Published: October 03, 2008 12:18 am            

Sycamores seek to diversify running attack

TERRE HAUTE — Indiana State’s football team has already dabbled with cycling its quarterbacks in and out of the lineup. Chuck Dowdell, Calvin Schmidtke and Matt Seliger have all seen action.

The Sycamores maintained during training camp that they would do the same in the backfield. Though 10 different Sycamores have carried the ball at least once, most of the running load has been shouldered by Darrius Gates (43 carries, 186 yards) and Dowdell (35 carries, 170 yards) out of the option.

On Saturday against Illinois State, the Sycamores intend to diversify the running attack if practice repetitions are any indication

Freshman Tyler Johnson has been getting more reps in practice this week, along with diminutive halfback Reece Craig. Antoine Brown, a Kentucky transfer who has spelled Gates most of the season, has also had more reps.

While Brown has 31 yards in 19 carries, the remaining backs are untested. Johnson has seen scant duty, carrying the ball twice for 1 yard. Craig has four carries for 8 yards.

“We’ve got to play them. We can’t go through this conference with one tailback, especially when [Gates] is about 170 pounds. He’s going to get beat up, so we need to keep him fresh. The other guys are worthy of playing, deserve some carries and I want to see what they can do,” ISU coach Trent Miles said. “It’s a long season. We don’t want to beat up one guy, then all of the sudden he gets hurt and no one is ready. We need to get these guys some experience.”

Tyler Johnson, son of former Notre Dame and Indianapolis Colts halfback Anthony Johnson, is ready to show what he can do.

“We have a talented backfield. Darrius can really run the ball, but if he needs a break anyone of the rest of us can run it too,” said Johnson, who describes his running style as “balanced”.

Based on their running styles and how they’ve been used to date, Johnson and Craig could be used to spell Gates in passing situations. Tyler Williams and fullback Brock Lough could be used in short-yardage calls. Brown could be used in all of the above.

• Different perspectives on losing — At 4-0, ISU is at a nexus where the losses are piling up to the point where demoralization can set in, but where there is still enough games left in the season to salvage something positive.

After Saturday’s loss to SEMO, Miles stated that he was, “… tired of the word ‘progress’, because we want to win, but we don’t know how to win yet.”

After Wednesday’s practice, Miles expressed disappointment that a few of the veterans had fallen into bad habits that can exacerbate losing.

But for ISU’s freshmen, the whole experience is new, so the perspective on ISU’s losing lot differs.

“I came from a great program at Bartram Trail High School in Jacksonville, Fla. and we always had the mentality that we could win. Coming up here? I still feel we can win every game we play with the talent out here. It’s just a matter of time until we win a game, and once we do, there’s no stopping us,” Johnson said.

Terre Haute native Brock Lough’s high school experiences gave him a different perspective.

“I think it’s harder for the older guys, they’re tired of this cycle,” Lough said. “A lot of the [freshmen] come from winning programs, so it’s a whole new thing for them too. I came from [Terre Haute] South, so I know what it’s like to have to struggle with a program. You just have to get tougher to get out of losing. You can sulk a bit after a loss, but you have to focus on another week. You have to fight through it.”

• Fixing the special teams — The film didn’t lie when it came to ISU’s kick coverage woes in Saturday’s 20-17 loss to Southeast Missouri State. ISU conceded kick returns of 85 and 56 yards, one of the returns set up a SEMO touchdown.

“When they returned it 85 yards, we had nine guys on this side of the field,” said Miles, showing the opposite side from where SEMO’s Jacob McKinley returned it. “The ball went that way, and everybody stayed [on the other side] instead of spreading out to cross face like they’re supposed to.”

ISU works on special teams everyday, but on Thursday, the emphasis was on the coverage team to stay in their lanes and maintain containment of the kick returner.

“We’re working it, trying to fix personnel, trying to change some guys that had been on it. It’s not so much scheme as guys not doing what they’re supposed to do,” Miles said. “

There’s no better time than the present to fix the Sycamores’ woes. Illinois State is ranked first in the FCS in punt returns (24.3 yards per return) and 29th in kick returns (22.1 per return).

• Losing streak watch — ISU has the nation’s longest FCS losing streak, but not the nation’s overall losing streak. It’s not even the second-worst by the NCAA’s count.

Division II Saint Anselm, located in Manchester, N.H., has lost 33 in a row and owns the nation’s longest losing skid. St. Anselm, which revived football in 1999 after 58 years, last won on Sept. 3, 2005 when it beat Plymouth State 40-14.

St. Anselm nearly broke its streak last Saturday when it fell to Assumption 16-7. It came one week after the Hawks suffered another heartbreaker, a 15-14 loss to Pace.

St. Anselm plays host to American International on Saturday.

Division III MacMurray has dropped 20 in a row, according to the NCAA, but that’s misleading. The NCAA does not count victories against non-NCAA competition, so while the Sycamores have it over the Jacksonville, Ill. school as far as the NCAA is concerned, MacMurray defeated NAIA Haskell Indian Nations School in September for its only victory this season.

Army has the nation’s longest FBS losing streak at 10 losses. Columbia is the only other FCS team with a double-digit losing streak as the Lions have also dropped 10 in a row.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.