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Football

Game Notes: Truman Welcomes McKendree For Homecoming 2013

Truman State University Bulldog Football Game Notes:
 
KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The Truman Bulldogs will welcome the McKendree (Ill.) University Bearcats for Homecoming on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. at Stokes Stadium in Kirksville.  The Bulldogs are 2-0 in Great Lakes Valley Conference play while the Bearcats enter with a 1-1 league mark.

The Match-Up:
For the second straight week, Truman (4-2; 2-0 GLVC) used a second quarter barrage to put away an opponent when they scored 21 points and headed into the locker room leading 35-0 en route to a 45-7 victory over William Jewell on Saturday afternoon.

The Bulldogs blocked two punts, Chico Orlando caught a pair of touchdown passes and the Bulldog defense registered two sacks and 10 tackles for loss in holding the Cardinals to just 120 yards of total offense.
Truman is second in the GLVC in scoring offense at 39.0 points per game and has outscored their GLVC opponents in the last two games by a margin of 78 to 7. The Bulldogs have outgained opponents 807 yards to 274 yards during the past two weeks.

Garrett White leads the Bulldogs in rushing at 533 yards on 93 carries for 5.7 yards per attempt average. He has five rushing touchdowns and has caught 10 passes for 109 yards and a score.  Conrad Schottel has completed 60% of his passing attempts for 951 yards and nine touchdowns. Schottel's has several receivers to choose upon including Dallas Grier, Jared Haferbier, Chico Orlando and Brett Nagel.

Grier has 27 catches for 300 yards while Haferbier has 21 for 173. Orlando has snared four touchdown passes on 15 receptions.

Austin Zoda leads the team in tackles with 48 with Matthew Bell at 43 and an interception. Nic Abbate has recorded 9.5 tackles for loss and Truman as a squad has registered 47 tackles for loss for a total of 199 yards.

The Bearcats (2-3; 1-1 GLVC) took their shot against the defending GLVC champions last Saturday and fell 45-7 at home to the University of Indianapolis.  The Greyhounds jumped on McKendree for 21 points in the first quarter including a 71-yard pass play from Connor Barthel to Klay Fiechter.

McKendree managed 284 yards of total offense with 108 coming through the air while allowing 453 yards by the Greyhounds with 247 passing and 206 rushing. Running back Ryan Herring had 10 carries for 34 yards and Isaac Fisher completed 16-of-28 pass attempts for 110 yards and a score.

McKendree is first in the GLVC in punt returns at 27.5 and tops in redzone defense at 65.2%. Truman has scored on 13 straight redzone possessions entering the game. The Bearcats have struggled defensively allowing 499 yards per game and they are last in the GLVC in pass defense at 328.2 per game.

Ryan Herring leads the team in rushing with 304 yards on 56 carries and a 5.4 yards per rush average while Isaac Fisher has taken the majority of snaps at quarterback with 930 yards and six touchdown passes and a completion percentage of 65.5%.
Fisher's top target is Dewayne Gatti with 32 catches for 387 yards and three touchdowns.

The Bearcats have two kick returns for touchdowns with Ryan Keen going 100 yards and Cameron James adding a 97-yard return while Branden Walker has a 68-yard punt return for a touchdown.

Defensively, Alec Gerdes leads the team with 44 total tackles with Javar Murphy second with 30. The team has seven fumble recoveries and two interceptions.

The Coaches:
Gregg Nesbitt is in his fourth season as head coach of his alma mater. Nesbitt has gone 4-7 in the three previous years for an overall record of 16-23. Nesbitt's teams are 10-3 when leading after the first quarter and 12-1 while taking a lead into the halftime locker room.

Mike Babcock was hired last December following the retirement of longtime coach Carl Poelker. Babcock was a five year assistant coach at Colorado State University-Pueblo in charge of the ThunderWolves' quarterbacks and passing game. CSU-Pueblo won two straight Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference championships, had two straight undefeated regular seasons and has been atop the American Football Coaches regular season polls at times.

The Series:
Just one other game has been played between the Bulldogs and Bearcats and that came in 2011 in Lebanon, Ill. The Bulldogs won 25-10 as neither team gained over 300 yards of total offense on the day.

McKendree was a long-time NAIA football-playing school with nine trips to the national playoffs over the past 17 seasons. The Bearcats, during the transition to Division II, have won seven of their 25 games played.
 
What's Hot:
  • Truman is 542-387-34 (.580) all-time since 1900. The .580 winning percentage is the best by any NCAA I Football playing school in the state of Missouri. Next highest is Northwest Missouri State at (.566). The 542 wins is second to the University of Missouri's 636 and 23 more than the Northwest Bearcats.
  • The Bulldogs are ranked third in Division II in kick returns averaging 30.4 per return. Aaron Hartfield is seventh nationally with a 32.5 return average. 
  • Truman has had five kick returns go for over 50 yards through the first six games. Tremaine Millender has a 100 and 54 yard return, Harfield has a 68 and 59 yard return and Garrett White has a 52 yard return. Nine kick returns take up the 17 Truman plays that have gone for over 30 yards.
  • Jacob Lamp is averaging 41.2 on 20 punts this season.  Just two of the 20 punts by Lamp have been returned for a total of two yards while two others have been muffed resulting in fumble recoveries for the Bulldogs. Truman is fifth nationally in net punting average at 39.5 and first in punt return defense.
  • The Bulldogs are 16th in the nation in fewest penalties per game at 5.0 for 45.5 yards.
  • The Truman defense has forced seven turnovers that have led to 31 Bulldog points (71%).  The Bulldogs have forced a turnover in all but three games since Kellen Nesbitt took over as defensive coordinator in 2010.
  • Dallas Grier is currently in third place all-time in Truman receptions and receiving yards entering Saturday's game.  Grier passed Fontaine Walker in receptions and now has 188 for his career with eyes on second place Rich Otte's 206 catches from 1989-1992. Grier's 2,473 yards receiving moved him past Russell Evans's total of 2,387 from 1983-86. He is 421 yards away from Otte's career yards for second place.
  • The last time Truman has won three straight conference games was in 2006 with victories over Missouri Southern, Emporia State and Washburn. The last 3-0 conference start was in1997 when the Bulldogs won their first six league games.
  • In GLVC-only stats, Truman leads the league in scoring defense at just 3.5 points per game followed by the University of Indianapolis at 5.0 per game. They are first in total defense at 135.5 yards allowed per game. The Bulldogs are second in scoring offense (39.0/g) and second in rushing defense at 21.5/g.
  • Conrad Schottel leads the league in GLVC-only games in total offense at 225.5/game and is second in passing yards (211/game) and passing efficiency (156.8).
GLVC Preseason Poll:
In the league poll, voted on by conference coaches and released in August as part of the GLVC Kickoff event, the Bulldogs were picked to finish third in their first season in the league. Defending champion, the University of Indianapolis was the overwhelming favorite to repeat while second place Missouri S&T was chosen second.

The McKendree Bearcats were picked fifth in the poll with 25 points. McKendree went 3-5 last season to finish sixth in the league.

Homecoming 2013:
The Bulldogs are 43-25-2 (.621) in homecoming games dating back to 1939 on the Truman campus.  They have lost the last two games but are 3-3 in the last six Homecoming contest. Four of Truman's six all-time overtime games have occurred on Homecoming.

Team Statistical Trends:
  • Offensively, Truman is averaging 30.0 points per game with a season-high of 45 against William Jewell in week six. The Bulldogs average 143.7 yards on the ground and 191.0 through the air for a total offense average of 334.7.
  • The average time of possession per game for Truman is 27:58 with a high of 30:34 against Quincy and a low of 24:35 against William Penn. Opponents have averaged 32:02 minutes per game with William Penn chewing up a season-best 35:25 in week three.
  • Defensively, Truman is allowing 23.7 points per game with 154.5 yards rushing and 228.2 passing for a total defensive number of 382.7.
  • The first quarter has statistically been the best quarter for the Bulldogs with a 6.4 yards per play average, 50% on third down conversions and an average time of possession of over eight and a half minutes.
  • Truman has started 18 of their 71 drives on the opponent's side of the field and has scored in 12 of those possessions (67%). Opponents have started six drives in Truman territory out of 75 possessions and have scored touchdowns on each occasion.
  • The Bulldogs average starting position is their own 39 while opponents have started nearly 14 yards back on their own 25.
  • The offense has averaged five yards per play while the defense has allowed 5.6 through the first six games.
  • Truman is 62% successful on third down when facing less than five yards while opponents are 56% successful when facing the same situation. Longer than five yards, the conversion percentage drops to 29% for Truman and just 22% for opponents.
  • In redzone scoring, Truman has been successful on 21 of 24 trips (87%) with 15 touchdowns and six field goals. Opponents have scored on 19 of 24 trips (79%) with 15 touchdowns and four field goals.
Individual Statistical Trends:
  • Six different Bulldogs have at least 10 carries through six games with Garrett White leading the way with 93 for 533 yards and five touchdowns. White is averaging 88.8 yards per game and 5.7 per play.
  • White had a season-high 22 rushers in week four against Quincy and a season/career high 146 yards in a week one victory over Southwest Baptist. He has the longest rush from scrimmage this season with an 80 yard touchdown run against William Penn in week three.
  • Last year, White had 585 yards rushing on 118 carries.
  • Conrad Schottel has completed 61% of his passes for 951 yards and has 24 career touchdown passes. Sophomore Zach Tobin is 9-of-16 and redshirt freshman Devonte Black is 9-of-14 in a spot duty this year.
  • Dallas Grier has hauled in 13 career touchdown passes over his four seasons and is averaging 66.8 per game and 11.1 per catch this season. Has had nine 100-yard receiving days with 106 against Central Missouri being his season-high this season.  Grier has six games in his career when he caught 10 or more passes and had 10 in week four against Central Missouri.
  • Jared Haferbier is second with 21 receptions for 173 yards while Brett Nagel, Garrett White and Chico Orlando have caught 15, 11 and 10 respectively.
  • Nic Abbate has 11.5 of the team's 47 tackles for loss this year and 25 for his career.  Tremaine Millender is second on the team with 5.0 tackles for loss out of his 23 stops.
  • Austin Zoda leads the team with 48 total tackles and Matthew Bell leads with 22 unassisted stops.
  • Bell, Chris Stanton and Brady Schroeder have the team's three interceptions this season while Stanton, Steven Day and Devin Gillespie have the team's three fumble recoveries.
  • Derek Koon has made 46-of-68 career field goal attempts and is Truman's career leader in makes. His long is 46 yards during the 2012 season and has attempted three kicks of 50 yards or more.  Koon is 94 of 106 on extra point attempts and has 232 career points.
  • Koon is third among active Division II field goal kickers with 46 made and is four away from cracking the top 10 in that category. 
  • Dallas Grier has four punt returns for 70 yards this season for an average of 17.5 and a long of 39. During his return career, Grier has 22 for 275 yards.
  • Tremaine Millender and Aaron Hartfield have 15 kick returns this season with Millender averaging 40 yards with a long of 100 and Harfield averaging 32.5 and a long of 68. Millender has 33 career returns for 27.6 yard per return average and two touchdowns.
  • Jacob Lamp has 20 punts this season for a 41.2 yards per punt average. Lamp has a long of 59 in week one against Southwest Baptist and has six total over 50 yards with 12 landing inside the opponent's 20 yard line. Only one punt, for two yards, has been returned this season.
This Date In Bulldog History:
The Bulldogs are 9-4 on games played on October 19 with wins in the last four games played on this date and have recorded four shutouts.
They defeated Missouri Southern 28-14 in 2002 and behind Jarrett Anderson's 232 rushing yard performance dominated Central Missouri 45-10 for a homecoming victory.
In 1991, they successfully defended the Ol' Hickory Stick with a 37-28 victory over Northwest in Maryville and shutout Lincoln 28-0 in 1985.
In 1934, The Bulldogs defeated Missouri State 52-0 for their 22nd straight victory.

Up Next:
The Bulldogs will be back at Stokes Stadium next Saturday when they host old rival Missouri S&T for a 1:00 p.m. kickoff. The 'Dogs and Miners have played 75 previous times as old members of the MIAA with Missouri S&T winning in overtime in 2008 39-38 in Kirksville. Missouri S&T will host Saint Joseph's on Saturday. 
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