Truman State University Bulldog Football Game Notes:
KIRKSVILLE, Mo. –The Bulldog Football team returns to Stokes Stadium for a non-conference contest against the William Penn (Iowa) Statesmen. The Bulldogs are 1-1 following a 31-15 loss to #10 Grand Valley State while the Statesmen were ranked #20 in the NAIA and are also coming off a loss, a 31-13 defeat to #5 St. Francis (Ind.).
The Series:
This will be the sixth game between William Penn and Truman on the gridiron with the Bulldogs holding a 3-2 advantage in games played. The last time they played it was in Oskaloosa, Iowa with the Statesmen prevailing 28-10 in 1973. The four other games occurred between 1911 and 1933 with Truman's Don Faurot registering the three Bulldog victories.
The Match-Up:
The Bulldogs are averaging 156 yards on the ground per game with junior
Garrett White leading the team with 121 per game mark and 6.5 per carry. The team is scoring 27.5 points per game while allowing 34.0. Defensivley,
Austin Zoda is leading the team with 12 tackles per game but the pass defense is allowing 407 yards per game through the air.
The Statesmen will bring their triple-option style of offense to Stokes Stadium. William Penn has averaged 232 yards per game on the ground and have completed just six of their 15 passes attempted. Evan Ressler has carried the ball 32 times for 165 yards, Shawn Davis has added 27 rushes for 101 yards and quarterback Taylor Parsons has ran 21 times for 32 yards. The defense has allowed 352 yards of total offense.
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 13-22. His teams are 6-1 in non-conference games, 8-3 when leading at the end of the first half and 10-1 when taking a lead into the locker room at half.
Todd Hafner is 61-40 in his 10th season at the helm of the Statesmen. He guided the school sixth conference championship last year and first NAIA playoff berth since 1976 following a 9-3 record. He is a graduate of Pittsburg (Kan.) State and was a member of their 1991 national championship team.
What's Hot:
Truman is 539-386-34 (.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 (.565).
The Bulldogs are ranked fourth in Division II in kick returns averaging 33.1 per.
Tremaine Millender is third with his 48.4 yard return average.
Jacob Lamp is eighth in Division II with a 45.5 yard punt average and the Bulldogs are ninth in net punting average with a 41.7 mark. Just two of the 11 punts by Lamp have been returned for a total of two yards.
In two games, Truman has averaged 10:25 minutes of possession in the first quarter and are going for 7.1 yards per play.
Garrett White has led the Bulldogs in rushing for six straight games and is averaging 121 yards per contest and 6.5 yards per rush.
Austin Zoda has been the top defender for the Bulldogs with 24 total tackles while
Matthew Bell is second with 15 stops and has recorded the team's only interception.
Derek Koon is 4-of-6 in field goal attempts with the two misses coming from 51 and 48 yards. He is five of five on extra point attempts.
Opponents have completed nine passes of over 30 yards through two games and have averaged 407 yards through the air.
Opening Drives:
Truman has not scored in their first possession this season. They punted in game one only to recover a muff for a touchdown against Southwest Baptist and missed a field goal after consuming over seven minutes in their first drive against Grand Valley State. Opponents are also 0-of-2 in their opening drives against the Bulldogs.
To start the second half, Truman has not scored in their first possession of the third quarter while Grand Valley State notched a field goal for the only opponent points thus far to start the second half.
Third Downs:
Truman has converted 13-of-30 third down attempts (43%) and are 6-of-7 when facing a third and less than three yards. The Bulldogs are averaging five yards per rush on first down to set up shorter fields the rest of the series.
Opponents are 40% successful on third downs with a 56% rate on third and less than five. Opponents have scored four of their nine total touchdowns on third down.
Red Zone:
The Bulldogs have scored points in four of their five trips in the redzone with three touchdowns and a field goal, while opponents have scored on 8-of-12 redzone trips with seven touchdowns.
Turnovers:
The Bulldogs have forced at least one turnover in each of the last 32 games and 33 of the 35 games under defensive coordinator
Kellen Nesbitt. They are averaging 2.1 turnovers forced per game with a high of seven against Missouri Southern in 2010.
Truman has had no turnovers in four games in the past four years and have had just one in two games this season.
Drive Chart:
Truman has scored nine times in 24 drives with an average of 4.8 yards per play. Five of their 24 drives have started on the opponents side of the 50 yard line resulting in two touchdowns and two field goals.
The longest drive of the season was 7:25 seconds against Grand Valley State. It was the first drive of over 7:00 minutes since 2010 game against Pittsburg (Kan.) State.
Opponents are averaging 7.9 yards per play and have scored on 10 of 27 drives. The Bulldog special teams have forced 20 of the 27 opponent drives to start inside their own 30 yard line.
Offensive Notables:
Senior
Dallas Grier recorded the second most receiving yards in school history last year with 1,026 yards and the third most catches by a Bulldog with 81…he is fourth all-time in receiving yards with 2,301 and needs 86 to move into third place and 1,157 to break Andrew Blakley's Truman record…Grier has 172 career receptions and trails Fontaine Walker by 8 for third place all-time, second place is held by Rich Otte with 206 while Blakley holds the all-time mark with 300 receptions from 1999-2002…He is a three-time all-MIAA player, one second team and two honorable mentions…single-game high for yards is 178 against Nebraska-Kearney in 2012…has seven career games of over 100 yards receiving…career longest reception is 66 yards against Nebraska-Kearney…has 20 punt returns for 248 yards for an 12.4 average and two returns of 39 yards.
Junior
Garrett White recorded his first 100-yard game as a Bulldog with 143 on 17 carries against Southwest Baptist in the 2013 season opener…was the team's leading rusher and scorer last season…had nine rushing touchdowns and four receiving scores for 66 points…gained 585 yards on 118 carries for a 5.0 yards per rush average and a long of 55…is the Bulldogs "Big-Play Player" with eight of the teams 20 plays of 30 or more yards…caught 20 passes for 265 yards.
Senior
Conrad Schottel started all 11 games last season and has played in 27 at quarterback for the Bulldogs…Schottel has thrown for 2,851 yards for his career completing 50.5% of his passes and throwing 18 touchdowns. He averages 105.6 yards passing per game with a long pass of 66 yards.
The offensive line is anchored by three seniors
Steve Bosilovatz, Steven Backes and
Erik Stone…the three have combine for 65 games played and are joined by redshirt sophomore
Charlie Brynac and redshirt freshman
Brad Wellman at center…the 'Dogs allowed 23 sacks for 135 yards in 2012.
Defensive Notables:
Redshirt freshman
Austin Zoda has led the team in tackles both games this season with a high of 15 against Grand Valley State.
Matthew Bell is second with 15 tackles and has the team's lone interception while true-freshman
Chris Stanton has the squad's only fumble recovery, on a muffed punt that resulted later in a touchdown.
Senior
Jeramey Dockery is the team's top returning tackler from a year ago…Dockery recorded 65 total tackles including seven for loss and three sacks to be placed on the honorable mention all-MIAA team. He has 13 career tackles for loss.
Junior defensive lineman
Nic Abbate is the active career leader in sacks with 7.5 and 14.5 tackles for loss.
Senior
Paul Taylor has the most game experience in the Bulldog secondary but all of his previous 25 games have been played with the offense and special teams…junior
Brady Schroeder has 20 games of experience but will be making his first start while junior
Steven Day has 15 games and has the only career interception of the group…
Tremaine Millender has played in 33 games in the Bulldog secondary and made appeared on the defensive side of the ball against Grand Valley State.
Special Team Notables:
Senior
Derek Koon is the Bulldogs all-time field goal king with 41 makes in his four seasons…he has made 69.0% of his field goal attempts with a long of 46…has attempted three field goals 51 yard…has converted on 85 of 95 point after touchdown attempts and has averaged 58.6 yards per kickoff.
Junior
Jacob Lamp is in his first full season as the team's punter…he averaged 45.5 on 11 punts with a long of 59…for his career, Lamp has 18 punts and averages 41.3/punt.
Around the GLVC:
The Bulldogs are third in the league in scoring offense (27.5/g), first in kick returns (33.2/return) and first in net punting average (41.7/punt).
Garrett White is second in rushing at 121/game behind Indianapolis' Klay Fletcher at 153.3/game.
Derek Koon is first in kick scoring at 8.5 points per game.
Tremaine Millender is first in kick return average at 48.4 while
Aaron Hartfield is second with a 25.8 return average.
Jacob Lamp leads William Jewell's Zane Kitchell in punting average. Lamp averages 45.5 yards to Kitchell's 40.8 yards.
Austin Zoda is tied with Indianapolis Derrick Bryant with 12 tackles per game and
Nic Abbate is first in the GLVC in tackles for loss at two per game.
Indianapolis and William Jewell picked up the two wins for the GLVC in week two. The Greyhounds bested NAIA nationally-ranked Saint Xavier 51-20 while the Cardinals handed Valparaiso (Ind.) 36-34 defeat.
The first conference game is set for week three with McKendree playing at William Jewell while the six other league members will play non-conference games.
This Date In Bulldog History:
Truman is 5-4-1 in games played on September 21 all-time. They last lost at Emporia State 34-17 in 2002. The Bulldogs defeated Missouri S&T 30-14 in 1996 behind Jarrett Anderson's 205 yards rushing. It was Anderson's first 200-plus yard game of the season in which he would have five games of that magnitude en route to the Harlon Hill Award.
Chris Livingstone tossed a pair of touchdown passes in a 14-7 victory at Washburn to stop a three-game losing streak.
The Bulldogs defeated Central Methodist on the road 28-26 in 1974 and opened the 1968 season with a 14-3 win against Parsons (Kan.).
Truman lost 7-6 to Washburn in 1963 but the outcome was later forfeited to the Bulldogs due to ineligible players being used by the Ichabods.
Two other games of note, in 1951 the 'Dogs won 6-0 over Missouri Valley in Coach Red Wade's first home game of his Bulldog career. Wade would go on to win 99 games in the Purple & White. Finally, in 1945, Truman played Missouri's "B" team to a scoreless draw. It was the first game on campus since the start of World War II.
Up Next:
Truman plays their final non-conference game against their oldest rival next Saturday night at Stokes Stadium. The University of Central Missouri will visit for the last time in the near future and it will be the 67th consecutive and 97th overall meeting between the former conference foes. Kickoff from Kirksville will be at 7:00 p.m.
