Spring Break
The Daily OrangeSycamores shake nation's longest losing skid
By Brett LoGiurato
Posted: 11/3/09, 2:23 AM EST Section: Sports
Donye McCleskey's last win as a member of the Indiana State football team came when he was a freshman, a time he was admittedly more worried about making his own mark and fighting for playing time, rather than winning.
Now, McCleskey is a senior starting cornerback for the Sycamores, a member of the Missouri Valley Conference. Perhaps the team's best defensive player, he was named team co-MVP in 2008 and ranked second on the team in tackles with 98.
Times have changed for McCleskey, and almost everyone associated with the Indiana State football program over the past three years.
But one thing has remained constant: losing.
Since its last victory in its homecoming game against Missouri State on Oct. 21, 2006 - by a score of 28-22 - the team entered last Saturday's contest with Western Illinois winless in its past 33 games, the longest active streak in the country and fourth-longest in NCAA history.
"Everything was a major problem here," McCleskey said. "It was the players, the coaches, the atmosphere. I've seen a lot of bad things."
Bad things turned to good on the day McCleskey had dreamed about for the past three years. On Oct. 24, McCleskey and the Sycamores toppled Western Illinois, 17-14 - on Homecoming, no less - for a result that was three-plus years in the making, snapping the nation's longest streak of futility.
For McCleskey, the win was especially significant. As a senior, he finally got the chance to appreciate the taste of victory.
"When I was a freshman, it didn't really dawn on me that I might not win again until now," McCleskey said. "When you're a freshman, you think you have time. I saw it was happening sophomore and junior year, and it started to get to me.
"Now, we finally got that monkey off our back."
It was a long process in the making filled with frustration, coaching changes and uncomfortable bus rides.
And, of course, a few close calls.
Indiana State suffered through a winless season in 2007 with only one game decided by under 12 points. That's when current head coach Trent Miles was brought in to change the losing culture and mentality that had surrounded the program the prior two years.
Now, McCleskey is a senior starting cornerback for the Sycamores, a member of the Missouri Valley Conference. Perhaps the team's best defensive player, he was named team co-MVP in 2008 and ranked second on the team in tackles with 98.
Times have changed for McCleskey, and almost everyone associated with the Indiana State football program over the past three years.
But one thing has remained constant: losing.
Since its last victory in its homecoming game against Missouri State on Oct. 21, 2006 - by a score of 28-22 - the team entered last Saturday's contest with Western Illinois winless in its past 33 games, the longest active streak in the country and fourth-longest in NCAA history.
"Everything was a major problem here," McCleskey said. "It was the players, the coaches, the atmosphere. I've seen a lot of bad things."
Bad things turned to good on the day McCleskey had dreamed about for the past three years. On Oct. 24, McCleskey and the Sycamores toppled Western Illinois, 17-14 - on Homecoming, no less - for a result that was three-plus years in the making, snapping the nation's longest streak of futility.
For McCleskey, the win was especially significant. As a senior, he finally got the chance to appreciate the taste of victory.
"When I was a freshman, it didn't really dawn on me that I might not win again until now," McCleskey said. "When you're a freshman, you think you have time. I saw it was happening sophomore and junior year, and it started to get to me.
"Now, we finally got that monkey off our back."
It was a long process in the making filled with frustration, coaching changes and uncomfortable bus rides.
And, of course, a few close calls.
Indiana State suffered through a winless season in 2007 with only one game decided by under 12 points. That's when current head coach Trent Miles was brought in to change the losing culture and mentality that had surrounded the program the prior two years.
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