Saginaw Valley State Cardinals (0-0) at UIndy Greyhounds (0-0)
Thursday, Sept. 3, 7 p.m. ET, Indianapolis
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ON TAP
UIndy starts its 2015 campaign by welcoming in-region Saginaw Valley to Key Stadium Thursday night at 7 p.m.

CAN'T MAKE IT TO KEY?
Produced by MTC Sports, a free video stream of Thursday's matchup with the Cardinals came be seen at theIndyChannel.com as well as with the RTV6 app. Additionally, the Greyhounds can be heard on the radio at UIndy's own WICR 88.7 FM. You can also catch an audio stream on the Internet at WICRonline.com/listen-online.

ABOUT SAGINAW VALLEY
After going 9-3 and making the playoffs in 2013, Head Coach Jim Collins and his Cardinals are coming off an uncharacteristic 2-9 season last fall, good for the program's lowest on-the-field win total in 32 years.

The Cardinals look to rebound with seven returning starters on both sides of the ball, including 2014 leading-tackler Bryan Jones at linebacker. But at a GLIAC-worst 13.8 points per game last year, the SVSU offense could be the key in any potential turnaround.

HOUNDS vs. CARDINALS
Historically, the Cardinals have dominated the all-time series, winning 22 of the 31 total match-ups. However, the Greyhounds have won each of the previous two meetings and three of the last five, including a 24-10 road victory in last season's opener.

The UIndy defense held its host to just 273 total yards last September while garnering a pair of interceptions. A late second-quarter field goal by Scott Miller gave the Hounds a slim 10-7 lead at halftime, but UIndy pulled away with two second-half touchdowns while holding the Cardinals to just three points after the break.

PAYTON FINDS PAY DIRT
In that meeting at Saginaw Valley, UIndy opened the second half in spectacular fashion when true freshman Tuwan Payton took the opening kickoff of the third quarter 94 yards for the score. On just his second touch as a collegian, Payton recorded the first Greyhound kickoff return TD in three years while also matching the longest kickoff return for UIndy since Dave Horvath's 100-yard return back in 1982. Only Payton and Joe Leach (94 yards in 2011) had a return of 94 yards or longer since Horvath's record-setting effort.

THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL
For the first time in three years, UIndy's season opener falls on a Thursday night. The Hounds opened the season on Thursday five consecutive years from 2008 to 2012 before Saturday openers the previous two seasons.

However, the Greyhounds did play on a Thursday in 2014 in what became an instant classic. The game, which was televised nationally on CBS Sports Network, saw the Hounds come out on top in an epic four-overtime battle with in-state rival Saint Joseph's, 36-33.

UIndy is 5-1 on Thursday nights since '08 and 4-1 in season openers under Coach Bartolomeo.

THE BART ERA
With five winning seasons in as many years as the head man at UIndy, veteran football coach Bob Bartolomeo has won nearly three times as many games as he has lost in his time UIndy, compiling a 42-16 (.724) record at the school and a 56-23-1 (.706) mark overall. The coach's 42 wins easily represent the most in any five-year span in program history, with a distant second of 34 victories coming in 1983-87.

Before landing the head job at UIndy in 2010 and spending the six years prior as the Greyhound defensive coordinator, Coach Bart spent two seasons as the head coach at cross-town Butler in 1990 and '91, winning Coach of the Year honors from the Midwest Intercollegiate Football Conference in the latter season. He was recently named the GLVC Coach of the Year in both 2012 and 2013.

HOMELAND SECURITY
Coach Bart's Greyhounds have had particular success at home, compiling a 24-5 (.828) record at Key Stadium since 2010. UIndy's loss to William Jewell in last year's season finale marked the first regular-season defeat at home since falling to eventual national-runner-up Wayne State in 2011 – a span of 15 games.

MODEL OF EFFICIENCY
Senior quarterback Connor Barthel enters his final collegiate season with the second-highest career completion percentage among all active Division II quarterbacks. That number, .666, is also good for the highest in the UIndy all-time annals. He finished 2014 ranked ninth in Division II in completion percentage (.660) and 23rd in passing efficiency (148.2).

BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK
UIndy once again enters the season as the defending Great Lakes Valley Conference champions. The Greyhounds took each of the first three GLVC football crowns, compiling a stellar 22-1 (.957) record in league play since the conference began sponsoring the sport in 2012.

With a conference mark of 7-1 last year, the Greyhounds won the league by two full games, topping a quartet of contenders at 5-3. It marked the first time UIndy won three straight conference championships since the school – then named Indiana Central College – took the Hoosier College Conference crown in 1953, '54 and '55.

UIndy was tabbed to repeat by the GLVC coaches, earning the maximum eight first-place votes in this year's GLVC Preseason Coaches Poll (below).
 

RK	SCHOOL (1st-place votes)	PTS
1.	UIndy (8)	64
2.	Truman State	52
3.	Saint Joseph's (1)	47
4.	McKendree	46
5.	Quincy	34
6.	Missouri S&T	32
7.	William Jewell	26
8.	Lincoln	12
9.	Southwest Baptist	11

DRAWING A LINE
For the second straight season, the Greyhounds will welcome back all five starting offensive linemen. Led by two-time All-GLVC First Team performers Hayden Janney and Chris Massaro, UIndy's returning o-linemen combined to start 54 of a possible 55 games last season, part of a grand total of 102 carer starts for the veteran group.

Joining Janney and Massaro are fellow all-conference honorees Jordan Bedan (second team, 2013-14) and Austin Vogt (first team, 2012), as well as 6-foot-4, 309-pound sophomore Ruben Holcomb.

UIndy also returns all four defensive line starters, including another two-time All-GLVC first teamer in senior Lee Campbell. Juniors Tommy Taylor (all-conference honorable mention) and Sam Daggy and sophomores O'rion Elder and Dillon Dallas all started at least three games last season, with Campbell, Taylor and Daggy starting all 11.

In addition, junior Russell Collins and sophomore Darion Howard, who were both in the d-line rotation in 2014, also return.

POLL POSITION
The Greyhounds just missed cracking the top 25 in the AFCA Division II Preseason Poll, sitting just outside as the top vote getter among non-ranked teams. Truman State received six points as the only other GLVC squad to receive votes. Overall, seven Super Region 4 teams appeared in the initial poll, including three of the top eight in Colorado St.-Pueblo (No. 2), Ferris State (6) and Ohio Dominican (8).

"IT'S A MAJOR AWARD"
For the third straight season, UIndy swept the GLVC Offensive and Special Teams Player of the Year awards in 2014. Wide receiver Reece Horn was voted the GLVC's top offensive player after leading the league in receptions per game (6.3) and ranking 12th in Division II in receiving touchdowns (12). Senior place kicker/punter Scott Miller took special teams honors for the second time in three seasons, leading the conference in nearly every kicking category while also dropping 12 punts inside the 20-yard line as the team's directional punter.  Horn returns to the UIndy fold for his senior campaign, while Miller's special teams prowess will need to be replaced.
 

PREVIOUS GLVC MAJOR AWARD WINNERS
	Offensive POTY	Special Teams POTY	Coach OTY
2012	Mar'Quone Edmonds	Scott Miller	Bob Bartolomeo
2013	Klay Fiechter	Klay Fiechter	Bob Bartolomeo
2014	Reece Horn	Scott Miller	-