Complete Notes (.pdf)

Webcast –CentralMoInfo.com (audio)

Video – B2Networks.com

Radio – 104.7 FM KRES (Brad Boyer, Chad Speakar, Hank Janssen, Kevin White)

Pregame show begins at 1:10 p.m.

 

Game Preview:

Two first-year MIAA coaches looking to end their respective seasons on a strong note will see their squads clash on Saturday as the Truman Bulldogs travel to Pittsburg State in the penultimate game of the season.

 

The Bulldogs (4-5; 2-5 MIAA), under Gregg Nesbitt, had one of their toughest outings of the season as they were defeated by Washburn University 45-12 at home.  Meanwhile, Coach Tim Beck and the Pittsburg State Gorillas (4-5; 2-5 MIAA) are also coming off a home setback at the hands of Nebraska-Omaha by a 48-27 margin.

 

Truman averages 18.7 points per game while allowing just over 30 points defensively.  The Gorillas average 25.2 offensive and 27.1 defensively.

 

Pitt has rushed for over 2000 yards this season which has been the program's ammo over the years.  The Gorillas average 247 yards per game on the ground, leading the MIAA, with Terrance Isaac, Zac Dickey and Briceton Wilson all over 500 yards and average over 60 yards per game.

 

The Bulldogs have been good against the rush as the defense has allowed just 124.7 yards on the ground per game and a 3.6 yards per rushing attempt, which is the second best rush defense in the conference.

 

Truman will need to be successful through the air as the Gorilla defense allows 243 yards through the air with 19 touchdown passes against.  The Bulldogs have thrown for over 200 yards just once this season.

 

Last year, Truman was able to snap the Gorillas' 21-game winning streak over the 'Dogs with a 28-21 victory in the season finale at Stokes Stadium.  This year, Truman will look to end an 11-game skid at Carnie Smith Stadium that dates back to 1969.

 

Series History:

This is the 41^st meeting between the two schools that date back to 1933.  The early half of the series was dominated by the Bulldogs with Truman winning 14 of 18 games played up until 1980.  When the Gorillas joined the MIAA in 1989, the series was tilted in the direction of the Gorillas with Pitt State winning 21 of the last 22 games played.

 

The two teams have met in the postseason twice.  In 1980, the Bulldogs won 17-14 at the now defunct Moila Shrine Bowl in St. Joseph's Mo. while the Gorillas defeated the 1990 Bulldog squad 59-3 in the Division II playoffs.

 

All-Time Records:

·         The Bulldogs have played 933 games all-time.  The Bulldogs are 530-369-34 (.586) all time.

·         Truman is 4-2 in overtime games.  All six games have been played at Stokes Stadium with the last being on Oct. 24, 2009 against Emporia State (Truman lost 30-24).

·         The Bulldogs have finished .500 or above in 70 of the 102 seasons of football played at the University and have had five wins or more in 62 seasons.

·         Truman is the winningest NCAA program all-time in the state of Missouri with the .586 win percentage.  The University of Missouri has the most wins with 614 with the Bulldogs second with 530. 

 

Drive Summaries:

• The Bulldogs have had 18 drives this season start in opposing territory and have come away with 34 points (four touchdowns and two field goals).
• Opposing teams have had 23 drives start on Truman's side of the 50 and have scored 100 points (13 touchdowns and three field goals).
• Truman has started four times inside their own 10 yardline and have had three punts and one turnover.
• Opposing teams have had eight drives start inside the 10 and have one touchdown, one field goal, three punts, a missed field goal and two turnovers.

 

Tale of Two Halves:

Truman has been outscored by 33 points in the first half of all games (122-89) but in the second half has been outscored by 72 points (151-79).  The biggest discrepancy has been in the fourth quarter as the Bulldogs have been outscored 87-46.

 

Story On Third Downs:

Truman has converted on third and less than three yards nearly 50% of the time but are just 26% when needing seven or more yards to go.  The longest conversion was a third and 22 when a pass interference call gave the Bulldogs a first down.  The other two conversions were a third and 15 (a 50-yard pass) and a third and 11.

 

Opponents have converted over 25% of the time when facing a third and seven or more this season.  The longest third down conversion was a third and 26 by Southwest Baptist (pass completed for 35 yards). 

 

Truman has eight sacks and seven tackles for loss on third down.

 

Notable National Rankings:

• The Bulldogs are tied for 30 in Division II in sacks allowed (1.33/g).
• Truman is 22nd in Division II in defensive sacks (2.78/g).
• Truman is 52^nd in rushing offense (159.0/ypg).
• Truman is 134^th in passing offense (133.9/ypg).
• Truman is 139^th in pass defense (254.2/ypg).
• Truman is 42^nd in rush defense (124.7/ypg).
• Patrick Blackwell is tied for 42^nd in sacks per game (0.67/g).
• Derek Koon is tied for 27^th in field goals per game (1.00/g).
• Phil Davis is 80^th in rushing yards and tied for 78^th in total offense (67.7/178.1 ypg).

 

Offensive Quick Hits:

• The Bulldogs recorded 130 first downs this season, 61 by passing, 57 by rushing and 12 by penalty.
• In 374 rushing attempts, Truman averages 3.8 yards per carry up from a 3.1 mark last season. 
• Truman has gained 1431 yards on the ground.
• The 159.0 yards per game gained on the ground is the highest average since the Bulldogs finished the 2006 season with a 168.5 mark.
• With 104 pass completions, the Bulldogs have 1205 yards passing and 11.6 yards per completion average.
• The 133.9 yards passing per game is the lowest average by a Truman team since 1979 (125.3).
• With 596 offensive plays, the Bulldogs have amassed 2636 yards of total offense for a per play average of 4.4 up from 4.3 yards last season.
• In their 34 trips to the redzone this season, the Bulldogs have 18 touchdowns and nine field goals.
• The Bulldogs are 50-of-139 (36%) on third down conversions. 
• Truman is 5-of-11 on fourth down conversions.
• The offense has been on the field 31:27 per game this season and has scored 159 points.
• The offensive line has allowed 12 sacks through nine games, last season, the Bulldogs allowed 25 qb sacks.
• The Bulldogs longest drive of the season has been a 14-play 84-yard drive that consumed 7:39 and resulted in a touchdown against Washburn. 
• The last 1,000 yard rusher for the Bulldogs was Jerard Leverson (1012 yards) following the 2003 season.

 

Defensive Quick Hits:

• In 310 rushes, Truman's defense has allowed 1122 yards rushing for a 3.6 yards per carry average, down from a 5.3 mark last season.
• The 124.7 rushing yards allowed is down from 228.3 last season and the lowest mark since 1982 (80.6).
• In 176 pass completions for 2288 yards, opponents averaged 13.0 yards per completion. 
• The 254.2 yards per game passing currently is the most allowed by the Bulldogs since 274 in 2004.  Last season, Truman allowed 189 passing yards per game.
• In 600 offensive plays, opposing teams averaged 5.7 yards per play down from 6.1 yards in 2009.
• Opponents have made 32 trips into Truman's redzone and come away with 20 touchdowns and six field goals.
• The Bulldog defense has been on the field on average 28:16 minutes per game and allowed 266 points.
• Opponents have converted on third down 32% of the time (38-of-119).
• Opponents are 8-of-25 in fourth down conversions. 
• The longest drive by the opposing team this season has been a 12-play, 79-yard drive that lasted 6:53 and resulted in a touchdown in the season opener against St. Joseph's College.

 

Special Teams Quick Hits:

• The Bulldogs are 9-of-13 on field goal attempts this season, all by Derek Koon.  The longest attempt was also made by Koon of 41 yards against Missouri Southern on Oct. 16^th.
• Koon is 17-of-20 on point after attempts this season and the team has not tried a two-point attempt.
• Opponents are 30-for-33 on extra point attempts and are 0-3 on two-point conversions.  They are 7-for-11 on field goal attempts with the longest make being from 39 yards (Andrew Kocurek – Southwest Baptist).
• Truman averages 56.0 yards per kickoff (Brian Rosser) and 35.0 yards per punt (Eric Phillips).
• Opponents are averaging 59.1 per kickoff and 37.9 yards per punt.
• The Bulldogs average 20.1 yards per kick return and 7.5 per punt return.  Truman's longest kick return was 55 yards by Donald Harvey and longest punt return was 42 also by Harvey.
• Opponents are averaging 19.5 yards per kick return and 6.1 per punt return.  The longest punt return was 34 yards by DeJuan Beard of Washburn.  The longest kick return was 78 yards by Central Missouri.
• Eric Phillips has 17 punts inside the 20 and 20 punts fair caught (37 of his 58).

 

Truman/Washburn Recap

 

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The Washburn Ichabods scored 38 straight points including 14 right before half to knock off the Truman Bulldogs 45-12 at Stokes Stadium on Saturday afternoon. 

 

Truman took their opening possession and marched down the field in 14 plays covering 84 yards in 7:47 to take a 7-0 lead on quarterback Phil Davis' two yard run.  The 'Dogs were able to convert on three third downs during the drive, a 12-yard pass to Dallas Grier on third and eight, a personal foul penalty on the Ichabods that negated a third and 22 and a 33 yard run by Will Mosquera on third and two.

 

The Ichabods (5-4 overall, 4-3 MIAA) tied the game on their next possession as quarterback Dane Simoneau found Tore Hurst for a 26-yard touchdown pass with 2:23 left in the first quarter.

 

The Bulldogs took the lead in the second when a bad snap flew over punter Austin Hills' head into the endzone for a safety for a 9-7 Truman advantage.

 

Later in the half, Simoneau completed passes to DeJaun Beard for 17 yards and for 32 yards and touchdown to give Washburn the lead back with 2:02 remaining.

 

Truman's final drive of the half was disastrous as after failing to move the ball for a first down and Washburn burning timeouts, the Bulldogs were backed up to their own 13 for a punt into a steady breeze.  The punt went just 29 yards with no return but a kick catching interference penalty moved the ball to the Bulldog 25.

 

Simoneau wasted little time as he found Joe Hastings for 22 yards on the first play and Justin Cooper punched it in from one-yard out to give the Ichabods a 21-9 lead at the break.

 

The Bulldogs offense remained anemic in the second half as during the span of the Washburn scores, Truman mustered just nine total yards on 23 plays until the end of the third quarter.

 

Washburn added third quarter scores from Steve Inanisevic (32-yard field goal), a 14-yard and 22-yard touchdown receptions by Ronnell Garner and a 39-yard run by Terrence Lowe.

 

Derek Koon connected from 26 yards to end the scoring on the day with 3:00 minutes to play in the game.

 

Washburn finished with 372 yards of total offense with Simoneau passing for 237 and three touchdowns.  Lowe had 11 carries for 64 yards as Vershon Moore, the team's leading rusher, did not play.

 

The Bulldogs gained 97 yards on 18 plays in the first quarter but only 97 on their final 52 plays.  Mosquera led the team with 83 yards rushing, 62 in the first quarter while Davis threw for just 66 yards on seven of 21 attempts.

 

Truman/Washburn Footnotes:

• Will Mosquera recorded career highs with 18 carriers for 83 yards.  He has rushed over 10 times in each of the last two games.
• Mosquera got the start at running back with Harnish Ayora missing the game due to an injury.
• Truman's opening drive, a 14-play, 84-yard possession that lasted 7:39 and resulted in touchdown was the longest this season.
• It was the third opening drive this season by Truman that resulted in a score (two touchdowns and one field goal).
• The Bulldogs were three for three on third downs in their first possession but were 0-of-13 the rest of the game.
• Truman dominated the time of possession, particarly in the first half.  The 'Dogs had the ball for nearly 20 minutes (19:42) in the first 30 minutes and finished the game with nearly 35 minutes of possession.
• With 18 yards rushing, Phil Davis eclipsed the 600 yard mark for the season.
• The Bulldogs scored on both possessions in Washburn's redzone and now have scored on 15 of the last 17  redzone possessions.
• Truman's 2.8 yards per play offensively was a season low.
• The Truman defense did not record a sack while the offense allowed a season-high four sacks.
• Washburn scored the most points against the Bulldogs this season and had a season best four touchdown passes.
• It was the first time this season that Truman did not turn the ball over as the Bulldogs finished +1 in the turnover margin.

 

Up Next:

 

Truman will honor 12 seniors next Saturday as they will play a regionally televised game against Nebraska-Omaha to close out the 2010 season.

 

The Bulldogs have won two of three at home against the Mavericks with a thrilling double-overtime win in the team's last meeting in Kirksville in 2008.  Last season, it was all Mavericks as they scored 14 points in the first 1:06 of the game en route to a 38-0 victory over Truman in Omaha.  Kick off is scheduled for 2:20 p.m.