ROLLA, Mo. – For the first time this season, Missouri S&T's football team will take on a nationally-ranked team as the Miners head east to Indianapolis for a matchup Saturday night against the 17^th-ranked Greyhounds at Key Stadium.  Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m., Eastern time.

Missouri S&T enters Saturday's contest with a 3-5 overall record and is 2-2 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference after it was unable to hold onto a fourth quarter lead last week in a 42-35 loss to McKendree at Allgood-Bailey Stadium.  Meanwhile, the Greyhounds withstood an offensive onslaught by Quincy to post a 52-38 win over the Hawks, improving to 6-1 on the year and to 3-0 in the GLVC as they share the conference lead with Truman State.

The Miners recorded five touchdowns last week on plays covering 63 or more yards and had the eighth-best rushing day in program history with 359 net yards on the ground.  S&T led 35-14 going into the fourth quarter but with the stiff winds at its back in the final period, McKendree outscored the Miners 28-0 to pull out the victory.

Cameren Smith (Claymont, DE/Concord), who had touchdown runs of 70 and 63 yards in the game, finished with a career-best 176 yards in the game while Gideon Niboh (St. Charles, MO/Francis Howell) recorded 102 – including an 80-yard touchdown dash – giving the Miners their first pair of backs with 100 yards in the same game since the 2021 spring season.  Smith is now fifth in the GLVC in rushing with 598 yards and has scored seven touchdowns, while Niboh has rushed for 234 and ranks 11^th in the conference.

Quarterback Staton King (Bixby, OK/Bixby) has completed 57.8 percent of his passes for the season for 825 yards and seven scores, while Isaiah Wright (Panama City, FL/Port St. Joe) has a team-high 25 catches for 341 yards and scored his second touchdown of the year on Saturday on a 73-yard catch.  CJ Jarmon has 14 receptions for 287 yards, while Blaize Klossner (Rolla, MO/Rolla) and Paulvin Horton (Raleigh, NC/Garner HS) have 13 catches apiece.

Missouri S&T's defense is paced by linebacker Ben Straatmann (Washington, MO/Washington) with 57 tackles, which includes a GLVC-high eight quarterback sacks and 17.5 tackles behind the line of scrimmage.  Straatmann ranks fifth in NCAA Division II in tackles for a  loss and is 12^th in the nation in sacks through last week's action.

Safety Stefan Camplin (Raytown, MO/Raytown) has recorded 55 tackles on the season and has four pass breakups, second to Peyton Shelton's (Ventura, CA/Buena) five, while Carson Prenger (Jefferson City, MO/Blair Oaks) has been in on 49 stops.  The Miners also have six interceptions on defense this season.

Parker Boyce (Hartsburg, MO/Southern Boone) continues to lead the GLVC in punting with his average of 40.9 yards per punt and has dropped 13 of his 42 kicks inside the opponents' 20-yard line.  Niboh is averaging 19 yards per punt return – he is one of only 11 players in all NCAA divisions that has returned two punts for touchdowns this season – but does not have enough returns to qualify among the Division II leaders in that department.

ABOUT INDIANAPOLIS: The Greyhounds gave up 542 offensive yards, including 503 through the air, but still came away with a 52-38 win over Quincy last week as they had 508 yards of their own and forced five turnovers.  Safety Michael Brown had two interceptions in the game, including one that set up UIndy's decisive touchdown drive and also forced a fumble to earn the GLVC's Defensive Player of the Week award.

Brown leads the Greyhounds with 56 tackles on the season and shares the team lead with three interceptions along with Khoreice Crawford, while Kivonte Houston has 52 tackles and Clay Schulte has made 43 stops.  UIndy ranks third in the GLVC in overall defense as it has allowed 362.7 yards per game and is second in points allowed per game at 24.9; it has allowed 38 points in each of the last two weeks and three times this season.

The Greyhounds have the top rusher in the GLVC in Toriano Clinton with 935 yards and 11 touchdowns as he is closing in on his second straight 1,000-yard season.  Clinton, the all-time leading rusher in Greyhound history, ranks ninth in NCAA Division II in rushing and is third in all-purpose yards with 177.2 per contest.

Quarterback Christian Conkling has completed 64.7 percent of his passes since taking over as the starter for 593 yards and five touchdowns.  Alonzo Derrick has a team-high 32 receptions for 478 yards and two touchdowns and Jeremiah Lee has hauled in 12 passes for the Greyhounds, who were among the teams under consideration in the first Division II regional ranking that came out on Monday.