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ISU’s losing past in the past
By Joe Scalzo
Last season, Indiana State stopped being the Missouri Valley’s punch line and coach Trent Miles wants to prove that success was no joke.
Beating YSU at home for the first time in school history would certainly help.
“We haven’t beaten them much at all, home or away,” said Miles, whose team is 2-19 all-time against YSU. “They’ve dominated this series. Dominated it.”
Indiana State snapped an 18-game losing streak to YSU in last year’s Penguin finale at Stambaugh Stadium. The win also snapped the Sycamores’ 36-game road losing streak and ensured them of their first winning season since 1996. (They lost a week later to finish 6-5.)
Now in his fourth year at ISU, Miles is ready to move past those types of milestones.
“We’re done here talking about the past and the former losing streaks and all that kind of stuff,” he said. “It doesn’t factor in anymore. We don’t dwell on what happened here five years ago. Our expectation level has been raised and we’re just worried about our next opponent.”
After an opening loss to Penn State (41-7), the Sycamores have won back-to-back games against Butler (48-34) and Western Kentucky (44-16). Saturday’s win was their first against an FBS team since 2001, albeit against one that has lost 17 straight home games.
“When I watch them on film and see what they did to Western Kentucky, it’s clear they have a good football team,” said YSU coach Eric Wolford. “They’ve done a great job of recruiting and they have more talent than Western Kentucky.
“They’ve raised the level of talent even from last year.”
ISU quarterback Ronnie Fouch, the former backup to Jake Locker at Washington, leads a balanced attack that has made a bigger commitment to the run this fall, Wolford said. Running back Shakir Bell is averaging 108 yards per game, while Fouch is throwing for 188.
“Him and [Matt] Brown from Illinois State, those two guys can throw it around,” Wolford said. “Fouch is going to be in an NFL camp next year, I don’t think there’s any question about that.”
Defensively, junior lineman Ben Obaseki is back after earning first team all-conference honors last fall. He made eight tackles with a sack against WKU.
“He’s probably the best defensive lineman in the league right now,” Wolford said. “I watched him take Penn State guys and fold them over backward.”
Although Wolford feels the Sycamores match up well in talent and in scheme, they can’t match YSU’s tradition, fan support or facilities. Miles was just happy to get a new outdoor practice field — all built on private funds — and after drawing close to 8,000 fans for his first home game, he’d like to see more this Saturday.
“If we can get all the people tailgating to come in, we might break 10,000,” he said. “The first home game was festive and it had that college football feel, which hasn’t always been the case here. We’re starting to see more of that. Around town, more businesses are putting our signs in their windows and more people are asking for sideline passes.
“The more Ws we get, the more they’ll come around.”