CLEVELAND, Miss. - The Statesmen (1-0, 0-0 GSC) of Delta State University are on the road this Saturday for game two of a four-game road trip. Tenth-year head coach Todd Cooley's crew will travel to Leemon Field in Lebanon, Illinois to challenge the McKendree Bearcats (1-0, 0-0 GLVC) after DSU opened their 2022 campaign with a 33-10 victory over the Kentucky State Thorobreds (0-1, 0-0 SIAC). Michael Gross will have the call on the Statesmen Sports Network. McKendree will also broadcast their games on the Bearcat Sports Network (http://glvcsn.com/mckendree).

Delta State and McKendree are meeting for only the 2nd time on the gridiron and the 1st time at Leemon Field. The Statesmen claimed a 45-17 victory at Parker Field-McCool Stadium in last year's match-up. This is also only the second time the Statesmen have played a game in the state of Illinois and the first time since playing at Eastern Illinois during the 1974 season.

Delta State scored 33 points at Kentucky State last week despite the Thorobreds holding a nearly 27 minute lead in time of possession. The Statesmen scored on six of their first seven possessions, gaining 339 yards of total offense. Sophomore quarterback Cole Kirk was 15-for-23 for 174 yards with one touchdown and one interception. The DSU defense made a statement, holding Kentucky State to just 10 points and recording 11 TFLs.


SERIES NOTEBOOK: MCKENDREE
• Delta State and McKendree are meeting for just the 2nd time on the gridiron on Saturday, Sept. 10 at Leemon Field. The Statesmen (1-0) are making their first trip to Illinois since playing Eastern Illinois during the 1974 season. DSU claimed a 45-17 victory at Parker Field-McCool Stadium in last year's match-up against the Bearcats.

• The Bearcats opened up their season with a thrilling 31-24 overtime victory at Northern Michigan. NMU tied the game at 24 on a 42-yard field goal with 50 seconds in regulation, but McKendree scored on a 1-yard touchdown pass on 4th-and-1 on the first possession of the overtime period. McKendree gained 414 yards of total offense led by redshirt junior quarterback Turner Pullen's 23-for-29 performance for 309 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. McKendree's defense allowed 456 yards, including 245 rushing yards on 33 rushes.

• The Bearcats are 93-38 (.710) at Leemon Field 1996, but only hold a 16-11 record (.593) in home openers during that span.

• The previous meeting a season ago saw McKendree lead 17-7 two minutes into the second quarter, but the Statesmen would score 38 unanswered points the rest of the way for a 45-17 victory.



STATESMEN TAME THOROBREDS: Delta State's defense showed how much their offseason conditioning paid off as they only gave up 10 points against a Kentucky State team that had the ball for over 43 minutes. The Statesmen recorded 11 TFLs, led by sophomore defensive back Marlon Windham with 3.5 TFLs and redshirt freshman defensive back Tyrell Goldsmith with 7.5 total tackles.

BALANCED ATTACK: The Statesmen offense gained 339 yards of total offense last Saturday with not much separation between the air and ground attacks. DSU sophomore quarterback Cole Kirk was 10-for-24 for 174 yards and a score. Kirk completed passes to seven different DSU receivers. Six Statesmen rushers also gained 165 yards on 28 carries (5.9 yards per rush) with three touchdowns.

THINKING ON YOUR FEET: Statesmen special teams were represented well on Saturday by sophomore kickers Nick Herber and Parker Burleson. Herber made both of his field goal attempts from 27 and 34 yards out. Burleson averaged 39 yards per punt in his two attempts while also recording three touchbacks in his seven kickoffs.

COOLEY CONTINUES CLIMB: Tenth-year head coach Todd Cooley improved to 49-38 at Delta State overall in his coaching career with last Saturday's win at Kentucky State. His 49 wins are third all-time in Statesmen program history.