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1925 was a long time ago. \nThat's how long it's been -- 78 years -- since IU squared off with the Indiana State Sycamores (1-1). And IU (0-2) will hope to duplicate their success three-quarters of a century ago when IU shutout the Sycamores 31-0.\nThe new AstroPlay surface will be a welcome site for the road-weary Hoosiers. IU stumbles into their home opener after being outscored 72-23 in their first two ball games while nearly surrendering 1,000 yards of total offense in the losses to UConn and Washington.\nCoach Gerry DiNardo's goal is for his club to put it all together.\n"Play the entire game," DiNardo said. "We played one game without playing either half, then we played one half, so the natural progression would be to play both halves."\nIn order to play well Saturday and get a win, the Hoosiers desperately need a strong outing from a very young defense. Against Washington, IU only started one senior, cornerback Duane Stone, with five of the remaining 10 being freshmen and sophomores.\nAnd the true freshmen have stepped up so far for the Hoosiers. One true freshmen, free-safety Will Meyers has played well and ranks fourth in the Big Ten in tackles with 10 per game while filling in for injured senior Joe Gonzalez. Meyers is scheduled to start on Saturday.\n"I think (the freshmen are) progressing and you can see improvement in almost every one of them," DiNardo said. "I'm disappointed in some second-year guys. Some guys that have been with us for two years that still aren't playing smarter football, and I'm not saying anything they haven't heard."\nTwo players that have carried IU are two of his top three tacklers in sophomore middle linebacker Kyle Killion and junior college transfer junior Josh Moore. Moore leads the Hoosiers with 25 total tackles and Killion counters with 20. Both have intercepted passes in the first two games for IU's only picks.\nWhile Killion started four games last season, Moore's infusion into the starting lineup has been a welcome addition to a club that only had two scholarship linebackers during spring practice.\n"Josh is playing great," Killion said. "He's a good player. He has had to learn a whole new defense and pick it up fast. I have tried to help him out as much as I can."\nMoore said that Killion, junior Kevin Smith, and defensive coordinator Tim Kish have all been instrumental in his ability to understand the complexities of a new defense. And it was this ability that has allowed him to start so soon.\n"(The coaches) told me coming in that they expected great things from me," Moore said. "I knew that if I adjusted well to the system that I'd have a good opportunity to start. No one expects to come into a program like this and get anything handed to you, but I worked my butt off."\nUsually a Division I program like IU can handle a D-1AA club like Indiana State. But with IU only having 64 scholarship players instead of the usual 85, the playing field has been leveled. \nAnd players like Moore and Killion should expect to play the entire game Saturday to help put the Hoosiers in the win column for the first time this season.\nIndiana State is coming off a big 13-10 win over Florida International. The Sycamores use multiple offensive sets and have a quality offensive line to block for junior running back Jake Shields. Shields rushed for 213 yards last week and has 357 yards on the season. The Hoosiers have 195 yards rushing as a team.\nMoore said IU is prepared for the Sycamores and hopes that chapter two in the series will be written just like the first one 78 years ago.\n"Even though they are 1-AA, you can't take any team lightly," Moore said. "So we're going 100 percent just like we're playing Michigan. They're going to be hyped. They're going to come for us."\n-- Contact staff writer John Rodgers at jprodger@indiana.edu.