ROLLA, Mo. – Still in search of its first win of the 2023 season, Missouri S&T's football team opens its Great Lakes Valley Conference schedule against a nationally-ranked Indianapolis squad as they will square off Saturday at 6 p.m. at Allgood-Bailey Stadium.

The Miners fell to 0-4 after their second half comeback fell just short in a 38-35 loss to Wayne State (Neb.) on Saturday.  S&T fell behind by as many as 24 points on three occasions, but outscored the Wildcats 21-0 in the second half before running out of time.

S&T racked up a season-high 482 yards in the loss, with running back Cameren Smith (Claymont, DE/Concord) going over the 100-yard mark for the first time this season with 136 yards and two touchdowns and Tyler Gioia (Huntington Beach, CA/Edison) throwing for 307 yards and three touchdowns.

For the season, Gioia has completed 66.2 percent of his passes for 1,108 yards – the most in the GLVC and 13^th-highest mark in NCAA Division II – and 10 touchdowns and four of his receivers have already hauled in at least 13 passes.  CJ Wiggins (Yuma, AZ/Gila Ridge) leads the way with 21 receptions for 335 yards and two scores, while Blaize Klossner (Rolla, MO/Rolla) has caught 20 balls for 174 yards.  Justin Braden has four touchdown catches among his 15 catches and CJ Jarmon, who had two scoring receptions Saturday, has three among his 13 catches.

Smith's 136-yard outing increased his total to a team-leading 284 on the season, while Josh Sanders (Maize, KS/Maize) has added 195 out of the backfield.

On the defensive side, linebacker Justin Gniedziejko (Chicago, IL/Taft) has a team-leading 29 tackles, while fellow linebacker Justin Amaro (Wichita, KS/Goddard) and safety Carson Prenger (Jefferson City, MO/Blair Oaks) have 21 apiece.  Amaro also leads the Miners with 6.5 tackles for a loss, while Nick Mattli (O'Fallon, MO/Fort Zumwalt South) has 4.5 tackles behind the line of scrimmage.

Saturday's contest is the Miners' annual Hall of Fame Game and this year's induction class will be honored during halftime.

ABOUT INDIANAPOLIS:  The Greyhounds – the third team that played in last year's NCAA Division II playoffs to visit Allgood-Bailey Stadium this season – improved to 3-0 Saturday after a 35-10 victory at Saginaw Valley State.  The win moved UIndy up to 14^th in this week's AFCA national poll and 15^th in the D2Football.com rankings.

UIndy has one of the top defenses in the GLVC, as it has allowed only 295.3 yards per game in its first three games of the campaign.  It has also had the league's Defensive Player of the Week in each of the last two weeks in Clay Schulte and Justin Thomas, while safety Michael Brown leads the team in tackles with 27 on the season.  Schulte has been in on 20 stops as has linebacker KJ Roudebusch.

The Greyhounds have averaged 446.3 yards per game on the season and rank second in the league in that category (S&T is third at 438.8); it has been a balanced attack with averages of 195 yards per game on the ground and 251.3 through the air.  Quarterback Gavin Sukup has completed 60.3 percent of his throws for 754 yards and seven touchdowns, four of which have gone to Alonzo Derrick.

Derrick, who had two long touchdown catches in the win at Saginaw Valley State, leads the UIndy receiving corps with 17 catches for 383 yards and Cobi Lewis has 190 yards on his nine catches on the year.  Meanwhile, Jon Lewis has rushed for a team-high 246 yards and three touchdowns, including a 143-yard outing in a win over Wayne State (Mich.) two weeks ago.