Sanford (Southern California, 1978) is 17-45 (.274) overall in his sixth season as a head coach, and is 1-2 in his first season with Indiana State. He is 0-0 all-time in MVFC games, including an 0-0 mark at home and a 0-0 mark on the road. During his career, he is 14-18 in all home games, 3-27 on the road and 5-5 in games decided by three points or less. Sanford is 0-0 all-time against Tennessee Tech, and is 0-0 against the Golden Eagles on the road. With the Trees, Sanford is 0-0 in overtime games, and 0-0 in shutouts. Saturday’s game is Mike Sanford’s fourth as Indiana State head coach and his 63rd as a collegiate head coach. The Tennessee Tech Head Coach Tennessee Tech is led by veteran head coach Watson Brown, who is in his 29th season as a head coach with an overall record of 124-192-1 and his seventh season at Tennessee Tech with a record of 30-41. Brown is the brother of current Texas head coach Mack Brown. He has never faced Indiana State nor any other current member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference as a head coach. Brown was the head coach at Austin Peay from 1979-80, Cincinnati in 1983, Rice from 1984-1985, Vanderbilt from 1986-1990, Alabama Birmingham from 1995-2006 and has been at Tennessee Tech since 2007. Scouting The Golden Eagles Tennessee Tech is 2-2 on the season and opened Ohio Valley Conference play with a 41-21 loss to Tennessee State last week. The Golden Eagles opened the season with a convincing 63-7 victory at home over Cumberland before falling 48-0 at Wisconsin. They won 30-27 on the road at Hampton and then fell last week to Tennessee State. A Little History This marks the 109th 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 359-480-22 and is competing for the 28th consecutive season as a member of the MVFC. Television Particulars The Tennessee Tech game will be broadcast on the OVC Digital Network for free. The OVC Digital Network can be found at OVCDigitalNetwork and is a free web stream service provided by the league. Mike Perish Named MVFC Offensive Player Of The Week Following Quincy Contest Mike Perish took home his first Missouri Valley Football Conference Offensive Player Of The Week honor following his performance against Quincy on September 14. Perish was 23-of-26 passing for 379 yards with four passing touchdowns and one on the ground as the Sycamores went over 70 points for the first time since 1925 in their 70-7 victory over Quincy. Perish had 379 passing yards which are the fourth-most in a single-game in school history and was part of a school record 433 passing yards, topping a 2006 effort against Missouri State. Perish’s completion percentage of 88.4 percent (23-of-26) is likewise a new school record. Perish added a one-yard touchdown run. Sycamore Offense Hits 70 Point Mark For First Time Since 1925 Indiana State defeated Quincy by the score of 70-7 in the home opener. It marked the first time that ISU has scored at least 70 points in a game since a 72-0 victory over Vincennes in 1925. It was the first time the Sycamores have scored at least 70 points in a game played in Terre Haute since a 79-0 victory over Vincennes in 1924. The 10 touchdowns scored by the Sycamores are a school record, topping the previous best of nine. The Sycamores have scored 119 points in three games this season, averaging 39.7 points per game, which currently ranks third-best in the MVFC. Indiana Sets New Passing Record Against Quincy The Sycamore offense set several records in the 70-7 victory over Quincy. Indiana State’s 433 passing yards is a school record for a single-game, topping a 396-yard effort through the air in 2006 at Missouri State. The Sycamores amassed 671 yards of total offense versus Quincy, which was just four yards short of the school record of 675 yards against Dayton set in 1975. For the season, Indiana State’s offense is averaging 424 yards per game which is fourth-best in the MVFC and they are one of six different MVFC schools to average more than 400 yards of total offense per game. Tanner Fritschle Perfect 10 Against Quincy Tanner Fritschle was a perfect 10-of-10 on his PAT’s during the 70-7 victory over Quincy on September 14. Fritschle set school records for most PAT’s made in a game with 10, most PAT’s attempted in a game with 10 and for single-game PAT percentage (10-of-10). For the season, Fritschle is 17-of-17 on his PAT’s, which leads the Missouri Valley Football Conference. Sycamores Back To Playing Non-Conference Valley Games Once a staple of the Indiana State football schedule, the Sycamores will be facing off against a member of the Ohio Valley Conference for the first time since the 2009 campaign when they travel to Tennessee Tech on Saturday. The Sycamores have dropped each of their last 10 meetings against a member of the OVC dating back to a 41-24 home field victory over UT-Martin in 2004. Indiana State Looks For First Road Non-Conference FCS Victory Since 2004 Indiana State is looking to end a three-game losing skid to non-conference opponents on the road at Tennessee Tech, dating back to a road win over Western Kentucky (44-16) in 2011. The Sycamores have not played on the road against a non-conference FCS program since a 38-3 loss at Eastern Illinois in 2008 and have not won on the road against a non-conference FCS program since a 2004 overtime victory against Eastern Illinois, 33-30. Don’t Perish The Thought Indiana State junior quarterback Mike Perish completed 29-of-45 passes for 256 yards through the air and two touchdowns against Purdue. Perish found George Cheeseborough for a 36-yard touchdown strike on the game’s third quarter and then found Demory Lawshe for a 17-yard scoring strike in the fourth quarter to draw the Sycamores within a field goal of the Boilermakers. More impressive yet is that Perish found 11 different receivers over the course of the game, including seven of his 29 completed passes to first-year Sycamores. True freshman Kyani Harris, who had a TD reception in the opener at Indiana led the newcomers with five receptions for 32 yards while Buck Logan and Miquel Jones had one reception reach. Sophomore Logan Buske had a five-yard reception on third-and-short to keep a scoring drive alive in the game’s fourth quarter. In 2012, Shakir Bell Became Quickest To 1,000 Rushing Yards At Indiana State (Again!) Indiana State junior Shakir Bell went over the 1,000 rushing yard mark in 2012 in just the seventh game as he put up 96 yards on the ground as the Sycamores downed No. 1 North Dakota State in front of a near capacity crowd at the Fargodome 17-14. Bell rushed 26 times in the game for 96 yards as he broke his own school record set last year for being the fastest Sycamore to reach 1,000 yards rushing in a season. Bell now has 3,907 yards for his career which is third on ISU’s all-time list. Bell has reached 100 yards rushing in 20 of his 34 career games. Vincent Allen (4,335 yards from 1973-77) and David Wright (4,181 yards from 1992-95) are the only two players to sit ahead of Bell on the ISU all-time career rushing list. Additionally, Bell is less than 1,000 yards away from reaching Herb Donaldson at the top of the Missouri Valley Football Conference record book for career rushing yards. Donaldson had 4,746 rushing yards at Western Illinois from 2005-08 and Bell is just 840 yards away from reaching his career total. Shakir Bell Named To 2013 Walter Payton Award Watch List Indiana State senior Shakir Bell is one of 20 FCS student-athletes nationally to be named to the 2013 Walter Payton Award Watch List by The Sports Network. The Walter Payton Award is given annually to the top offensive player in FCS Football. This marks the third consecutive season in which Bell has appeared on The Walter Payton Award Watch List. Bell finished tied for second in the voting back in 2011 when he became the first Indiana State Sycamore to be invited to the FCS Awards Presentation in Frisco, Texas. Last season, Bell finished 12th overall and was the second leading vote getter representing the Missouri Valley Football Conference. Bell has already earned First Team Preseason All-America honors from The Sports Network this summer and last season he was named to the Associated Press All-American Third Team after picking up four different first team honors in 2011. He was named First Team All-Missouri Valley Football Conference in 2012 and finished third in the MVFC Offensive Player Of The Year balloting. He was also named to The Sports Network FCS All-American Team last year and is the first Sycamore to earn back-to-back All-America honors since Richard Harris did it in 2000 & 2001. Sycamore Trio Earns Preseason All-MVFC Plaudits A trio of Indiana State seniors Shakir Bell, Calvin Burnett and FN Lutz have been named to the 2013 Preseason All-Missouri Valley Football Conference Team as announced by the league office. Additionally, the Sycamores were picked to finish sixth in this season’s 10-team MVFC race. The Preseason All-MVFC Teams as well as the predicted order of finish were determined by a vote of the league head coaches, media and sports information directors. Bell, a member of the Preseason All-MVFC First Team, is a two-time All-MVFC selection and has already been named to numerous Preseason All-American Teams as well this summer. He was the MVFC Offensive Player of the Year in 2011 as well as a finalist for that season’s Walter Payton Award. Burnett, a senior defensive back, is also a member of the Preseason All-MVFC First Team. He was a Second Team All-MVFC selection in 2012 and was an honorable mention pick as a freshman in 2010 when he also was named to the league’s all-newcomer team. Lutz, a senior offensive lineman, is a member of the Preseason All-MVFC Honorable Mention Team. He sat out the 2012 campaign after a knee injury in the spring game forced him to miss the entire season. Despite his injury and based on the hope that he might be ready to play last year, he was named to the Preseason All-MVFC First Team and was a candidate for the Lowe’s Senior Class Award. Bell Sets MVFC & ISU Rushing Records In Victory Over Drake Indiana State junior running back Shakir Bell etched his name in both the Missouri Valley Football Conference and Indiana State record books yet again on September 15, 2012 when he gained 349 yards on the ground to set both the school and conference single-game rushing record against Drake. For his efforts, Bell was named both the MVFC Offensive Player Of The Week and The Sports Network National Offensive Player Of The Week. His 349-yard rushing effort is the highest single-game total so far this season for both FBS and FCS and is the eighth-highest total ever in FCS history. Indiana State Football With Third Consecutive Winning Season The Indiana State Sycamores were 7-4 overall and 5-3 in Missouri Valley Football Conference play last season. The Sycamores secured their third consecutive winning campaign which is the first time ISU has enjoyed that many winning seasons in a row since the 1967-69 years under Jerry Huntsman when ISU posted six consecutive winning seasons. Sycamores Against The Missouri Valley Football Conference Indiana State is in its 28th 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 51-118 in MVFC contests and have won 12 of their last 22 league matchups, marking the first time since the 2002 season that an ISU team has won multiple league contests over a similar stretch. In Overtime The Sycamores have played in 12 overtime contests since the rule was established for regular season games in the NCAA FCS Subdivision in 1996. The Sycamores are 7-5 in games that have used an extra period. ISU’s last overtime contest came in the form of a 38-35 victory against Missouri State in the sixth game of the 2010 season. Up Next Indiana State returns to action on Saturday, October 5 when they come back to Memorial Stadium to begin Missouri Valley Football Conference play against Youngstown State. Kick-off is set for 3:05 p.m. (ET). The Youngstown State game is the annual Homecoming contest on the Indiana State campus. GOSYCAMORES.COM
Posted on: Tue, 24 Sep 2013 20:41:07 +0000
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