Sycamores name Schiff starting quarterback

TERRE HAUTE, IN - (8/18/2003) — Indiana State head coach Tim McGuire named redshirt freshman Jake Schiff (Evansville/Mater Dei) as the Sycamores' starting quarterback from the team's first game of the season at Ball State on August 28th.

An Indiana high school recordholder at Evansville's Mater Dei High School, Schiff pushed ahead of the quarterback race with a 15-20 performance during Saturday's scrimmage. Schiff went on to pass for 201 yards and two touchdowns on the day. Redshirt freshman Phillip Johnson, senior Damien Cunningham and true freshman Ben Schmidt continue to battle for the backup position on the depth chart.

Through the Sycamore's first week of practice, ISU has addressed many areas of concern coming into preseason drills, most notably the emergence of Schiff as the quarterback. McGuire and his staff has also been charged with finding a replacement for Mike Megyesi at placekicker and have settled on freshman Kyle Hooper, a freshman left-footed kicker from Fort Myers, Fla. Hooper connected on kicks from 37 and 47 yards away during Saturday's scrimmage.

Also performing well in the early going has been senior defensive end Ryan Holley who recorded two sacks in the scrimmage. The overall play of the defense continues to improve under first-year defensive coordinator Tim Burke.

ISU continues its preseason camp today through Friday with a final scrimmage set for Thursday evening at 7:00 p.m. inside Memorial Stadium.

The Indiana State University Sycamores 2003 season opener is at Muncie, Indiana versus the Ball State Cardinals Thursday, Aug. 28. USA-365.com provides live Internet audio streaming with Brian Fritz providing the play-by-play and Ben Wagner with the color commentary. The pre-game show starts at 6:40 p.m., with the kick-off set for 7:00 p.m., CDT on www.USA-365.com.