Sycamores to face No. 24 North Dakota State

Next up for the Sycamore football team: the Fargodome. With a capacity crowd of over 20,000 fans, the Indiana State Sycamores (0-8, 0-4) will tangle with the North Dakota State Bison (4-4, 2-3).

The Bison are coming off a 25-7 win over Illinois State, who trounced the Sycamores earlier this year 57-6. Currently ranked 24 th in Football Championship Subdivison, NDS is sixth in the Missouri Valley Conference and is looking to climb back into the standings with a win this weekend while the Sycamores are simply trying to pull out their first victory in 22 games.

North Dakota State has only lost two home games in the last three seasons and is notorious for large and infuriating crowds. As far as the raucous crowd goes, ISU head coach Trent Miles isn't concerned about his team executing in such a hostile environment.

"We go into every game prepared and it's not anything [we] prepare for differently," Miles said. "Everybody better be listening in the huddle because it gets louder. We don't care about the number of people there … we have to be focused and hear the other."

North Dakota State comes into Saturday's battle boasting the second best scoring defense in the conference allotting just 19 points per game while its offense is scoring a little under 28 points per game. Although last week's game against South Dakota State showed what ISU can do athletically, the Sycamores are still not being respected by their opponents.

"No one is giving us any respect and [North Dakota State] is looking past us," Miles said to his team after practice. "We have got to take it to them and hit them in the mouth."

The attitude of the Sycamores remains intact even after the blowout loss last week. But with significant signs of progress from the collective effort by the 22 players on offense and defense, Miles is looking forward to correcting some of the mistakes made on the field.

"[South Dakota State] was not 40 points better than us. We just didn't do some things to cash in on some opportunities," Miles said. "But if you don't take care of business then it gets out of hand. We will make some adjustments."

One of the main adjustments made by Miles and the coaching staff has been the promotion of freshman backup safety Ryan Roberts to staring quarterback in just two weeks. Though the score showed no indication of his positive contribution to the team, Roberts looks to be the best option for a competitive Sycamore team. And with sophomore running back Darrius Gates back in the lineup at full strength, the "Roberts-Gates Show" could be a hit.

"Any time you can go out and play, it is fun. You got to have trust in your teammates as well. I can only do so much," Roberts said of his recent success at quarterback. "But when you're surrounded by Gates and the receivers we have, I just have to get them the ball and they make me look good. We are starting to improve and it feels like we are building off of it."

The Sycamores and Bison will kick off at 7 p.m. in Fargo, North Dakota, which will be the farthest away game for the Sycamores this season. ( Trever Fehrenbach is a junior English major. He can be reached at sasspted@isugw.indstate.edu.)