Complete Notes (.pdf)
Sept. 1, 2010 – The Truman State University Bulldogs will open up the 2010 college football season on Saturday on the road at St. Joseph's College (Ind.) with a noon kickoff.
Game Preview:
The Truman Football team will welcome Southwest Baptist University (Mo.) to Stokes Stadium on Saturday night for the team's home opener. The Bulldogs are 1-0 after a 23-13 victory over St. Joseph's College while the Bearcats are 0-1 after a 60-13 loss at the hands of the University of Central Missouri.
After limiting the Great Lakes Football Conference offensive player of the year, Jashon Banks, to just 32 rushing yards on seven carries, Truman will now have to defend one of the better passers in the nation.
SBU Quarterback Steve Gachette entered the 2010 season with 9,328 yards passing and 1,830 yards rushing while Truman's secondary allowed just over 189 yards/g through the air last season but 238 in Saturday's win at St. Joseph's.
The Bulldog offense will hope to get the same start they had on Saturday as they scored on three straight possessions and built up a 20-0 lead at half. The 'Dogs had a balanced attack in the first half with 117 yards coming on the ground and another 150 through the air but had little movement in the second half.
The Bearcat defense was torched for 131 yards on the ground and 485 yards in the air against the Mules on Saturday. Central averaged 7.4 yards per play in their victory over SBU.
This the first time the Bulldogs and Bearcats will compete against each other as a non-conference game. SBU left the MIAA in football only following the 2007 season but will rejoin as a football playing school in time for next year's game in Bolivar in week two.
The Bulldogs have won 17 of the previous 20 meetings between the two schools with the Bearcats last win coming in 2005 (38-36). Southwest Baptist is winless in 10 trips to Stokes Stadium.
Players to Watch (Truman):
Phil Davis : The Bulldog quarterback was 8-of-15 with a passing efficiency rating of 126.1 in the first half of last Saturday's game against St. Joseph's College. Davis did not play in the second half but will start on Saturday at home.
Davis will hope to have the same success that Central Missouri's QB Eric Czerniewski had against the SBU defense. Czerniewski broke the Mules school record in passing yards with 435 yards before leaving in the fourth quarter.
Defensive Secondary: SBU's main weapon is quarterback Steve Gachette who is a run/pass threat out of the backfield. The Bulldog D-backs did not get an interception last Saturday and gave up 238 yards passing on 21 completions.
Players to Watch (Southwest Baptist)
Steve Gachette: The leader of the Bearcat offense that was ranked fifth in the nation last season in total offense (481.8y/g). Gachette threw for nearly 300 yards against the Mules and gained another 58 on the ground in nine attempts. He is closing in on nearly 10,000 passing yards for his career.
Defensive Secondary: Just like the Bulldogs, will the SBU secondary be able to bounce back after a rough opening week. Shaquille Shedd recorded a game-high 12 tackles for SBU while Chris Muhammad had two pass breakups.
Series History:
This is the 21st meeting between the Bearcats and the Bulldogs on the gridiron with Truman owning a 17-3 advantage in games played. The Bulldogs have won all 10 previous meetings at Stokes Stadium.
The Bearcats last victory was 38-36 in Bolivar in 2005 while Truman has won the last two meetings, 45-28 at Stokes in 2006 and 55-31 in 2007.
Bulldogs At Stokes Stadium:
Truman is 225-129-9 (.645) all-time at Stokes Stadium, the home of the Bulldogs since 1930.
The squad is 12-9 in Kirksville over the past two seasons.
Truman's longest winning streak in Kirksville is 30 games dating from 1930-1936 under Coach Don Faurot and his brother Fred.
All-Time Records:
· The Bulldogs have played 925 games all-time. The Bulldogs are 527-364-34 (.588) 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 .588 win percentage. The University of Missouri has the most wins with 607 with the Bulldogs second with 527.
Offensive Quick Hits:
· The Bulldogs recorded 168 first downs last season, 64 by passing, 78 by rushing and 26 by penalty.
· In 443 rushing attempts, Truman averaged 3.3 yards per carry.
· Truman gained 1463 yards in 2009 on the ground.
· With 133 pass completions, the Bulldogs had 1595 yards passing and a 12.0 yards per completion average.
· With 716 offensive plays, the Bulldogs amassed 3058 yards of total offense for a per play average of 4.3 yards.
· In their 36 trips to the redzone last season, the Bulldogs had 16 touchdowns, eight field goals.
· The Bulldogs were 59-of-169 (35%) on third down conversions. They were 31-of-94 in the first half and 32-of-74 in the second half.
· The longest third down conversion was a 3&13. A completed pass for 16 yards from Phillip Davis to Vanness Emokpae.
· Truman was 10-of-22 on fourth down conversions. The longest fourth down converted this season was a 4th&16 that went for a 31 yard touchdown pass from Phillip Davis to Jordan Flores.
· The offense was on the field 30:32 per game last season and has scored 164 points.
· The Bulldogs longest drive of 2009 was a 13-play 80-yard drive that consumed 6:52 and resulted in a touchdown. They finished the season with a 13-play 44-yard drive that ate of the final 7:34 in their victory over Pittsburg State.
· The last 1,000 yard rusher for the Bulldogs was Jerard Leverson (1012 yards) following the 2003 season.
Defensive Quick Hits:
· The Bulldogs forced 21 turnovers last season (1.9 per game) with two being directly returned for touchdowns. Just five other forced turnovers were turned into points. In 2008, the Bulldogs forced 28 turnovers (2.5 per game) with half (14) being turned into points.
· In 478 rushes, Truman's defense allowed 2511 yards rushing for a 5.3 yards per carry average.
· In 153 pass completions for 2079 yards, opponents averaged 13.6 yards per completion.
· In 758 offensive plays, opposing teams averaged 6.1 yards per play.
· Opponents made 49 trips into Truman's redzone and come away with 29 touchdowns and 10 field goals.
· The Bulldog defense was on the field on average 29:28 minutes per game and allowed 336 points.
· Opponents converted on third down 46% of the time (69-of-150) with 31-of-70 in the first half and 38-of-80 in the second half.
· The longest third down converted was a 3&17 by both Central Missouri and Washburn.
· Opponents were 5-of-16 in fourth down conversions.
· The longest drive by the opposing team last season was 16 plays, 84 yards and took 7:01 off the clock. The result of the drive by Oklahoma Panhandle State was a turnover on downs at the Bulldog one-yard line. Northwest Missouri had the longest drive in terms of yards going 95 in 10 plays with a touchdown.
· In seven of the team's losses, the Bulldogs gave up a score with less than three minutes before the halftime gun. Five of the seven scores have come in the final minute.
Special Teams Quick Hits:
· The Bulldogs were 8-of-13 on field goal attempts last season. The longest attempt was 47 yards (missed).
· The Bulldogs were 1-for-1 on their only two-point conversion try (Vanness Emokpae rush).
· Opponents were 44-for-46 on extra point attempts and missed on their only two-point try (Emporia State). They were 13-for-15 on field goal attempts with the longest make being from 47 yards (Andrew Gassen – Missouri Southern).
· Truman averaged 59.6 yards per kickoff and 37.6 yards per punt.
· Opponents are averaging 58.5 per kickoff and 34.4 yards per punt.
· The Bulldogs averaged 20.4 yards per kick return and 10.2 per punt return.
· Opponents are averaging 24.5 yards per kick return and 15.6 per punt return.
· The Bulldogs blocked four punts last season, Minnesota State – Jordan Flores, Northwest Missouri – Richie Schumacher, Missouri Western – Luther Eta and Missouri Southern – Luther Eta.
· Truman had two punts blocked in 2009 (Northwest & Central Missouri).
· Truman allowed their first kick return for a touchdown since 1999 against Northwest Missouri. Tyler Shaw took the second half opening kickoff 92 yards for the touchdown. Kerry Byers went 100 yards for Missouri Southern back in 1999.
Bulldog vs. St. Joesph's Recap:
RENSSELAER, IND – Harnish Ayora's two, one-yard touchdown runs sandwiched a Caleb Roberts fumble recovery in the endzone as the Truman Bulldog football team notched the first win of the season against St. Joseph's College (Ind.) 23-13 on Saturday afternoon in Rensselaer, Ind.
All three Bulldog scores came on consecutive possessions in the first half as Truman raced out to a 20-0 lead before hanging on for Head Coach Gregg Nesbitt's first collegiate coaching victory for the purple and while.
The Bulldog offense rolled in the first half as Ayora, who finished with 95 yards on 25 carries and quarterback Phil Davis (8-of-15; 130 yards) accounted 199 of the 'Dogs 267 first half yards.
Ayora scored from a yard out at the 8:13 mark in the first quarter and following a surprise onsides kick, Roberts recovered Anton Bernard's fumble in the endzone for a 13-0 lead.
Ayora capped off the third straight possession with another one yard score on the first play of the second quarter.
Davis and the Bulldog offense were sidelined in the second half as the defense was able to preserve the victory with key stops and seven sacks.
Truman's defense grounded St. Joseph's rushing attack as the Bulldogs kept the Pumas leading rusher Jashon Banks to just 32 yards on seven carriers. Combined with the sack yardage, Truman held the Pumas to a minus seven yards on the ground.
Derek Koon added a 32-yard field goal in the third quarter as the Bulldogs capitalized on a poor eight yard punt that set up good field position for Truman.
Two turnovers by the Bulldogs in the second half gave the Pumas life. However, Dennis Walls and Terrance Byrd were able to break up pass attempts by quarterback Mike Hladlik (21-of-39; 238 yards) on fourth down plays.
Truman finished with 324 yards of total offense while St. Joseph's netted just 231 on the day.
Bulldog vs. St. Joseph's College Footnotes:
· The minus seven yards rushing by the Pumas was the lowest allowed by a Bulldog defense since Sept. 8, 2001 against Quincy University (-16). St. Joseph's had 48 yards on the ground gross but lost 53 yards on sacks and another five in tackles for losses.
· Pumas running back Jashon Banks had two rushes of 13 yards (26 total) but five other carries netted last year's 1,000 yard rusher just six total yards.
· The 231 total yards allowed was the fewest since Fort Hays State gained 229 on Sept. 29, 2007.
· The Bulldogs won their second consecutive game for the first time since 9/27 & 10/4, 2008 (span of 16 games).
· Harnish Ayora had a career high 25 rushes for 95 yards. Previous high was nine rushes on two occasions, last was Sept. 5, 2009 against Oklahoma Panhandle State. Ayora had only 44 carries last season. Previous high in yards gained on the ground was 41 against Emporia State on Oct. 25, 2008.
· Truman's defense did not get a takeaway for the first time in seven games (Fort Hays State).
· Freshman Dallas Grier led Truman in receiving yards with five catches for 106 yards and a long of 51, all in the first half. The 51 yard reception matched last season's longest pass play
· The victory was the 527th all-time in Truman football history and is second behind the University of Missouri-Columbia (607) among NCAA football playing schools in the state of Missouri.
· Coach Gregg Nesbitt, the 22nd head coach of the Bulldogs, became the first Truman coach to win his first game on the sidelines since Randel Lukehart in 1972 (0-7 in coaching debuts since 1975).
· It was the first Truman game on natural grass since 2007 and the Bulldogs are 11-1 in their last 12 games on grass and will be their only game on grass this season.
Up Next:
The Bulldogs will be off next weekend and not take the field again until Sept. 18 at Fort Hays State (Kan.)
It will be the conference opener for both teams with the kickoff scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
