TERRE HAUTE —
Indiana State fans — along with fans and alumni of other Indiana schools — absolutely, positively hate to admit it, but it’s an undeniable truth that the most popular college program in the state is Indiana University.
The interlocking “IU” logo is a ubiquitous fact of life — seen on barns, flags, cars and displayed in every conceivable fashion statement from Lake Michigan to the Ohio River.
Love of the Hoosiers unites steelworkers in the Region, auto workers in Fort Wayne, barge workers in Evansville, politicians of both parties in Indianapolis and all points and ways of life in-between.
Many of Indiana State’s players saw cream-and-crimson in their youthful football dreams too. Though IU is, and likely forever will be, renowned for basketball, the gravitational pull of wanting to play football for the state’s most popular school is hard to resist.
“I remember walking on [at IU’s Memorial Stadium] before they did all of the remodeling. I remember thinking, ‘I’m going to score a touchdown here,’” said Indiana State running back Shakir Bell, who was recruited by IU out of Warren Central High School in Indianapolis. “I thought I was going to be an Indiana guy.”
But Bell is an Indiana State guy … and so are so many other Sycamores who aspired to be Hoosiers. ISU’s season-opening trip to Bloomington tonight isn’t just a chance to get one over on a Big Ten school — one that rarely views backyard ISU as anything but a bump in the road en route to a victory.
It’s the culmination of a quest. And a chance to show IU what it could have had.
“When I didn’t get the opportunity to go there back in ’07 and ’08, it hurt me a lot,” Bell said. “To have the opportunity to show what they missed out on is big for me. I’m taking it to heart, I’m putting everything I got into this game. I don’t want anyone to miss it. I’ve been waiting for this opportunity for a long time.”
ISU coach Trent Miles fights the good fight that coaches fight … trying not to let his players get too amped up about one opponent over another.
“Every win’s important. It doesn’t matter whether it’s Indiana, a Missouri Valley or NAIA team. A win is a win. We want to play to the best of our capability … and collect our money,” said Miles with a laugh, referring to the $400,000 ISU is being paid to play IU.
But the truth is heard in the voices of the Sycamores’ players. Voices that speak with a reckoning tone. Based on their performance tonight, many Sycamores will know whether the IU desires they once harbored were unfairly dashed or were out of their reach all along.
“There’s no denying this one’s a little bit more special to me and the guys on this team,” ISU senior defensive end Ben Obaseki said. “Being from southern Indiana [Washington], IU was my top school that I wanted to go to and play for. Not having a chance to do that, but having a chance to play them later on? That’s huge. It’s something I’ve been waiting for these last three years. It’s a dream come true.”
ISU is coming off back-to-back 6-5 campaigns and the Hoosiers are trying to rebuild under second-year coach Kevin Wilson after a ghastly 1-11 season in 2011.
Bell and Obaseki — All-Americans both — embody how far ISU has come under Miles. The wealth of talent the Sycamores possess is light years removed from the hulk of a program Miles inherited in 2008 — which was around the time the three-year series with the Hoosiers was agreed to.
But will it be enough for ISU to get its first win over a Big Ten program? The Hoosiers will have a say about it.
IU will start quarterback Tre Roberson. Though the Hoosiers want Roberson to grow into a quarterback capable of throwing out of the pocket, his calling card to date has been as a running threat of out the backfield. Roberson rushed for 426 yards in 2011. ISU has had mixed success stopping similar quarterbacks in the Missouri Valley Football Conference.
The Hoosiers’ leading rusher is Stephen Houston, who gained 802 yards in 2011, but freshman Tevin Coleman could start. ISU was ranked 82nd in FCS against the run in 2011. The Sycamores feel they’ve improved their run-stopping abilities, especially in the defensive line, but it hasn’t been proven yet.
“They’re fast and have an uptempo offense that has a good athlete at quarterback. They’re bigger than us [on the line] too,” Miles said.
IU’s defense returns eight starters from 2011, but it was a defense that struggled mightily in 2011, ranking near the bottom of FBS in nearly every category. However, IU is a year wiser, and Miles isn’t taking them lightly.
“Defensively, they’re very sound. They’ll blitz us and load up the box to stop the run. We’ll have our hands full. They’ll want to make a statement,” Miles said.
A bigger concern for both teams could be the weather. Tropical Storm Isaac is forecast to lumber into the region on Saturday and the 8 p.m. game could be played in a gusty downpour.
If so, it could negate both teams’ passing games and make avoidance of turnovers difficult. The last time ISU played in similar conditions was in 2010 and it didn’t end well for the Sycamores. ISU was beaten 40-7 at Western Illinois as a non-existent passing game augured a nightmarish day in just 10 first downs were gained.
ISU prepared for the predicted monsoon conditions during Thursday’s practice.
“We don’t worry about it, but we worked on it. We put the footballs in buckets of water [on Thursday] and threw and caught wet balls all day. But we’re going to go in and try to execute what we do. We don’t want to get distracted by the weather or the crowd,” Miles said.
Aside from starting center FN Lutz, who will miss the game with a knee injury and whose season status will be determined in September, no other ISU starters have any injuries that will cause them to miss the game.
That means a lot of dreams could come true for Sycamores who once dreamt of being Hoosiers.
“I dreamed of scoring a touchdown there. I’m glad to see there’s still an opportunity for me to get that goal,” Bell said.
ISU at Indiana
The players
Indiana State Sycamores (0-0)
Offense — QB Mike Perish (6-3, 210, So.); TB Shakir Bell (5-7, 170, Fr.); FB Austen Wozniak (6-2, 240, So.); WR Donald Spencer (6-2, 205, So.); WR Demory Lawshe (6-1, 190, Jr.); TE Michael Mardis (6-3, 235, Sr.); LT Paul Patrick (6-7, 300, So.); LG Justin Wood (6-4, 290, Sr.); C Evan Borchers (6-2, 295, Sr.); RG Adam Masters (6-5, 300, So.); RT Casey Paswater (6-4, 290, Sr.).
Defense (4-3) — DE Ben Obaseki (6-3, 235, Sr.); DT Jordan Bright (6-7, 295, Sr.); DT Tyler Boyd (6-2, 265, Jr.); DE Zakee Bashir (6-1, 240, Jr.); SLB Dillon Painter (6-2, 220, Sr.); MLB Aaron Archie (6-0, 235, Sr.); WLB Jacolby Washington (6-1, 235, Sr.); CB Johnny Towalid (5-11, 165, Sr.); CB Calvin Burnett (5-9, 160, Jr.); FS Donovan Layne (5-11, 195, So.); SS Larry King (6-2, 205, Jr.).
Special teams — K Tanner Fritschle (6-1, 195, So.); P Lucas Hileman (6-1, 195, Sr.); KR-PR Tanner Riley (5-10, 175, Sr.); KR Taje High (5-8, 165, Jr.).
Coach — Trent Miles (5th year at ISU, 13-32).
Injuries — C FN Lutz (knee) is out. G Justin Wood (knee) is probable.
Indiana Hoosiers (0-0)
Offense — QB Tre Roberson (6-0, 190, So.); RB Tevin Coleman (6-1, 200, Fr.); WR Shane Wynn (5-7, 157, So.); WR Kofi Hughes (6-2, 210, Jr.); WR Cody Latimer (6-3, 208, So.); TE Ted Bolser (6-6, 250, Jr.); LT Jason Spriggs (6-7, 258, Fr.); LG Bernard Taylor (6-2, 292, So.); C Will Matte (6-2, 292, Sr.); RG Collin Rahrig (6-2, 278, So.); RT Peyton Eckert (6-6, 293, So.).
Defense (4-3) — LE Ryan Phillis (6-3, 261, So.); DT Larry Black Jr. (6-2, 294, Sr.); DT Adam Replogle (6-3, 294, Sr.); RE John Laihinen (6-4, 250, So.); SLB Jacarri Alexander (6-1, 232, Jr.); MLB David Cooper (6-1, 225, So.); WLB Chase Hoobler (6-2, 242, So.); LCB Kenny Mullen (5-10, 180, So.); RCB Lawrence Barrett (5-10, 187, Sr.); S Mark Murphy (6-2, 206, So.); S Drew Hardin (6-0, 208, So.).
Special teams — K Mitch Ewald (5-10, 173, Jr.); P Mitchell Voss (5-11, 177, Jr.); KR Shane Wynn (5-7, 157, So.), KR Ricky Jones (5-10, 182, Fr.); PR Nick Stoner (6-1, 173, So.)
Coach — Kevin Wilson (2nd year at IU, 1-11).
Next — ISU will play host to Quincy and Indiana will play at Massachusetts on Sept. 8.
Indiana State University
Related Photos
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Tribune-Star/Joseph C. Garza Two of the best: Indiana State linebacker Aaron Archie tries to slow down teammate Shakir Bell during the Blue and White scrimmage Saturday at Memorial Stadium.
Discussion
Many Indiana State players saw themselves as Hoosiers growing up
- Indiana State University
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Etherington, Moore happy to be with ISU basketball
Not even two weeks into their college experience, Indiana State freshmen men’s basketball players Alex Etherington and Demetrius Moore stood sentinel as 115 kids ran around them collecting basketballs and getting autographs at the Greg Lansing Basketball Camp on Thursday.
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ISU's Johnson invited to World University Games
Indiana State senior Felisha Johnson will be traveling the world this summer after being named to represent the United States in the women’s shot put at the World University Games in Kazan, Russia.
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FROM THE PRESS BOX: Close, but no cigar, theme for ISU sports in 2012-13
When I covered my first event of Indiana State’s 2012-13 season — ISU’s opening football game at Indiana — I was the first one in the press box at IU’s Memorial Stadium. I’m never the first one in the press box.
Maybe the prospect of ISU’s season had me so pumped that I decided to get it started close to three hours early? (Or more truthfully, maybe I was over-vigilent about predicted traffic horrors on the Indiana 46 bypass that never came to pass.) -
Q&A: ISU football coach Mike Sanford ready for fall
It’s hard to believe, but Mike Sanford has already been Indiana State’s football coach for six months.
Time flies, but Sanford’s task of preparing for his first season in charge of the Sycamores comes with few breaks. -
Rex streak ends at 7
The Terre Haute Rex table setters — Kyle Kempf and Tyler Wampler — had three of the team’s eight hits Friday at Bob Warn Field, but the Rex offense found itself in a big early deficit for the first time this season.
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Manaea’s selection puts ISU in spotlight
Once the stress and hang-wringing over where Indiana State pitcher Sean Manaea might get drafted was over, the angst subsided and was replaced with a happier emotion. Pride.
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ISU’s Hope places 13th in NCAA pole vault
Indiana State senior Nicole Hope concluded her final competition of the 2013 outdoor season on Friday as she tied for 13th in the women’s pole vault at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
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Metro roundup: Former Sycamores take talents to CFL
Former Indiana State players Johnny Towalid and Justin Hilton were signed by teams in the Canadian Football League this week.
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Exit Minnesota, enter Oregon State on 2016 football schedule
When the Big Ten Conference implemented a nine-game football schedule starting in 2016 and discouraged members from playing Football Championship Subdivision teams, there was one game on Indiana State’s future schedule that was likely on borrowed time.
ISU’s scheduled game at Minnesota in 2016. -
ISU's Manaea selected 34th overall by Royals
Indiana State pitcher Sean Manaea selected 34th overall by the Kansas City Royals.
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ISU's Manaea is mystery man of MLB Draft
There is no consensus as to where Manaea might be drafted. Some experts still have him being chosen among the top 20 picks. Some don’t have him being picked in the first round at all.
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ISU's Johnson, Wise compete at NCAA nationals
Indiana State's Felisha Johnson and Katie Wise competed at the NCAA Track an Field Nationals at the University of Oregon.
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Sycamores ready for more NCAA track success
Five of the six Indiana State athletes in Eugene, Ore., already have had some memorable track and field careers for the Sycamores.
But they’ll go ahead and try to add to their list of accomplishments in the NCAA outdoor championships this weekend.
Dustin Betz has been a scorer and key piece of eight Missouri Valley Conference championship teams between track and cross country. He’ll compete today in the 3,000-meter steeplechase as the Sycamores’ second best in the event behind Jordan Fife. -
Mike Lucas joins ISU football staff
What traits do head football coaches seek out when they hire position coaches?
Indiana State football coach Mike Sanford provided insight into that question as he hired former Southeast Louisiana head coach Mike Lucas to his staff Tuesday. Lucas will be the Sycamores’ defensive line coach.
“You have to look at your staff and see what you need. I felt like in this particular case, I wanted an experienced defensive line coach. I feel like we have a mixture of experience and youth and I want to keep that going,” Sanford said. -
Sycamores bow out of MVC Tournament
Indiana State’s baseball was out of pitching, and after a loss to Wichita State on Thursday, the Sycamores were out of second-chances too at the Missouri Valley Conference baseball tournament. What the Sycamores weren’t out of was heart, guts and clutch performances from some unlikely sources. But in the end, Friday’s elimination game rematch against the Shockers was a sampling of ISU’s season overall — the Sycamores were out of luck.
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Four Indiana State athletes advance to NCAA outdoor track and field championships
Three Indiana State seniors and a freshman have punched their tickets to the NCAA outdoor track and field championships in two weeks at Eugene, Ore., with their Friday efforts in the 2013 NCAA East Preliminary at Aggie Stadium on the campus of North Carolina A&T.
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ISU baseball hoping Manaea can get its MVC Tournament moving in right direction
Indiana State’s baseball team has been waiting all season for its stars to align.
But this is the 2013 Sycamores, after all, and after a season in which seemingly little has gone right, it appears its stars will remain crossed at the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. -
ISU sending largest group yet to postseason
On the heels of their thrilling double victory at the 2013 Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships both the Indiana State men and women moved up in the national rankings which were released Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
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ISU's athletic treasure trove
Think of every championship that Indiana State has won in each of its sports, past and present. Think of every tournament — postseason or regular season — which the Sycamores have claimed as their own.
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Ort sets ISU RBI record in 16-7 win
Robby Ort celebrated his Indiana State baseball Senior Day on Saturday by becoming the Sycamores’ all-time leader in RBIs as ISU ended its regular season with a 16-7 win over Bradley at Bob Warn Field.
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Bradley ends 16-game MVC losing streak against ISU
Momentum was the only thing riding on Indiana State’s baseball game against Bradley on Friday. With a five-game winning streak going, ISU wanted to keep the good vibes going into next week’s Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.
ISU couldn’t do it. -
Indiana State to host 2014 MVC baseball tourney
Build it… and they will come. The Missouri Valley Conference and Indiana State University made that famous line from the movie “Fields Of Dreams” reality Thursday.
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Behind 16 hits and Manaea's pitching, ISU beats Bradley
Indiana State’s baseball team rode a wild ride of emotion on Thursday.
First came the public announcement that Bob Warn Field would host the 2014 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. Later, Sean Manaea’s availability to pitch ISU’s series opener against Bradley was in doubt. -
TODD GOLDEN: Don't give up on ISU baseball just yet
If you had to pick one word that would describe the 2013 Indiana State baseball season, it would have to be frustration.
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ISU baseball team builds on success with 14-2 rout
Indiana State’s baseball victory over Alcorn State on Friday would take on more meaning Saturday if the Sycamores could build momentum and pick up on the good work they did in Friday’s ninth-inning rally.
Mission accomplished.
The Sycamores were aggressive from the opening inning at the plate and starting pitcher Devin Moore gave them eight valuable and effective innings on the mound as ISU defeated Alcorn State 14-2 at Bob Warn Field.
“It was a really good experience for everybody. It felt great to finally come out here and put some things together. It’s also really nice when your offense puts a lot of runs on the board,” Moore said.
Moore’s eight innings of work were as valuable as gold to an ISU team that is short on quality arms due to injury and ineffectiveness. He didn’t allow a hit until the fourth inning and one of the two runs he conceded was unearned. -
ISU earns badly-needed win
Alcorn State’s baseball team might be ranked in the bottom 10 in RPI and Indiana State might have never lost to a Southwestern Athletic Conference team. So it wouldn’t appear that a quality win was in the offing when Alcorn State visited Bob Warn Field on Friday.
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ISU’s Mascari and Hope win MVC track & field titles
Indiana State produced two champions during the opening day of action in the Missouri Valley Conference track and field championships Friday at Drake. Freshman John Mascari, a Terre Haute native, won the men’s 10,000-meter race and Nicole Hope won the women’s pole vault for the second time in three seasons.
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ISU pole vault tradition continues with help from its author
Pole vault is track and field for the adrenaline junkie, Indiana State senior Nicole Hope proclaimed during a recent practice at Marks Field.
To catapult oneself about 14 feet into the air with a large $500 fiberglass pole on a daily basis is a risky endeavor.
“We have to be fearless. You can’t be afraid at all,” said Hope, who has also catapulted herself into the NCAA’s elite in the event, ranking 15th in the NCAA with her leap of 13-feet, 9 1/4. -
Lansing looking for more home games for next fall
Indiana State’s men’s basketball team is looking for a few good games.
Home games that is.
The Sycamores have filled in most of the blanks in their nonconference schedule, but as ever, ISU coach Greg Lansing would like to visit the friendly confines of Hulman Center a bit more often. -
ISU baseball gets back into rhythm with victory
Baseball is a rhythm game. With contests every day or five times a week in the case of many college programs, you have the chance to build on success or wallow in a slump.
Mother Nature took that rhythm away from Indiana State’s team last week. After a 7-1 loss to Indiana on April 24, ISU was supposed to play a three-game series at Tennessee-Martin, but it was wiped out by rain.
So the rhythm was disturbed, but perhaps that wasn’t a bad thing.
ISU was in a five-game losing streak before its unintended vacation and the Sycamores made a move in the right direction Wednesday with a 7-0 win over DePauw at Bob Warn Field.
“It was a disappointing weekend. We went all the way down to Tennessee and didn’t get to play. We sat around in the hotel room. We came here and it was still raining. It was nice to get out and see some live pitching,” ISU center fielder Landon Curry said. - More Indiana State University Headlines
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