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2022-10-09 04:00:44 By : Mr. Ray Wu

Football October 06, 2022 Seth Montgomery | GoSycamores.com

North Dakota State featured eight players recognized on preseason All-American teams, including First Team fullback Hunter Luepke, as well as Noah Gindorff (TE), Cody Mauch (OL), Michael Tutsie (DB), Nash Jensen (OL), Eli Mostaert (DL), James Kaczor (LB), and Spencer Waege (DL).

The Bison are undefeated in FCS play so far in the 2022 season with their lone loss coming on the road at Arizona.

Indiana State on this Date Indiana State has played 11 games on October 8 in program history. The Sycamores are 6-5 all-time on the date. It marks the first time Indiana State and North Dakota State have played each other on the date. The Sycamores posted a five-game winning streak on October 8 running from 1966-1994, but ISU has lost each of the last three, including 2016's loss at Western Illinois.

Indiana State's lone win against the No. 1 team in the country came back on Oct. 13, 2012, when the Sycamores won in Fargo, 17-14. Johnny Towalid returned two interceptions for touchdowns in the Sycamores' win over the Bison.

The Sycamores still have one more top-10 team scheduled in the 2022 season with ISU traveling to Brookings, S.D. on Saturday, October 29, to take on South Dakota State.

Dinka Continues to Move Justin Dinka continues to pound out the tough yardage for the Indiana State rushing game as the redshirt sophomore running back has taken the reins of the starting job heading into North Dakota State weekend. The San Diego State transfer is coming off  back-to-back 70-plus yard rushing efforts that included a career-high 87 yards against Montana, while adding 71 yards on just 14 carries against Northern Iowa.

Dinka became the first ISU running back since Peterson Kerlegrand to record back-to-back 70-plus yard rushing games. Kerlegrand accomplished the feat once in the 2019 season with 151 yards against Youngstown State and 89 yards against North Dakota State.

Dinka currently leads the Sycamores with 239 rushing yards on 56 carries, while his 54-yard touchdown run against Montana is the team's longest play from scrimmage this season. He enters the weekend ninth in the MVFC in rushing yards and yards per game (59.8), while sitting 10th in rushing touchdowns (1).

Hendrix among MVFC Elite Dante Hendrix has wasted little time picking back up from where he left off in conference play in the 2022 season. The redshirt senior enters the weekend sitting tied for third in the conference in receptions per game (5.0) and third in yards per contest (72.0) through his first three games of the 2022 season.

Hendrix was nigh unstoppable in conference games in the 2021 season as the Florence, Ky. native came back from an early season injury to post 32 catches for 340 yards and three touchdowns over four MVFC games. Hendrix picked right back up this past weekend against Northern Iowa with seven catches for 90 yards, including a 31-yard snag on the first play of the second half. He currently leads the Sycamores with 15 catches for 216 yards in the 2022 season.

Caton's Career Day Dakota Caton was active early and often in last week's matchup at Northern Iowa as the redshirt junior hauled in a career-high six catches for 71 yards against the Panthers. The seven catches tied Dante Hendrix for the most by a Sycamore in the 2022 season and surpassed Caton's previous career mark of five receptions set back in Oct. 13, 2018, against Missouri State. Caton's 71 yards were also a career-mark surpassing his previous high 63 yards also set back in 2018 against Youngstown State (Oct. 27). He became the first wide receiver not named Dante Hendrix to post more than eight catches in a single game since Rontrez Morgan hauled in nine receptions at Northwestern on Sept. 11, 2021. The Sullivan, Ind. native is currently second on the Sycamores with nine receptions for 90 yards.

Quarterbacks… There's Quarterbacks Everywhere Indiana State showcased a unique twist to their up-tempo offense this past weekend as all three Sycamore quarterbacks took the field against Northern Iowa. Gavin Screws took the majority of the snaps in the Northern Iowa game as the redshirt sophomore quarterback continues to be the primary leader in the huddle. Screws finished the game with a career-high 18 completions for 174 yards in the loss to the Panthers.

Cade Chambers took the second-most snaps in the backfield for the Sycamores utilized primarily as a short-yardage option. Evan Olaes also saw action early in the first half as a change-of-pace quarterback. Expect to see all three back on the field this upcoming weekend.

Going Big The Sycamores also utilized multiple sets with six or more offensive linemen on the field this past weekend against the Panthers. ISU's starting five continues to be Keagen Trost, Jose Vazquez IV, Jackson Byrne, Michael Ross, and Joel Stevens with four of the five O-Linemen starting all four contests in the 2022 season. Additionally, the Sycamores utilized several big sets with both Carter Herrin and Tate Parker taking the field in a jumbo package. The additional offensive linemen helped the Sycamores on the day as ISU put together five drives of eight plays or more and made a season-high five trips into the red zone against UNI.

Hendrix Chase Dante Hendrix continues to chase the all-time records this season as the redshirt senior wide receiver added to his totals in the Sycamores' last contest against Northern Iowa. Hendrix hauled in seven passes for 90 yards in the October 1 matchup to extend his ISU record to 30 consecutive games with a catch. Hendrix (15 catches, 216 yards) leads the Sycamores in the two statistical categories on the year.

The redshirt senior currently sits with 155 career receptions, passing former Sycamore great Robert Tonyan Jr. (150 career receptions). He is currently 41 receptions behind Sam Logan (196 career receptions, 2003-06) for the all-time lead. Hendrix (1,997 yards) is fourth in career yards behind Logan (2,385), Terry Bell (1982-85, 2,048) and Tonyan (2,047).

Tackling Machine Geoffrey Brown wasted little time in establishing himself as one of the top tacklers to watch in the Missouri Valley Football Conference this season and reiterated it his past weekend against Northern Iowa. The sophomore middle linebacker was constantly around the ball in a big way in the opener against North Alabama in setting a new personal-best with 15 tackles, while adding 1.0 tackles-for-loss and a quarterback hurry.

Brown, a 2021 Phil Steele Freshman All-American and MVFC All-Newcomer selection, wrapped up his 2021 season as the Sycamores' leading tackler with 61 stops and second on the team with 8.5 tackles for loss. Through four game in 2022, he's already halfway of his 2021 total and will continue to see plenty of opportunities throughout the year.

Brown is pursuing becoming the 36th Indiana State player looking to post 100 tackles in a single season. Former ISU great Jonas Griffith picked up 106 tackles in the 2019 season as one of three 100-plus tackle seasons in his career.

Video Game Numbers Indiana State's defensive coordinator Brad Wilson knew going into the 2022 season that he had a playmaker in the secondary in sophomore safety Rylan Cole. Even he probably didn't expect the output the McCordsville, Ind. native posted in the season opener against North Alabama.

Cole went for eight tackles, 2.5 tackles-for-loss, and two interceptions against UNA. His first set up a Sycamores' touchdown drive, while his second interception came on the final play in overtime to secure the win. For his efforts against UNA, Cole was named the September 5 Missouri Valley Football Conference Defensive Player of the Week. Cole added eight tackles in the second game against Purdue before leaving the game due to injury.

After battling back from injury, Cole was all over the field again on Saturday in typical fashion. The sophomore finished second on the team with nine tackles, while adding a one-handed interception that led to an Indiana State field goal. He is currently second on the team in tackles (25), while sitting tied for the MVFC interception lead with three.

Hoover Cleaning Up Redshirt sophomore safety Ethan Hoover posted his best game to date this past weekend against Northern Iowa as the Fort Wayne, Ind. native posted six solo stops against the Panthers. Hoover battled through a concussion suffered in the opener against UNA and missed the contest against Purdue to return to the field agianst Montana. He posted two stops and his first pass breakup of the 2022 season against the Grizzlies and showed flashes of the skill set that made him one of the top safeties in the MVFC last season. Hoover followed up with six solo stops against the Panthers this past weekend and is rounding back into form after finishing third on the Sycamores in total tackles in 2021 with 48 stops.

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