The Truman State University Football team will look to keep the momentum going when they host Lincoln (Mo.) University in the Stokes Stadium debut for the 2012 squad. Truman is coming off a 24-14 victory at Southwest Baptist (Mo.) last Thursday night while the Blue Tigers opened their season with a 49-28 loss at home against conference newcomer Lindenwood (Mo.) University.
In last year's meeting in Kirksville, Truman's “D” pitched the first shutout since 2004 and the Bulldogs honored their seniors with a 53-0 victory over the Blue Tigers. Truman exploded for 396 yards rushing and had a season-high 615 yards of total offense while limiting Lincoln to just 239 yards. The Blue Tigers also aided the Bulldogs with 16 penalties for 120 yards.
Conrad Schottel completed nine of 12 passes for Truman for three touchdowns and 182 yards and Truman senior's
Donald Harvey and
Harnish Ayora each gained over 100 yards on the ground.
This will be the 24th overall meeting between the Bulldogs and Blue Tigers and first consecutive year meetings since the 1988-89 seasons. Truman has won 18 of the 23 previous meetings, including the last 17 straight. Lincoln's last win in the series came 39 years ago in Kirksville when they shutout the Bulldogs 21-0.
Lincoln dropped football following the 1990 season but revived the program in early 2000s. Last year was the first year back in the MIAA for the Blue Tigers, however they did not win a game in the MIAA under first year coach Mike Jones.
Michael Elliott Named MIAA Defensive Player Of The Week:
Truman senior defensive back
Michael Elliott was named the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association Football Defensive Player of the Week after picking off three passes in the fourth quarter to preserve the Bulldogs 24-14 victory over Southwest Baptist last Thursday night.
His first interception came on the second play of the fourth quarter with the Bulldogs up 21-14. Following an insurance field goal by
Derek Koon,
Elliott (Cypress, Texas, Cy-Fair HS) nabbed his second pick on the Bearcats ensuing drive as he wrestled the ball away from Nathan Mourik at the Truman 36.
His final pick sealed the game with 1:50 remaining as he grabbed Dan Conners' throw at the goal line and returned it out to the 15 yard line. He finished the night with seven tackles and had a kickoff return of 22 yards and three punt returns of 18 yards.
It was a career high three interceptions for Elliott and gives him nine for his Bulldog career. The three picks were the second most across all three Divisions of the NCAA. Jared Morris of Wesley (Tex.), a Division III school, had four interceptions to lead the nation.
Elliott was last the MIAA Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 18, 2010 following a victory over Missouri Southern State University.
Truman/Southwest Baptist Notes:
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The Bulldogs scored in each quarter to down the Bearcats 24-14 for their fifth straight win and 20th overall in 24 meetings with Southwest Baptist.
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Truman outgained the Bearcats 358 to 257 on the night with 137 coming on the ground and 221 through the air.
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Senior Will Mosquera and sophomore Garrett White shared the ground game with Mosquera gaining 79 yards on 21 attempts and White going for 67 yards on 17 carries. White had the lone rushing touchdown and also caught a 42-yard screen pass.
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Senior Michael Elliott had a busy night picking off three passes in the fourth quarter to go with three punt and one kickoff return for 63 all-purpose yards. Elliott's three picks were a single-game career high and most by a Bulldog in over 15 years. He was two away from Gary Evans' 1975 record of five against Missouri S&T. Elliott has nine INTs, six back of Evans' 15 for the Bulldog career record.
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Senior punter Eric Phillips had nine punts with no returns against the Bearcats. Seven of the nine punts put SBU either at or inside their own 20 yard line. He averaged 38.3 yards per punt with a long of 58.
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Junior Dallas Grier caught five passes for a team-high 68 yards to put him over 1,200 receiving yards for his career.
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Junior Derek Koon made all three of his extra point attempts and hit a 37-yard field goal to go over 125 points in his career. He is eight of his last nine in field goals of over 30 yards or longer.
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The 'Dog defense did not allow SBU to convert on their first 10 third down attempts. The Bearcats finished 3-of-19 for the game.
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The Bulldogs finished 5-of-17 on third downs but did not convert on any of their last eight of the game.
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Seven of SBU's 20 drives resulted in negative yardage. The Bearcats gained 136 of their 257 yards on just two scoring drives and 17 drives had five plays or less.
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The offense had a balanced attack with 41 of their 77 plays from scrimmage going on the ground while 36 plays were passing.
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The win gave Truman their first three-game winning streak since the end of the 2009, start of the 2010 season. The last four-game winning streak by the Bulldogs came at the end of the 2006 and start of the 2007 campaigns.
About the Bulldogs:
Head Coach
Gregg Nesbitt begins his third season on the Truman sideline after two straight 4-7 campaigns. The Bulldogs return 47 juniors and seniors, 59 total letterwinners and 18 starters from 2011. Of the starters returning, five are on offense, 10 on defense and both punter and place kicker are back.
• The Bulldogs have played 947 games all-time. The Bulldogs are 535-378-34 (.583) 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 104 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 .582 win percentage. The University of Missouri has the most wins with 625 with the Bulldogs second with 534.
• Truman's 535 wins is eighth all-time in Division II.
Returning All-Americans:
Truman features four players that have earned all-America honors during their career.
Senior defensive back
Richie Schumacher was a third team BeyondSportsNetwork All-America selection after finishing third in Division II in tackles with 130.
Junior place kicker
Derek Koon was also a BSN All-American earning a nod on the honorable mention list going 15-of-17 in field goals and converting on 22-of-27 point-after attempts.
Senior punter
Eric Phillips was a second-team Don Hansen Division II All-America in 2011 after averaging 42.9 yards per punt, good for sixth in Division II. For his career, Phillips has averaged 39.0/yards per punt with a long of 75.
Senior defensive back
Michael Elliott returns after earning a third-team Don Hansen selection in 2010 and taking last season off due to injury. Elliott led the defense as a junior with 91 total tackles and has six career interceptions.
Offensive Notebook:
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Truman averaged 23.0 points per game in 2011, up slightly from 22.1 in 2010.
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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). That total was the most by a Bulldog team since the eclipsed 4,000 yards of total offense in the 2007 season.
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The longest play from scrimmage last year was a 69-yard rush by J.B. Clark against Missouri Southern and a 61-yard pass from Clark to Kurt Loyd against Central Missouri.
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The Bulldogs 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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The most yards gained in a single game last season was 615 against Lincoln (Mo.). 396 of those yards were rushing on that day while 304 yards passing against Central Missouri was the highspot in that department.
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Truman converted in the redzone 80% of the time in 2011. They were 28 of 35 with 16 touchdowns.
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The average starting position was their own 34 yardline.
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The offense was 34% on third downs in 2011. They were 48% on third and short (less than three yards) and 33% on fourth down conversions.
Defensive Notebook:
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Truman allowed 32.5 points per game last year; up a half-point from 2010.
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The team 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). That was the most yards allowed since the 2008 season.
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The longest play from scrimmage last year was an 83-yard rush by Andre Smith of Fort Hays (Kan.) St. and an 80-yard pass from Missouri Western's Travis Partridge to Tarrell Downing.
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The Bulldogs defense forced 27 turnovers last season with nine interceptions and 18 fumble recoveries. Of the 27 turnovers, 10 resulted in scores for the Bulldogs with two scores directly credited to the defense.
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The most yards gained in a single game last season was 632 by Missouri Western. The Griffons had a season-high 361 yards passing while Fort Hays (Kan.) St. had the high mark in rushing yards with 314.
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Opponents converted in the redzone 72.3% of the time in 2011. They were 34 of 47 with 28 touchdowns.
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The average starting position was their own 30 yardline.
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The opposing offense was 39% on third downs in 2011. They were 71% on third and short (less than three yards) and 45% on fourth down conversions.
Special Teams Notebook:
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Sophomore Derek Koon was 15-for-17 in field goals in 2011 with a career long 42 yards against Fort Hays State and Central Missouri. Koon was 7-for-8 in field goals over 30 yards after making just 2-of-8 during his freshman season. He has also converted on 22-of-27 extra point attempts.
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Koon made 12 straight field goals to start the 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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Junior Eric Phillips was second in the MIAA and sixth nationally in punting with a 42.9 yards per punt average. Along with redshirt freshman Jacob Lamp, helped the Bulldogs to a team ranking of seventh in Division II in net putting at 37.2 yards per punt.
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The Bulldogs blocked two punts last season, one of which went for a touchdown. Richie Schumacher got the block and fell on the ball in the endzone for six against Pittsburg State, while Will Mosquera blocked a Lincoln punt for a safety.
Academic Success:
• The Bulldogs had 48 players earn distinction on the MIAA Academic Honor Roll last year, the most of any conference program. To be eligible, a player must have a cumulative grade-point average above a 3.00. The team had a cumulative grade-point average of 3.02 following the 2012 spring semester and an average ACT score of 24.
• Truman had an 88% Academic Success Rate in football according to data released by the NCAA last year. It was the highest ASR rate in the MIAA and one of the top percentages of all Division II public institutions. The Truman Athletics department had an overall ASR of 95%.
About the Blue Tigers:
The Blue Tigers managed just 226 yards of total offense in their season opening loss to Lindenwood on Saturday afternoon at home. Khiry Draine was a bright spot for Lincoln as he had five catches for 162 yards in the game. The Blue Tigers trailed by just seven at the half following a 77-yard TD reception by Draine from QB Jacob Morris.
Lindenwood would score 21 straight points to start the second half to put the game out of reach while accumulating over 500 yards of total offense.
Morris Henderson had four carries for 53 yards and Morris would complete 14-of-31 passes for 153 and two scores.
The Blue Tigers were just 2-of-17 on third down conversions and committed just the one turnover while forcing and recovering two fumbles.
Up Next:
Truman will play their lone non-conference game of the season when they host Northwestern Oklahoma State for Family Night next Saturday at Stokes Stadium. The Rangers are in their first season as a provisional member of the NCAA Division II. They lost their opener 55-3 to Ouachita Baptist (Ark.) and will host Colorado State-Pueblo.
Truman/Lincoln Series:
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This will be the 24th meeting between Truman and Lincoln since the series started in 1968. Truman has won 18 games against the Blue Tigers and 17 straight.
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Lincoln's four wins against Truman came in 1968, 1970, 1972 and 1973. The teams tied 22 apiece in the 1969 season.
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Truman has pitched seven shutouts against the Blue Tigers including last season's 53-0 victory.
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The Bulldogs have not allowed Lincoln to score over 10 points in a game since 1981 (nine games).
