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Truman State University Athletics

15FBTS07

Football

Bulldogs Head To Joliet For #19 Saint Francis

  • Opponent Game Notes (PDF)
 
KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The Bulldog Football team will embark on a three-game road trip that will start with a non-conference tilt against the University of Saint Francis in Joliet, Illinois on Saturday. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m.

The Bulldogs got the offense warmed up in their 23-14 victory over Southwest Baptist for Homecoming last Saturday. Truman topped 400 yards of total offense for the first time this season and redshirt freshman quarterback Randy Schroeder threw for 274 yards using six different receivers in the victory. The Bulldogs held onto the ball for nearly 39 game minutes and blocked two Bearcat field goal attempts.

Saint Francis forced six turnovers in a 25-10 win over #23 St. Ambrose (Iowa) to cap off their three-game road trip. The Fighting Saints have won five straight games and feature a defense that has 15 interceptions and forced 11 fumbles. Quarterback Don Butkus threw for 169 yards and John Magee rushed for 116 in the win over St. Ambrose.

This will be the first match-up for the Bulldogs against the Fighting Saints. The last time Truman was this close to downtown Chicago for a football game was in 1965 when they lost 22-20 to Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, 10 miles farther out from the city that Joliet. The Bulldogs have played 15 games apiece against Eastern and Western Illinois, the most by far of any schools from the land of Lincoln.

Top Five Storylines:
Turnovers, Turnovers, Turnovers:
Saint Francis has forced 26 turnovers through the first six games this season (4.3 per game) and is a +15 on the year. They have intercepted 15 passes and forced/recovered 11 fumbles. Truman is a -4 this year with three fumbles lost and eight interceptions. The Bulldogs were a -3 against SBU on Saturday.
 
Battle of the Defenses:
The Truman defense comes in allowing opponents to 19.3 points per game this season. They have limited opponents to 127 yards rushing and 175 yards passing. On the flip side, USF has been just as stingy with 12.3 points allowed per game with only 73 yards on the ground and 229 through the air.
 
QB Comparisons:
Randy Schroeder had the first 200+ yard passing day for a Bulldog in 11 games on Saturday and used six different receivers. Joey Schenk led the corps with nine catches for 79 yards. Schenk has 19 catches over the last two games.

Don Butkus has completed 99 of 185 passing attempts this season for 1,155 yards (192.5/game). His top targets are Jean Pietrzak and Sheldon Magee. Pietrzak has 20 grabs for 399 yards and eight touchdowns and Magee had caught 26 passes for 368 yards and a pair of TDs.
 
On The Ground:
Malique Robbins, Andy Satulla and Aaron Hartfield have been the top three running backs this season for the Bulldogs. Robbins leads the group with 247 yards (49.4/game) while Satulla leads in attempts with 62 (177 yards). Hartfield returned after missing the three previous games with 10 carries against Southwest Baptist and had 45 yards.

John Magee has seen the bulk of carries for USF with 98 through six games and has 412 yards rushing (4.2/carry; 68.7 game) with three touchdowns. Quarterback Butkus is second on the team with 50 attempts for 215 yards.
 
Line of Scrimmage:
The Fighting Saints defense, in addition to the turnovers forced, has sacked opposing quarterbacks 24 times for 139 yards and has 58 tackles for loss for 238. Their counterparts on the offensive line have allowed just four sacks in six games.

The Bulldogs look similar with allowing five sacks through the first six games and the defense has registered 15 sacks and 45 tackles for losses.

Truman/SBU Follow-Ups:
  • Truman scored the game's 17 points with a touchdown in the first quarter, field goal in the second and TD to start the second half. The Bearcats got on the board with a 62-yard catch and run and a 31-yard pick six to trim the lead to 17-13. A pair of fourth quarter field goals sealed the victory.
  • The Bulldogs had 168 yards passing in the first half which nearly eclipsed the total passing yards in each of the five previous games.
  • Truman finished with 444 yards of total offense with 274 yards passing and 170 yards rushing.
  • It was the most passing yards by a Truman quarterback in 20 games.
  • Felix Neboh gave the Bulldogs their second straight "100-yard" receiver in as many weeks with 114 yards on five catches. That had not been done by Bulldog receivers in 31 games.
  • Truman's top two offensive days the last two seasons have come against SBU. The Bulldogs rolled 502 yards last season in their victory and 444 this year.
  • The Bulldogs dominated the clock. With an 18-play drive in the first quarter and a 10 and 12 play drives in the third and fourth, Truman chewed up 38:31 of possession time. That drive is the longest by a Truman team since a 17-play drive against Northwest Missouri in 2005.
  • After converting with scores on their first 10 trips to the redzone this season, the Bulldogs had two straight redzone trips end with an interception and a turnover on downs. Truman was 4-of-7 on redzone opportunities while the Bearcats were 0-for-2.
  • SBU's Austin Molitor had a rough day place kicking. Molitor had a 28 and 29 yard field goal attempt blocked and hit the upright on a PAT. Opposing kickers this year are 1-of-6 in field goal attempts this season at Stokes Stadium.
  • Kade Young led Truman's D with nine total tackles.
  • The defense registered four sacks and seven tackles for loss while Truman's offensive line did not allow a sack in 33 pass attempts.
  • SBU finished with 286 yards of total offense on the day. Bubba Jenkins had the first 100-yard rushing day by an opponent against the Bulldogs. Jenkins finished with 125 yards on 20 attempts with half the yards coming on the 65-yard run in the third quarter.
  • Randy Schroeder was the first freshman quarterback to earn a win in a start since Michael Long won at Oklahoma Panhandle State in 2005.
  • Roger Howard averaged 40 yards per punt with a long of 57 and averaged 62 yards per kickoff in addition to his career long 38-yard field goal that secured the victory.
  • The 4,321 crowd for Homecoming was the largest since 1996.
  • The win was the sixth straight by Truman over SBU and the 22nd in the 25-game series.
  • The pick six by SBU's Antion McBee was the first allowed by the Bulldogs since a 2012 game against Washburn (Kan.).
Behind Enemy Lines:
The Fighting Saints are 5-1 and 2-1 in the Mid-States Football Association this season…last year they were 4-7 overall with the four wins coming at home…the Bulldogs and USF have one common opponent this year in Lincoln…Truman downed the Blue Tigers 31-14 while the Fighting Saints were 13-10 winners, both games were played in Jefferson City…USF has allowed eight touchdowns this season with four coming in their season opening loss to #4 Saint Xavier…Tim Smith leads the USF defense with nine sacks for 81 yards and 14.5 tackles for loss (96 yards)…Josh Woodard has a team-leading five interceptions and 10 players have at least one pick this year…Joe Curry is in his fourth season on the sidelines of his alma mater and has a career record of 22-17.

The Bulldogs In The GLVC:
  • Truman sits in a four-way tie for third place in the GLVC with a 2-2 record. Indianapolis has taken control of the league with a 3-0 mark followed by McKendree and Missouri S&T at 2-1. The Bulldogs are the only GLVC team not playing in conference this week.
  • Truman is 12-7 as they play their third season of GLVC football. The previous two years the Bulldogs have tied for second in the league race behind champion the University of Indianapolis.
  • In those games, the offense has averaged 24.2 points per game with an average of 353.6 total offensive yards (176.5 rushing/177.1 passing).
  • The defense has allowed 16.1 points per GLVC game with an average of 298.9 yards of total offense (99.4 rushing/199.5 passing).
  • The defense has posted 52 sacks in 19 GLVC games while the offense has allowed 26 sacks.
  • Truman has outscored GLVC foes 460 to 306 (+154) with 59 Touchdowns to 35 Touchdowns allowed.
  • Most of the scoring damage has come in the first half with Truman outscoring GLVC opponents 304-100 (+204 points) but in the fourth quarter of conference games, opponents have a 133-81 margin (-52).
  • Truman defense has allowed three 100-yard rushers, two in the same game (vs. Indianapolis on October 18, 2014) and most recently by Bubba Jenkins of SBU on October 10 this season in 19 GLVC games.
Road Warriors:
Seven of the first nine games will be played away from Kirksville and the Truman campus. It ties the 2005 season with the most road games on a single season schedule.

Out of 172 NCAA Division II programs, Truman is one of three schools with seven true road games. The Bulldogs join Minnesota State Moorehead and Chowan (N.C.) with seven road games. Lane (Tenn.) and Central State (Ohio) also has seven games away from campus but each has one with a neutral site designation.

Truman will travel nearly 5,000 miles roundtrip this season but will also play three of the four closest NCAA Division II schools on the road. Those three are Quincy, Lincoln and William Jewell that will account for a total of 483 of those roundtrip miles.

Bulldogs Return To TV
The October 31st conference game with rival Quincy has been selected by the NCAA Division II as part of their weekly national television package to be broadcasted on the American Sports Network. The ASN is comprised of 162 Sinclair Broadcast Group stations. The company, which launched last season, produced 250 college events in nine sports with plans to air more than 375 events this year. The game will be seen locally on KTVO CBS 3.2 and on KHQA CBS Channel 7 and nationwide on NCAA.com.

All Truman home games will be available on the GLVC Sports Network. The free webcasts which can be found on TrumanBulldogs.com/watch, will feature a simulcast of the radio broadcast provided by 104.7 FM KRES. The "Voice of the Bulldogs" Brad Boyer and "Mr. Bulldog" Hank Janssen return for their 21st season in brining Bulldog action to fans. In addition, all games will have a free audio webcast at CentralMoInfo.com/KRES.

Kings of Missouri
With a .579 all-time winning percentage, Truman is the "Top Dog" of all NCAA Football playing schools in the state of Missouri. The Bulldogs are second in terms of overall wins with 553 and trail the flagship institution of the state, the University of Missouri in that regard. Northwest Missouri (.577), Missouri Western (.551), Mizzou (.547) and Westminster College (.528) round out the top five of the 15 public and private schools in the state that play football under the NCAA banner.

Up Next:
Four conference games remain for the Bulldogs when they return to action next Saturday at William Jewell (Mo.). Truman will look to repay the Cardinals after William Jewell stunned the 'Dogs 21-17 with a fourth quarter rally last season in Kirksville.

Kickoff is scheduled for noon in Liberty, Missouri.
 
 
 
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Players Mentioned

Aaron Hartfield

#1 Aaron Hartfield

RB
5' 9"
Redshirt Junior
Felix Neboh

#11 Felix Neboh

WR
5' 7"
Senior
Randy Schroeder

#8 Randy Schroeder

QB
5' 11"
Redshirt Freshman
Kade Young

#43 Kade Young

LB
5' 11"
Redshirt Freshman
Malique Robbins

#30 Malique Robbins

RB
5' 9"
Freshman
Andy Satulla

#29 Andy Satulla

RB
5' 9"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Aaron Hartfield

#1 Aaron Hartfield

5' 9"
Redshirt Junior
RB
Felix Neboh

#11 Felix Neboh

5' 7"
Senior
WR
Randy Schroeder

#8 Randy Schroeder

5' 11"
Redshirt Freshman
QB
Kade Young

#43 Kade Young

5' 11"
Redshirt Freshman
LB
Malique Robbins

#30 Malique Robbins

5' 9"
Freshman
RB
Andy Satulla

#29 Andy Satulla

5' 9"
Freshman
RB