2018 Indiana State Sycamores football team
The 2018 Indiana State Sycamores football team represented Indiana State University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by second-year head coach Curt Mallory and played their home games at Memorial Stadium. They were a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference. They finished the season 7–4, 5–3 in MVFC play to finish in a tie for third place. Despite being ranked in the top 25 at the end of the regular season, they were not selected to participate in the FCS Playoffs.
2018 Indiana State Sycamores football | |
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Conference | Missouri Valley Football Conference |
Ranking | |
FCS Coaches | No. 25 |
2018 record | 7–4 (5–3 MVFC) |
Head coach |
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Offensive coordinator | Jeff Hecklinski (2nd season) |
Defensive coordinator | Brad Wilson (2nd season) |
Home stadium | Memorial Stadium (Capacity: 12,764) |
2018 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Team | W | L | W | L | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 1 North Dakota State $^ | 8 | – | 0 | 15 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 3 South Dakota State ^ | 6 | – | 2 | 10 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 23 Northern Iowa ^ | 5 | – | 3 | 7 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Indiana State | 5 | – | 3 | 7 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Western Illinois | 4 | – | 4 | 5 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Illinois State | 3 | – | 5 | 6 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Youngstown State | 3 | – | 5 | 4 | – | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
South Dakota | 3 | – | 5 | 4 | – | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Missouri State | 2 | – | 6 | 4 | – | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Southern Illinois | 1 | – | 7 | 2 | – | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Previous season
The Sycamores finished the 2017 season 0–11, 0–8 in MVFC play to finish in last place.
Preseason
Preseason MVFC poll
The MVFC released their preseason poll on July 29, 2018, with the Sycamores predicted to finish in last place.[1]
Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
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1 | North Dakota State | 390 (39) |
2 | South Dakota State | 270 |
3 | Northern Iowa | 258 |
4 | Youngstown State | 248 |
5 | Illinois State | 248 |
6 | South Dakota | 206 |
7 | Western Illinois | 163 |
8 | Southern Illinois | 139 |
9 | Missouri State | 90 |
10 | Indiana State | 41 |
Preseason All-MVFC Teams
The Sycamores placed six players on the preseason all-MVFC teams.[2]
Offense 2nd team Jerry Nunez – K |
Defense 2nd team Inoke Moala – DL Derrek Tuszka – DL Jonas Griffith – LB Katrell Moss – LB Rondell Green – DB |
Schedule
Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
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August 30 | 7:00 p.m. | Quincy* | ESPN3 | W 49–0 | 6,243 | |
September 8 | 7:00 p.m. | at Louisville* | ACCN Extra | L 7–31 | 44,520 | |
September 15 | 7:00 p.m. | at Eastern Illinois* | ESPN+ | W 55–41 | 6,420 | |
September 27 | 7:00 p.m. | No. 23 Northern Iowa |
| ESPN3 | L 0–33 | 5,487 |
October 6 | 7:00 p.m. | at No. 3 South Dakota State | ESPN+ | L 51–54 OT | 10,318 | |
October 13 | 2:00 p.m. | Missouri State |
| ESPN+ | L 26–29 | 6,721 |
October 20 | 3:00 p.m. | at Southern Illinois | ESPN+ | W 24–21 | 6,435 | |
October 27 | 2:00 p.m. | at Youngstown State | ESPN+ | W 43–17 | 10,870 | |
November 3 | 1:00 p.m. | South Dakota |
| ESPN+ | W 51–48 3OT | 5,816 |
November 10 | 1:00 p.m. | No. 23 Illinois State |
| ESPN3 | W 28–23 | 4,016 |
November 17 | 2:00 p.m. | at Western Illinois | ESPN3 | W 15–13 | 1,813 | |
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- Source: 2018 Schedule
Game summaries
Quincy
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
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Hawks | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Sycamores | 14 | 7 | 14 | 14 | 49 |
at Louisville
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
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Sycamores | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
Cardinals | 7 | 0 | 7 | 17 | 31 |
at Eastern Illinois
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
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Sycamores | 17 | 14 | 14 | 10 | 55 |
Panthers | 20 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 41 |
Northern Iowa
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
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No. 23 Panthers | 3 | 6 | 14 | 10 | 33 |
Sycamores | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
at South Dakota State
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
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Sycamores | 10 | 7 | 7 | 24 | 48 |
No. 3 Jackrabbits | 7 | 14 | 21 | 6 | 48 |
Missouri State
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
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Bears | 7 | 14 | 0 | 8 | 29 |
Sycamores | 0 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 26 |
at Southern Illinois
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
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Sycamores | 7 | 7 | 10 | 0 | 24 |
Salukis | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 21 |
at Youngstown State
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
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Sycamores | 3 | 13 | 7 | 20 | 43 |
Penguins | 7 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 17 |
South Dakota
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | 2OT | 3OT | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Coyotes | 7 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 48 |
Sycamores | 14 | 7 | 0 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 51 |
Illinois State
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
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No. 23 Redbirds | 10 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 23 |
Sycamores | 0 | 21 | 0 | 7 | 28 |
at Western Illinois
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
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Sycamores | 3 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 15 |
Leathernecks | 3 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 13 |
Ranking movements
Week | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Final | |||||||
STATS FCS | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | RV | 25 | RV | |||||||
Coaches | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | RV | 24 | 22 | 25 |