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Truman State University Athletics

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Football

Game Notes: Bulldogs Renew Rivalry With Miners On Saturday

Truman State University Bulldog Football Game Notes:
 
KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – With four games remaining, the Truman Bulldogs will be looking to clinch their first winning season in six years when they host Missouri S&T on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. The game has been designated the team's Breast Cancer Awareness game while general admission tickets have been cut to $5.00 and kids admitted free thanks to game sponsor Cost Cutters.

The Match-Up:
The Bulldogs remained perfect in GLVC play after holding on for a 28-21 homecoming victory over McKendree (Ill.) University last Saturday. Sophomore A.J. Hartfield turned in his first 100 yard rushing day with 101 yards on 27 carries while senior quarterback Conrad Schottel was 31-of-48 for 333 yards and a score.

Truman is first in conference only statistics in total offense (417.3/g), total defense (214.0/g), punting (37.6/p) and kickoff coverage (44.0/k) to cover all three aspects of the game. The Bulldogs have allowed just one redzone opportunity in three GLVC games and are second in scoring defense at 9.3 points allowed per conference tilt.

Schottel is first league only stats in total offense at 266.0/g and is second in passing at 251.7/g. Overall, Schottel is completing 61.8% of his passes for 1284 yards (214.0/g) with 10 touchdown strikes to two interceptions.

Schottel's top two targets have been senior Dallas Grier and junior Jared Haferbier. Grier has caught 32 passes for 394 yards while Haferbier has snatched 29 balls for 245 yards. Junior Chico Orlando leads the team with four touchdown receptions.

Junior Garrett White continues to lead the team in rushing at 88.8/game after sitting out last week. White is averaging 5.7 yards per attempt with 533 total yards on 93 carries. Hartfield is second with 267 yards rushing with a 4.7 yards per attempt average.

Defensively, redshirt freshman Austin Zoda and junior Matthew Bell have over 50 tackles through seven games. Zoda has one interception and three pass breakups while Bell also has a pick to go with six tackles for loss and three sacks.

Senior Nic Abbate has 13 of the team's 52 tackles for loss this season and has notched a sack in each of the last four games.

Truman's special teams have also played a big role this year. The Bulldogs have blocked two punts, one for a touchdown, one for a safety, returned a kickoff for touchdown and have only allowed five punt returns for a total of -17 yards out of 27 attempts.
Junior Jacob Lamp earned his second GLVC Special Teams Player of the Week award after last week's seven punt, 39.3 per punt average with four inside the 20 yard line.

The Miners (3-4/2-1 GLVC) are coming off a 10-1 record last season and finished second to the University of Indianapolis last year in the GLVC. New head coach Tyler Fenwick's team has three losses to Top 25 teams out of their four defeats. They lost in overtime to #20 Chadron (Neb.) State 40-34 and to #6 Missouri Western 63-3 to start the season then dropped a 34-3 decision to open conference play against the Greyhounds on October 5.

Missouri S&T rallied for a 14-13 victory last Saturday to knock Saint Joseph's (Ind.) out of the GLVC unbeaten ranks. The Pumas scored 17 seconds into the game and led 13-0 at half before the Miners scored on a 4-yard run by Chris Kennard in the third quarter and a 38-yard pass from Peter Simpson to Nick Taylor with 8:22 left in the fourth quarter to take the lead. The Miners ended Saint Joseph's last four drives of the game with interceptions.

Turnovers have been an issue for the Miners with a -18 overall turnover ratio and a -7 ratio in conference games. They have thrown 17 interceptions and lost 12 fumbles this season while gaining one fumble and making 10 interceptions. Mark Hopkins leads the defensive group with three interceptions while Chris Horn and Sean Martin have two picks apiece.

The Miners are fifth in scoring offense in GLVC games at 19.3/g and fourth in scoring defense at 22.7 allowed per contest. They are fourth in both total offense and total defense at 378.7 offense and 263.3 defense and have the second best rushing attack at 171.7 per game.

Zenel Hudson leads the team in rushing with 104 attempts and 409 yards gained but has missed the last two games. Chris Kennard and DeSoto Dickson are second and third on the team rushing after Hudson. Kennard has averaged 5.4 per carry while Dickson is right at five yards per attempt.

Reed Brown has thrown for 1327 yards but left midway through the second quarter against Saint Joseph's on Saturday. Peter Simpson came in and completed 12-of-19 passes for 177 yards but was sacked five times.

Melvin Stovall grabbed eight passes for 100 yards and Nick Taylor snared seven for 101 in Saturday's loss. Stovall has 46 catches for 429 yards and Taylor has 30 catches for 376 this season.
 
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 17-23. Nesbitt's teams are 10-3 when leading after the first quarter and 13-1 while taking a lead into the halftime locker room.

Tyler Fenwick took over the Missouri S&T program last spring coming over being the offensive coordinator at Missouri Western. Fenwick developed the Griffons in to one of the top offensive teams in the MIAA before joining the Miners after last season's 10-1 campaign. Fenwick is a native of Los Angeles, Calif. and played at the University of New Mexico.

The Series:
Saturday's match-up features the most games played between two GLVC opponents with the Bulldogs holding a 49-22-4 overall record. All but the last two games have been played under the MIAA conference banner. The teams split the two non-conference games with Truman winning 38-31 in 2007 and the Miners winning in overtime 39-38 in 2008. The next closest rivalry in terms of games played between two GLVC schools is Indianapolis and Saint Joseph's at 37 games played.
 
What's Hot:
  • Truman is 543-387-34 (.581) all-time since 1900. The .581 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 543 wins is second to the University of Missouri's 637 and 23 more than the Northwest Bearcats.
  • The Bulldogs are ranked third in Division II in kick returns averaging 28.8 per return.
  • Truman has had five kick returns go for over 50 yards through the first seven 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. 10 kick returns take up the 21 Truman plays that have gone for over 30 yards.
  • Jacob Lamp is averaging 40.7 on 27 punts this season.  Five of the 20 punts by Lamp have been returned for a total of -17 yards while two others have been muffed resulting in fumble recoveries for the Bulldogs. Truman is fourth nationally in net punting average at 39.8 and first in punt return defense.
  • The Bulldogs are 14th in the nation in fewest penalties per game at 4.7 for 43.3 yards.
  • The Truman defense has forced nine turnovers that have led to 38 Bulldog points (66%).  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 193 for his career with eyes on second place Rich Otte's 206 catches from 1989-1992. Grier's 2,567 yards receiving moved him past Russell Evans's total of 2,387 from 1983-86. He is 327 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 in 1997 when the Bulldogs won their first six league games.
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 Missouri S&T Miners were second in the coaches' poll after finishing second last season behind the University of Indianapolis. The Miners were 10-1 overall and 7-1 in league play.

Team Statistical Trends:
  • Offensively, Truman is averaging 29.7 points per game with a season-high of 45 against William Jewell in week six. The Bulldogs average 139.6 yards on the ground and 211.3 through the air for a total offense average of 350.9.
  • The average time of possession per game for Truman is 28:15 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 23.3 points per game with 152.9 yards rushing and 228.1 passing for a total defensive number of 381.0.
  • The first quarter has statistically been the best quarter for the Bulldogs with a 6.3 yards per play average, 50% on third down conversions and an average time of possession of over eight minutes.
  • Truman has allowed just one redzone opportunity in the first three conference games while offensively, the Bulldogs have had 17 chances with 15 scores during league play.
  • Truman has started 20 of their 85 drives on the opponent's side of the field and has scored in 13 of those possessions (65%). Opponents have started seven drives in Truman territory out of 89 possessions and have scored touchdowns on six occasions.
  • 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 seven games.
  • Truman is 65% successful on third down when facing less than five yards while opponents are 53% successful when facing the same situation. Longer than five yards, the conversion percentage drops to 28% for Truman and just 23% for opponents.
Individual Statistical Trends:
  • Garrett White and Aaron Hartfield have seen the bulk of the carries for the Bulldog running game. White has 93 attempts for 533 yards and a 5.7 per carry average while Hartfield has 57 rushes for 267 yards and a 4.7 per carry mark.
  • Hartfield had a season-high 27 carries against McKendree in week seven while White posted 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 1284 yards and has 25 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 14 career touchdown passes over his four seasons and is averaging 67.6 per game and 12.3 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 29 receptions for 245 yards while Brett Nagel, Chico Orlando and Kurt Loyd have 18, 17 and 12 catches apiece.
  • Nic Abbate has 13.0 of the team's 52 tackles for loss this year and 26.5 for his career.  Matthew Bell is second with six tackles for loss and three sacks.
  • Austin Zoda leads the team with 52 total tackles and Bell leads with 27 solo stops.
  • Zoda, Bell, Chris Stanton and Brady Schroeder have the team's five interceptions this season while Stanton, Steven Day and Devin Gillespie have the team's three fumble recoveries. Stanton has two picks and one fumble recovery.
  • 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 98 of 110 on extra point attempts and has 236 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 16 kick returns this season with Millender averaging 38.8 yards with a long of 100 and Harfield averaging 32.5 and a long of 68. Millender has 34 career returns for 27.7 yard per return average and two touchdowns.
  • Jacob Lamp has 27 punts this season for a 40.7 yards per punt average. Lamp has a long of 59 in week one against Southwest Baptist and has six total over 50 yards with 16 landing inside the opponent's 20 yard line.
This Date In Bulldog History:
The Bulldogs are 7-8 in games played on October 26 all-time.

They last lost to Northwest Missouri 31-24 in 2002 but defeated Missouri Western 33-7 in 1996. They held the Griffons to just 215 yards of total offense in spoiling Missouri Western's Homecoming.

The Bulldogs lost 51-7 at Murray State in 1945 which would be the last game of the five-game coaching career of Vince Gehringer. James Doughtery, then Athletics Director, took over as coach for the remaining two games of that season, the first back from World War II.

Don Faurot's Bulldogs won their 23rd straight game with a 24-6 victory in Warrensburg against Central Missouri. It was only the second and final time an opponent scored against the Bulldogs that season.

Up Next:
Truman will play Kentucky Wesleyan for the first time next Saturday when the Bulldogs travel to Owensboro, Ky. for the 1:00 p.m. contest. The Panthers have struggled to an 0-7 record this season before playing at co-leader Indianapolis on Saturday.  
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