Missouri State Bears (1-6, 0-4 MVFC) vs. Indiana State Sycamores (0-7, 0-4 MVFC)
Date/Kickoff:	Oct. 28  |  2:04 p.m. (CDT)
Location:	Springfield, Mo.
Site:	Robert W. Plaster Stadium (17,500)
Radio:	Missouri State Football Radio Network/KTXR 101.3 FM
Watch:	ESPN3
Live Stats:	MissouriStateBears.com
Game Notes:	Missouri State  |  Indiana State  |  MVFC
Series/Last Meeting:	Missouri State leads 18-13  |  Missouri State won 45-24 (Oct. 1, 2016)
Promotions/Tickets:	2017 Homecoming  |  MissouriStateBears.com

FIRST AND TEN

• The Missouri State Bears enter Saturday's matchup with the Indiana State Sycamores looking for their fourth homecoming victory in six years, as well as their first MVFC win of the season
• The Bears are 25-21 in homecoming games since 1971; Saturday's game will mark the fifth homecoming matchup for MSU vs. Indiana State, with the Bears winning three of the four previous meetings, including their two most-recent homecoming meetings with the Sycamores in 2005 and 2007
• Missouri State holds and 18-13 advantage in its series with ISU, including an 11-4 mark at Plaster Stadium, where the Bears have averaged 33.9 points per contest in their 15 meetings with the Sycamores
• The Bears have posted their top two rushing performances of the season over the past two weeks, including a season-high 235 yards last Saturday vs. South Dakota State; MSU totaled 451 rushing yards against SDSU and Western Illinois after averaging 130.6 yards per game over the first five weeks of the season    
• MSU's offense has scored 30 points in back-to-back games for the first time since September 2014 (38 vs. North Dakota and 33 at Central Arkansas)
• MSU totaled 448 yards of offense against SDSU Saturday after logging 410 yards the week before at Western Illinois, marking the first time the Bears have posted back-to-back 400-yard performances since opening the 2016 campaign with 462 yards vs. Southwestern and 469 yards the following week against Murray State 
• Peyton Huslig's 123 rushing yards against SDSU last weekend marked the best single-game rushing effort by a Missouri State quarterback since DeAndre Smith's 148-yard day vs. UNI on Sept. 30, 1989; it also represented the first 100-yard rushing game for a Bears signal-caller since 2011 
• Deion Holliman leads the Valley and ranks 11th among all FCS players in combined kick return yardage (640); the MVFC's career record holder for KR yardage also rates seventh nationally in punt return average (14.6) after bringing back his third career punt for a touchdown Saturday vs. South Dakota State
• Malik Earl ranks sixth on the Bears' career receptions (134) list and needs two more to crack the top five; Earl also ranks eighth in all-time receiving yardage (1,767) at MSU, just 36 yards shy of Tom Hamilton (1974-77) in the No. 7 spot on the chart
• Earl, who ranks 19th nationally in receptions per game (6.1), needs to average just 4.0 catches over the Bears' final four contests to match Clay Harbor's (2006-09) MSU career record for pass receptions (150)

GAME PREVIEW
Honoring a campus tradition that dates back to 1921, the Missouri State Bears (1-6, 0-4 MVFC) will entertain the Indiana State Sycamores (0-7, 0-4 MVFC) Saturday (Oct. 28) afternoon at Robert W. Plaster Stadium. The contest will mark the fifth time the Bears and Sycamores have met on Missouri State's Homecoming, with MSU claiming three of the previous four contests. 

Missouri State is coming off one of their best offensive days of the season in last Saturday's setback against No. 13 South Dakota State. The Bears have posted their first back-to-back 30-point games since the 2014 season over the past two weeks. Led by the first 100-yard rushing effort by a Bears quarterback in six years, MSU logged its top rushing performance of the season with 235 yards against the Jackrabbits. Peyton Huslig's 123-yard effort represented the top single-game rushing total for a Bears signal-caller since 1989. Additionally, Deion Holliman tied a Missouri State record with a career-best 63-yard punt return for a touchdown, equaling Cornelius Perry's 52-year-old program record for total TD returns (5).

The Bears enter Saturday's game with an 18-13 all-time edge over Indiana State, including a commanding 11-4 advantage in Springfield. The Sycamores claimed a 56-28 win at Plaster Stadium two years ago, but the Bears returned the favor with a 45-24 victory over a ranked ISU squad in Terre Haute last October. Under first-year head coach Curt Mallory, the Sycamores are still searching for their first win of the 2017 season, thanks in part to a schedule that has included five ranked opponents to date.

HUSLIG HAULING THE ROCK
Sophomore quarterback Peyton Huslig led all rushers with 123 yards on 16 carries Saturday vs. South Dakota State, becoming the first MSU signal-caller to turn in a 100-yard rushing performance since the 2011 season. Huslig, who has logged career-best rushing days in four of the Bears' last five outings, also passed for 189 yards, giving the transfer 312 yards of total offense for the day. Trevor Wooden was the last Bear QB to crack the 100-yard mark with his 121-yard day at Youngstown State on Nov. 19, 2011.

Huslig turned in the best single-game rushing total since the 1989 season, when DeAndre Smith logged 148 yards on the ground vs. UNI. Additionally, Huslig became just the third MSU quarterback to pass for 300 yards and rush for 100 yards in the same season. Mitch Ware was the first to accomplish the feat, passing for 313 yards vs. Pitt State and rushing for 141 against Arkansas Tech in 1979, before Jeremy Hoog followed suit in 1995, totaling 351 passing yards against Western Illinois and 109 rushing yards vs. SEMO.

WELCOME HOME
Missouri State will welcome Indiana State to Plaster Stadium Saturday and will be looking to claim its fourth homecoming victory in the last six years. MSU has won six of its last 10 homecoming games, a campus tradition in Springfield that dates to 1921. MSU is 25-21 in homecoming games since 1971. In their last nine homecoming games, the Bears have averaged 33.1 points and over 413 yards of total offense per outing. Saturday's game will mark the fifth homecoming matchup for MSU vs. Indiana State, with the Bears winning three of the four previous meetings, including their two most-recent homecoming meetings with the Sycamores in 2005 and 2007. 

GETTING OFFENSIVE
The Bears offense turned in its second 30-point performance in as many weeks Saturday vs. South Dakota State, marking the first time Missouri State has achieved that feat since September 2014. MSU totaled 448 yards of offense against the Jackrabbits after logging 410 yards the week before at Western Illinois, marking the first time the Bears have posted back-to-back 400-yard performances since opening the 2016 campaign with 462 yards vs. Southwestern and 469 yards the following week against Murray State.

METEORIC MALIK
Senior wide receiver Malik Earl registered a day to remember in the Bears' setback at Western Illinois (Oct. 14), breaking a Missouri State program record with his 14 receptions against the Leathernecks. The Oklahoma City native eclipsed Jeff Hewitt's single-game Bears record of 13 catches, set on Oct. 7, 2000 at Indiana State, and matched the fourth-best single-game reception effort in MVFC history. Earl, who also rushed for a 30-yard touchdown to help stake the Bears to a 21-13 halftime lead, finished his day with 145 receiving yards. With six more catches this past weekend vs. SDSU, he moved to within two receptions of cracking the top five on MSU's all-time receptions list. Earl enters Saturday's contest just 16 catches shy of Clay Harbor's school record 150 career receptions.

With four catches for 73 yards in the Bears' MVFC opener with Illinois State, Earl moved past three Bears to move into MSU's career top 10 for receiving yardage as well. With 1,767 yards, Earl enters the week eighth in all-time receiving yardage (1,767) at MSU, just 36 yards shy of Tom Hamilton (1974-77) in the No. 7 spot on the chart

ANOTHER MILESTONE FOR HOLLIMAN
In what is becoming a weekly habit, senior return specialist Deion Holliman added another prestigious honor to his resume in the Bears' setback to South Dakota State last weekend. The senior brought back a career-long 63-yard punt return for a touchdown, giving him five combined punt/kickoff returns for scores in his MSU career. That total matches Cornelius Perry's 52-year-old Bears career record for return TDs. 

Against North Dakota State (Sept. 30), the Camden, Ark., product surpassed Tony Gilbert's Missouri State career record for kickoff return yardage with a 25-yard return in the second quarter, then topped Carlos Anderson's all-time Valley mark later in contest. Holliman, who now has 2,431 kickoff return yards, finished his day with 221 kick return yards—good for second on the Bears' single-game list behind his own 238-yard effort at SIU in 2015. Additionally, his 250 all-purpose yards versus NDSU ranks 12th all-time in the MSU record book, and netted Holliman the fourth MVFC Special Teams Player of the Week award of his career and his second this season.