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 12:10 p.m.

 

Game Preview:

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - The 76th edition of the “Ol Hickory Stick Game” will take place on Saturday as the Truman Bulldogs host Northwest Missouri State in the oldest trophy game in Division II Football. Kick off is set for 1:00 p.m. at Stokes Stadium.

 

The Bulldogs will be looking to bounce back after a deceivingly lopsided 34-9 loss at Fort Hays on Saturday night. Truman trailed just 14-9 and had the ball in Tigers territory with just over eight minutes to play in the game, however Fort Hays hurried quarterback Phil Davis into two incomplete passes and forced a punt.

 

On the ensuing possession, the Tigers gambled on a fourth and one from Truman's 26 yardline and quarterback Mike Garrison's play action pass to O.J. Murdock was completed for the insurance touchdown and a 21-9 Tiger lead. Fort Hays would add two late touchdowns.

 

Meanwhile, Northwest Missouri made a statement after falling 16-7 to Texas A&M-Kingsville in their season opener. The Bearcats throttled Nebraska-Omaha on the road 58-23 in the conference opener for both teams.

 

Northwest led 23-0 in the first quarter as Bearcat quarterback Blake Bolles tossed for 398 (14-of-19) yards with receiver Jake Soy catching five passes for 137.

 

Truman will have to contain Soy and Bolles as they had their hands full with the Fort Hays duo Garrison and Murdock. The receiver caught 128 of Garrison's 325 yards passing as the Tigers racked up 493 yards of total offense.

 

The Bulldogs will hope to get the rushing game going again against a Bearcat defense that has allowed 140 yards/game on the ground in their first two contests. Phil Davis is averaging nine yards per attempt and leads the Bulldogs with 206 yards on the ground through the first three games.

 

The last two meetings have been rather lopsided affairs on the side of the green and white.  Northwest won 49-0 in Kirksville in 2008 and 70-0 in Maryville last year.

 

Players to Watch (Truman):

 

Sophomore Defensive back Richie Schmacher: Schmacher will be a key figure as the Bearcats have been able to throw the ball in their first two games.  Schmacher is tied for the team lead in pass breakups and passes defended with four while making 13 total stops in 2010.

 

Junior Running Back Harnish Ayora: Ayora had just six rushes against Fort Hays State for 14 yards, his lowest production of the year to date.  For the season, he has 48 rushes for 193 yards and a 3.8 yard per carry average.  The Bulldogs will need to control the ball to keep the high-powered Northwest offense off the field.

 

Players to Watch (Northwest Missouri)

 

The tandem of wide receiver Jake Soy and quarterback Blake Bolles have accounted for nearly one-third of the total offense this season for Northwest.  Soy has 10 catches for 192 yards while Bolles has completed 66% of his passes for 566 yards and three touchdowns.

 

Chad Kilgore leads Northwest with 25 total tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss.  Willie Horn is second on the team with 16 total tackles and three quarterback hurries.

 

Series History:

This is the 90^th meeting between the Bulldogs and the Bearcats on the gridiron as both are original, charter members of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association.

Truman leads the overall series 54-31-4 while the Bearcats have won the last eight games in the series.

 

This series is tied for seventh in most-played games in Division II.  Emporia State and Washburn lead with 106 meetings while Truman/Northwest are tied with Catawba/LeNoir Rhyne with 89 entering this season.  The Truman/Central Missouri series is fifth with 93 games played.

 

Hickory Stick Tidbits:

• The Bulldogs lead in Hickory Stick games 43-28-4.
• The current eight game winning streak by Northwest is their longest of the series.
• Truman's longest possession of the stick was 11 games from 1985-1995.
• Bulldog new head coaches are 8-7 in Hickory Stick games.  John Ware was the last first-year head coach to win the game while both Shannon Currier and Aaron Vlcko came up empty against the Bearcats.
• The Bulldogs have not scored in 177:25 minutes of action against Northwest (a Matt Ticich 1-yd run on Sept. 22, 2007.
• That shutout streak is not the longest in the series, the Bulldogs kept Northwest off the scoreboard from 1908-1923 (a span of six games or 360 minutes of action).
• It is the oldest trophy game in Division II Football, the second oldest trophy game is the Springfield (Mass.) Mayor's Cup between American International and Springfield that began in 1941, 10 years after the start of the Hickory Stick.
• The oldest trophy game in any division is the Victory Bell played between Cincinnati and Miami (Ohio) that begin in 1888.

 

 

All-Time Records:

·         The Bulldogs have played 927 games all-time.  The Bulldogs are 528-365-34 (.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 609 with the Bulldogs second with 528. 

 

Bulldogs Against Ranked Opponents:

The football program will be facing their first ranked opponent of the season however other Truman sports have had great success against nationally ranked teams this year, especially in Kirksville.

 

The men's soccer team defeated the defending Division II national champion and preseason number one, Fort Lewis College, 2-1 on Sept. 10 while the Truman Volleyball team knocked of previously undefeated and #3 Washburn 3-1 in Pershing Arena last Friday night.

 

Football's last victory over a ranked opponent came on Oct. 4, 2008 against then #16 Nebraska-Omaha in double-overtime 26-20.

 

Offensive Quick Hits:

• The Bulldogs recorded 46 first downs this season, 20 by passing, 22 by rushing and 4 by penalty.
• In 118 rushing attempts, Truman averaged 4.7 yards per carry up from a 3.1 mark last season. 
• Truman has gained 555 yards on the ground.
• With 41 pass completions, the Bulldogs have 431 yards passing and 10.5 yards per completion average.
• With 202 offensive plays, the Bulldogs have amassed 986 yards of total offense for a per play average of 4.9 up from 4.3 yards last season.
• In their 12 trips to the redzone this season, the Bulldogs have seven touchdowns and three field goals.
• The Bulldogs are 18-of-47 (38%) on third down conversions. 
• Truman is 3-of-4 on fourth down conversions.
• The offense has been on the field 29:24 per game this season and has scored 63 points.
• The offensive line has allowed two sacks through three games, last season, the Bulldogs allowed 25 qb sacks.
• The Bulldogs longest drive of the season has been a 14-play 64-yard drive that consumed 6:01 and resulted in a field goal. 
• The last 1,000 yard rusher for the Bulldogs was Jerard Leverson (1012 yards) following the 2003 season.

 

Defensive Quick Hits:

• In 103 rushes, Truman's defense has allowed 324 yards rushing for a 3.1 yards per carry average, down from a 5.3 mark last season.
• In 67 pass completions for 862 yards, opponents averaged 12.9 yards per completion. 
• In 219 offensive plays, opposing teams averaged 5.4 yards per play down from 6.1 yards in 2009.
• Opponents have made 11 trips into Truman's redzone and come away with six touchdowns and one field goal.
• The Bulldog defense has been on the field on average 29:55 minutes per game and allowed 77 points.
• Opponents have converted on third down 34% of the time (16-of-47).
• Opponents are 4-of-9 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 3-of-5 on field goal attempts this season, all by Derek Koon.  The longest attempt has been 37 yards while the longest make was 32 both against St. Joseph's College.
• Koon is 6-of-8 on point after attempts this season and the team has not tried a two-point attempt.
• Opponents are 8-for-10 on extra point attempts and are 0-1 on two-point conversions.  They are 1-for-5 on field goal attempts with the longest make being from 39 yards (Andrew Kocurek – Southwest Baptist).
• Truman averages 58.0 yards per kickoff (Brian Rosser) and 34.6 yards per punt (Eric Phillips).
• Opponents are averaging 56.6 per kickoff and 36.5 yards per punt.
• The Bulldogs average 20.0 yards per kick return and 10.5 per punt return.
• Opponents are averaging 14.0 yards per kick return and 1.2 per punt return.

 

Bulldog vs. Fort Hays State Recap:

HAYS, Kan. -  Three big touchdown passes by Fort Hays quarterback Mike Garrison were key in the Tigers 34-9 victory over the Truman State University Bulldogs on Saturday night in Hays.  Garrison completed touchdown passes of 25, 47 and 21 yards as Truman falls for the first time in 2010.

After a scoreless first quarter, the Tigers (3-0/1-0 MIAA) were able to march out from the shadow of their own goal posts as Garrison completed passes of 12 and 19 yards and running back James Walker scampered another seven and 20 yards to set up a 25-yard touchdown pass from Garrison to tight end Beau Gadwood and a 7-0 lead.  The drive went for 97-yards in nine plays.

The Bulldogs responded right back as quarterback Phil Davis found freshman Paul Taylor for a 21-yard completion with a late hit foul tacked on to jump start the offense into FHSU territory.

Anthony Brown caught another big third down pass for 12 yards and Davis marched in untouched from 15 yards out to knot the score at seven apiece.

With just under a minute to play in the half, the Tigers got into Bulldogs' territory on a 17-yard pass from Garrison to O.J. Murdock.

After a timeout, Garrison was pressured and was nearly dropped for a loss but found Walker on a screen pass and the senior tailback knifed 47-yards for the go ahead score.

The Bulldogs cut it to 14-9 when a bad snap resulted in a safety and were set up in great field position as freshman Paul Taylor took the free kick 35 yards to the Tigers' 42 yardline.

However, the Truman offense stalled out and was forced to punt.

On the ensuing possession, the Tigers gambled on a fourth and one from the Truman 24 and it paid off as Garrison found Murdock deep slant and the insurance score.

From their the flood gates opened as the Tigers tacked on a Walker one-yard run and a Garrison five-yard run late in the fourth quarter.

Fort Hays racked up the offensive numbers as the Tigers gained 492 yards overall with Garrison throwing for 325 and Walker leading the rushers with 114 yards.  Murdock was the big target with 128 receiving.

Davis led Truman in total offense with 69 yards on the ground and 84 through the air.  Taylor led the receiving corps with three catches for 32 yards.

 

Bulldog vs. Fort Hays State Footnotes:

 

• With the loss, Truman's three-game winning streak was snapped and their conference road losing streak was extended to nine games.
• The Bulldogs were 5-of-14 on third down conversions with 10 of them in the “third & long” category.
• Fort Hays was 4-of-14 in third downs.
• Truman had a three minute lead in time of possession at the half but ended the night five minutes behind the Tigers.
• The Bulldogs were the last team in the MIAA to allow a sack. Both teams entered the game without allowing a sack and Truman struck first with Adam Reynold's nine-yard sack in the first quarter of Mike Garrison. The Bulldogs would surrender their first sack on their next drive.
• Truman finished with three sacks on the night while allowing two.
• Punter Eric Phillips pinned Fort Hays State deep twice in the game. Phillips got a punt downed at the three yard line in the first half and at the one in the second half.
• Four times the Tigers started drives on the Bulldog side of the field and were denied points in three of them as the Truman defense responded with their backs to the wall.
• Quarterback Davis led Truman with seven rushes for 69 yards and had a 15-yard touchdown run.
• Freshman Paul Taylor had three catches for 32 yards and returned a free kick 35 yards.
• Truman improved to 83% in redzone scoring by scoring a touchdown in their only trip on Saturday. Last season, the Bulldogs were 66% in redzone scoring.
• Harnish Ayora has already matched his 2009 rushing touchdown total with four through three games. All four have been for less than two yards. Vanness Emokpae led the team in 09 with five rushing touchdowns.

 

Up Next:

 

Truman will entertain one of the hottest teams in college football and one of the top passers in the country as the University of Central Missouri visits for Family Night at 6:30 p.m. at Stokes Stadium.

 

The Mules enter this week with a 3-1 record and entered the AFCA Division II Coaches Poll at #21.  Quarterback Eric Czerniewski is second in the nation in total offense averaging 398 yards per game.