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
Conference	Missouri Valley Football Conference
Ranking
FCS Coaches	No. 25
Record	7–4 (5–3 MVFC)
Head coach	Curt Mallory (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Jeff Hecklinski (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Brad Wilson (2nd season)
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium
Seasons ← 2017 2019 →

2018 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings

v t e	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
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

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)
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
August 30	7:00 p.m.	Quincy*	Memorial Stadium Terre Haute, IN	ESPN3	W 49–0	6,243
September 8	7:00 p.m.	at Louisville*	Cardinal Stadium Louisville, KY	ACCN Extra	L 7–31	44,520
September 15	7:00 p.m.	at Eastern Illinois*	O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL	ESPN+	W 55–41	6,420
September 27	7:00 p.m.	No. 23 Northern Iowa	Memorial Stadium Terre Haute, IN	ESPN3	L 0–33	5,487
October 6	7:00 p.m.	at No. 3 South Dakota State	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD	ESPN+	L 51–54 OT	10,318
October 13	2:00 p.m.	Missouri State	Memorial Stadium Terre Haute, IN	ESPN+	L 26–29	6,721
October 20	3:00 p.m.	at Southern Illinois	Saluki Stadium Carbondale, IL	ESPN+	W 24–21	6,435
October 27	2:00 p.m.	at Youngstown State	Stambaugh Stadium Youngstown, OH	ESPN+	W 43–17	10,870
November 3	1:00 p.m.	South Dakota	Memorial Stadium Terre Haute, IN	ESPN+	W 51–48 3OT	5,816
November 10	1:00 p.m.	No. 23 Illinois State	Memorial Stadium Terre Haute, IN	ESPN3	W 28–23	4,016
November 17	2:00 p.m.	at Western Illinois	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	ESPN3	W 15–13	1,813
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

• Source: 2018 Schedule

Game summaries

Quincy

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hawks	0	0	0	0	0
Sycamores	14	7	14	14	49

At Louisville

	1	2	3	4	Total
Sycamores	7	0	0	0	7
Cardinals	7	0	7	17	31

See also: 2018 Louisville Cardinals football team

At Eastern Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
Sycamores	17	14	14	10	55
Panthers	20	0	7	14	41

See also: 2018 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team

Northern Iowa

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 23 Panthers	3	6	14	10	33
Sycamores	0	0	0	0	0

See also: 2018 Northern Iowa Panthers football team

At South Dakota State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Sycamores	10	7	7	24	48
No. 3 Jackrabbits	7	14	21	6	48

See also: 2018 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team

Missouri State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	7	14	0	8	29
Sycamores	0	10	7	9	26

See also: 2018 Missouri State Bears football team

At Southern Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
Sycamores	7	7	10	0	24
Salukis	7	0	0	14	21

See also: 2018 Southern Illinois Salukis football team

At Youngstown State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Sycamores	3	13	7	20	43
Penguins	7	3	7	0	17

See also: 2018 Youngstown State Penguins football team

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

See also: 2018 South Dakota Coyotes football team

Illinois State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 23 Redbirds	10	0	7	6	23
Sycamores	0	21	0	7	28

See also: 2018 Illinois State Redbirds football team

At Western Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
Sycamores	3	6	3	3	15
Leathernecks	3	0	10	0	13

See also: 2018 Western Illinois Leathernecks football team

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	RV	25	RV
Coaches	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	RV	24	22	25

References

1. "North Dakota State Picked to Win 2018 MVFC Title".
2. "Preseason All-Conf and Team (PDF) - Missouri Valley Football Conference" (PDF).