The Truman Bulldogs will host Lindenwood (Mo.) University for Senior Day on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. at Stokes Stadium. The Bulldogs have dropped four straight games including a 34-10 loss at Missouri Southern last Saturday while the Lions are coming off their biggest win of the season after downing the defending national champions, Pittsburg (Kan.) St. 44-33.
Truman took a 10-0 lead over Missouri Southern early in the second quarter but then the Lions' Ne'Ronte Threatt turned the corner on a running play and went 73-yards for a touchdown. That play sparked the Lions to 27 second quarter points. Southern rushed for a season-high 409 yards against the Bulldogs and controlled the ball for nearly 40 minutes.
Garrett White had his ninth rushing touchdown for the Bulldogs and
Dallas Grier caught 10 passes for 67 yards.
Denodus O'Bryant was named the MIAA Offensive Player of the Week after rushing 15 times and had 314 total yards in Lindenwood's victory over the Gorillas on Saturday. O'Bryant had an 80 yard pass reception for a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage and had an 80-yard rush for a score in the second quarter to put the Lions up 14-0. He would later have an 87-yard reception that proved to be the backbreaker making the score 31-19.
This is the first meeting between the Bulldogs and Lions on the gridiron. Lindenwood joined the NCAA Division II and MIAA this season after spending the previous years in the NAIA and Heart of America conference. They played in the 2009 NAIA National Title game, falling to another new Division II member, University of Sioux Falls (S.D.) 25-22.
Bulldogs Quick Glance:
Truman (4-6; 3-6 MIAA) has lost four straight games with three coming against nationally ranked opponents.
Dallas Grier enters this week's game with 954 yards receiving, the fourth best single-season total in Truman history and with 46 yards become just the second Bulldog to have 1000 yards receiving in a single season. The school record is 1,167 yards by Russell Evans in 1986. Grier has 71 catches and four touchdown receptions.
Quarterback
Conrad Schottel has completed 52% of his passes for 1,972 yards and 12 touchdowns but has also thrown 14 interceptions while running back
Garrett White has 551 yards on the ground and nine touchdowns with four plays from scrimmage going over 40 yards.
Defensive back
Richie Schumacher leads the Bulldogs in tackles for the second straight season. Schumacher has 101 stops through 10 games with six tackles for loss and a pair of interceptions
. Patrick Blackwell has seven sacks and 20.5 for his career. Blackwell is second in the MIAA in sacks behind Missouri Western's David Bass.
Punter
Eric Phillips is averaging over 40 yards per punt (40.2) for the second straight season while place kicker
Derek Koon is second on the Bulldog all-time field goal list with 35 and has made his last five.
Truman won their first three games to start the season against Southwest Baptist (24-14), Lincoln (42-12) and Northwestern Oklahoma State (63-21). Their other win came at Nebraska-Kearney (16-7) on Oct. 6. Truman losses came at the hands of Central Missouri (38-17), Fort Hays St. (37-23), #19 Washburn (35-24), #18 Emporia State (52-26) #22 Pittsburg State (20-6) and Missouri Southern (34-10).
Lions Quick Glance:
Lindenwood (7-3; 6-3 MIAA) won five of their first six games to start the season with only a 35-28 loss to Central Missouri being their only blemish on the schedule. The Lions were dealt consecutive losses to #21 Emporia (Kan.) St. 13-0 and #18 Washburn (Kan.) 19-16 before righting the ship with two wins against Missouri Southern (45-30) and #18 Pittsburg (Kan.) St. 44-33.
Denodus O'Bryant is third in the MIAA in rushing yards at 1,015 and has five scoring plays that went for 80 yards or more including a 100-yard kick return. O'Bryant had three 80-yard scores against Pittsburg State that one-upped teammage Andrew Helmick, who had four touchdowns the week before go for over 60 yards per play. Helmick has 47 catches for 949 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Ben Gomez is still the Lions' leading passer despite missing the past four games. Gomez has thrown for 1693 yards in the seasons' first six games but has been out with an injury. Dillon Miller has started the past three games and completed 54% of his passes for 659 yards.
Since being shutout against Emporia State on Oct. 13, the Lions have had nine scoring plays go for 30 yards or more.
Odds & Ends:
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The Bulldogs are ranked 10th in the MIAA in scoring offense (25.1) and eighth in scoring defense (27.0) while the Lions are fifth in scoring offense (31.4) and fourth in scoring defense (24.1).
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The Bulldogs are second in the MIAA in kickoff coverage at 42.7 yards per kick and tied for third in sacks with 27.
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Truman is 39% successful on third down in the first quarter (13-38) but just 21% (7-33) in the third quarter of games.
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Offensively, Truman's best quarter is the first with 1131 yards (520 rush, 611 pass and 5.7/play) and on average 8:11 possession time.
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The Bulldogs have scored just once following a turnover in the last nine turnovers gained.
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Truman has scored 52 points off of 25 turnovers gained but given up 80 points also on 25 turnovers lost.
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Truman has had 41 drives start on the opponents' side of the 50 yardline and scored 49% of the time while opponents have started 13 drives on the Bulldog side of the 50 and scored 54% of the time.
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The Bulldogs average starting field possession is their own 39 while the opposing teams are starting at their own 26.
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In five of the six losses, Truman has allowed an opposing score in the final two minutes of the first half.
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Truman has allowed six touchdowns on opponents final drive of the first half and five touchdowns on their first drive of the second half while the Bulldogs have one touchdown before the intermission and two in drives following halftime.
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The Bulldogs have played 956 games all-time. The Bulldogs are 538-384-34 (.581) all time.
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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).
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The Bulldogs have finished .500 or above in 70 of the 104 seasons of football played at the University and have had five wins or more in 62 seasons.
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Truman is the winningest NCAA program all-time in the state of Missouri with the .581 win percentage. The University of Missouri has the most wins with 628 with the Bulldogs second with 538.
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Truman's 538 wins is eighth all-time in Division II.
Final Season In the MIAA:
Truman is leaving the MIAA for the Great Lakes Valley Conference next season. The Bulldogs are just one of three founding members of the conference remaining in the league that is celebrating its centennial season.
The league was formed in 1912 and then reorganized in 1924 to include just the five regional state teacher or Normal schools (Truman, Northwest Missouri, Central Missouri, Southeast Missouri State and Missouri State).
The Bulldogs first MIAA game was Oct. 23, 1914 at Westminster (Mo.) College in Fulton. Westminster won 39-0.
In the 95 seasons and 580 conference games since, Truman is 336-220-24 (.600) and has the most conference titles (26) than any other current or former member of the MIAA with the last coming in 1988.
Truman/Missouri Southern Footnotes:
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The game was billed the John Ware Classic, memorializing the head coach of both the Bulldogs and the Lions who passed away in 2005. Prior to the game, the recipients from each school of the John and Melissa Ware Memorial Scholarship were recognized. They were Southern quarterback Kellen Cox and Truman signal caller Conrad Schottel.
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Derek Koon connected on a 22-yard field goal to put Truman up 3-0 in the first quarter. It was Koon's 35th career field goal moving him just two back of Mickey Masucci's career field goal record of 37.
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Richie Schumacher had seven tackles on the day. He will enter his final game as a Bulldog with 345 total stops, five back of fourth overall which is held by Zac Allison (1994-97) and nine away from Jake Willrich (1998-02).
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Patrick Blackwell and Matthew Smith were each credited with three tackles for loss with Smith picking up the Bulldogs lone sack.
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Dallas Grier passed Fontaine Walker's all-time receiving total of 2,087 with 67 yards on the day and is now fourth overall. His 954 yards receiving is also the fourth best single-season total to date. With 46 yards in his final game, he can be just the second Bulldog receiver with over 1,000 receiving yards in a season.
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Truman was held to under 300 yards of total offense (215) for the third time this season and second straight game.
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The Bulldogs averaged 3.6 yards per play compared to the Lions 6.3 yards.
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Southern scored on five straight possessions after Truman took a 10-0 lead. They had five drives during the game last over five minutes with a season-long against the Bulldogs of 7:44.
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For the second straight week, Truman lost the time of possession by nearly 20 minutes. Southern controlled the ball 39:32 to the Bulldogs 20:28.
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Truman's best offensive quarter was again the first, averaging 6.3 yards per play with 30 of their 42 yards rushing in the first 15 minutes. The 42 yards rushing was the fewest in a single-game by the Bulldogs since being held to 39 by Emporia State in 2007.
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The 406 yards rushing by the Lions were the most allowed by the Bulldogs since a 2007 game against Washburn (428).
Up Next:
The All-MIAA conference teams will be announced next week. Truman's first game next season is scheduled for September 5, 2013 against Southwest Baptist (Mo.) University at home. The rest of the schedule will be announced in February.
Offensive Notebook:
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Sophomore Garrett White leads the team in rushing with 551 yards on 108 carries (5.1/rush, 55.1/g) while senior Will Mosquera is second with 111 attempts and 391 yards. White leads the team with nine rushing touchdowns, 10 total.
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Junior quarterback Conrad Schottel has completed 52% of his passes (176-of-334) with 12 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. He has an efficiency rating of 105.8 and has thrown for 1972 yards.
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Junior Dallas Grier has been the top target with 71 catches for 954 yards. Redshirt freshman Chico Orlando has caught 20 passes for 252 yards and four touchdowns. Sophomore Jared Haferbier has 24 catches for 260 yards and senior Brett Nagel has 29 catches for 260.
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The Bulldog offensive line has allowed 22 sacks for 130 yards and 56 tackles for loss for 210 yards.
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Through 10 games, Truman is averaging 25.1 points per game, up from 23.0/game 2011 and from 22.1 in 2010.
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On the ground, the Bulldogs are averaging 120.7/g and have 1207 yards rushing through 10 games. Passing, the Bulldogs are averaging 226.8/g (2268 yards) with an average of 347.5/g (3475 yards) in total offense. Last season, the team gained 1,389 yards on the ground (126.3/g), 2,422 yards passing (220.1) for a total offensive mark of 3,811 (346.4/g).
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The longest plays from scrimmage are a 66-yard pass from Conrad Schottel to Dallas Grier against Nebraksa-Kearney and a 55-yard rush by Garrett White against Lincoln (Mo.) University.
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The Bulldogs, though 10 games, have turned the ball over 25 times (16 interceptions and nine fumbles lost). Opposing teams have scored 12 times following a Bulldog turnover. Last season, Truman turned the ball over 24 times with 16 interceptions and eight fumbles. Of those turnovers, opposing teams scored 11 times (10 touchdowns and one field goal).
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Truman has converted in the redzone this season 66% of the time with 24 touchdowns and seven field goals out of 47 trips. Last year, the Bulldogs scored 80% of the time. They were 28 of 35 with 16 touchdowns.
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The Bulldogs have started 41 of their 155 drives on the plus side of the 50 yardline. They have scored 18 touchdowns and two field goals (49%) when starting a drive in their opponent's territory and their average field position is their own 39.
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The offense has converted 28% of their third downs in 2012 from the 34% last season.
Defensive Notebook:
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Senior Richie Schumacher leads the Bulldogs with 101 total tackles while nine Truman defenders have over 40 tackles through 10 games.
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The Bulldog defense has 27 sacks for 189 yards and 73 tackles for loss for 297 yards. Last season, Truman had 21 sacks for 145 yards and 56 tackles for loss. Senior Patrick Blackwell leads the team with seven sacks. His 20.5 career sacks are seventh all-time in Truman history.
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Truman allows 27.0 points per game through 10 this season after allowing 32.5/g last year.
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The team has allowed 1996 yards rushing (199.6/g), 2198 yards passing (219.8/g) and 4194 yards of total offense (419.4). In 2011, the Bulldogs allowed 2,188 yards on the ground (198.9/g) , 2,703 yards passing (245.7/g) for a total defensive mark of 4,891 (444.6/g).
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The Bulldogs have allowed 27 plays from scrimmage over 30 yards this year the longest being a 81-yard pass by Emporia State. In 2011, the Bulldogs allowed 24 plays from scrimmage of 30-yards or more.
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The Bulldogs defense has forced 25 turnovers, 12 interceptions and 13 fumble recoveries. The offense has scored touchdowns on seven of the 25 turnovers forced with another coming on a defensive pick-six against Central Missouri. Last season they forced 27 turnovers with nine interceptions and 18 fumble recoveries.
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Opponents have been in the redzone 39 times out of 154 drives this season but have converted for scores in 31 trips (79%). Last year, opponents were successful 72.3% of the time with 34 of 47 with 28 touchdowns. The average field position for the opposing is their own 25.4 yard line.
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The opposing offenses are 39% successful on third down after going 39% in 2011.
Special Teams Notebook:
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Junior Derek Koon is 9-of-16 in field goals in 2012 with a long from 46 and three blocked. For his career, he is 35-for-51 in field goals with a long 46 yards against Pittsburg State in 2012. He has also converted on 74-of-84 extra point attempts.
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Koon made 12 straight field goals to start the 2011 season, breaking the school record of Scott Bresaw's 10 set in 1990 and tied Bresaw's 1990 single-season record of 15 field goals made. Koon also broke Josh Barcus' (Pittsburg State) MIAA record for consecutive field goal. Koon's streak snapped when he missed a 51-yard field goal against Missouri Southern. That record was broken by Missouri Western's Greg Zuerlien also during the 2011 season.
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Senior Eric Phillips has had 63 punts in 2012 for an average of 40.2/punt. His long this season is 58 yards while his career long is 75 against Southwest Baptist in 2011. Last year, Phillips was second in the nation in punting with an average of 42.9/punt.
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Phillips has had five punts this season downed inside the opponents' one-yardline and 30 finishing inside the opponents 20 with four touchbacks.
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The Bulldogs have blocked two punts this season and four in the last two years.
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Dallas Grier has 17 punt returns for 197 yards (11.6/ret) with a long of 39.
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Garrett White (13) and Aaron Hartfield (9) lead the team in kickoff returns. White averages 24.9 per return and Hartifeld 21.2. Hartfield has the longest return of 41 yards against Washburn.
