Sycamores looking to bounce back against Racers

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — The Indiana State Football team will look to snap a two-game losing streak and pick up its first MVFC victory of the season on Saturday at Memorial Stadium against Murray State.

ISU battled back from a 21-0 halftime deficit at Youngstown State last Saturday with two third quarter touchdowns to cut the deficit to 21-14. The Sycamores got the ball in the redzone on their final drive before turning it over on downs and dropping the conference opener 21-14 to the Penguins.

The Sycamores lost to the Racers 30-28 a season ago despite a breakout game from running back Plez Lawrence who ran for 203 yards and three touchdowns in the game, earning MVFC newcomer of the week honors for the performance.

Lawrence thinks a big key for a win on Saturday vs. Murray State is starting fast.

“Getting down 17-0 and 21-0 in the Missouri Valley most of the time if you’re down that much, you’re going to get your teeth kicked in. We just need to start fast and play fast, hit them in the mouth first,” Lawrence said.

The Sycamores are off to a 1-4 start this season with a 0-1 conference record. Head Coach Curt Mallory thinks despite the slow start, this team has the chance to turn in a successful season.

“There’s a lot of football left to be played,” Mallory said in his weekly press conference on Monday, “A lot of coaches, a lot of people in this building have been in this situation. I remember starting off 0-3 and rattling off 5 straight wins and going 5-3. It’s happened here before and the reason why it happened is because guys stayed together and kept pulling together.”

The Sycamores will host the Racers Saturday at 1 PM at Memorial Stadium.

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