Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Truman State University Athletics

15FBTS06

Football

Bulldogs & Bearcats Tangle For Homecoming Saturday

 
KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – For Homecoming 2015 the Truman Bulldogs will host Southwest Baptist University in a Great Lakes Valley Conference game on Saturday at 2 p.m. from Stokes Stadium. The Bulldogs are 1-2 in the GLVC while the Bearcats are 1-1.

It will be the 25th match-up between the Bulldogs and Bearcats on the gridiron dating back to 1988. Truman owns a 21-3 all-time series lead over Southwest Baptist with the Bulldogs winning the last five meetings. This will be the Bearcats first visit to Stokes Stadium since a 33-30 loss in 2010. It will also be the fourth time the Bearcats will be Truman's homecoming opponent. The three previous times were a 48-10 win in 1992, a 45-6 win in 1994 and a 31-14 victory in 1998.

Truman enters the game following a 26-13 loss to the hands of the University of Indianapolis on Saturday. The Bulldog defense forced the Greyhounds into punt in their first six possessions but a late second quarter score coupled with 17 third quarter points proved too much to overcome.  Truman held UINDY to their lowest passing output of the season at 192 yards but the Greyhounds chewed up over 33 minutes of possession time and held the Bulldogs to 279 yards of total offense.

Southwest Baptist scored all of their 13 points against McKendree in the first quarter but then watched the purple Bearcats put up 38 on the scoreboard including 24 in the second half in McKenree's 38-13 win in Lebanon, Illinois on Saturday.  SBU rushed for 147 yards and completed 22 passes for 182 yards on the day but allowed McKendree's offense to roll for 489 yards on 326 yards passing. SBU struggled in the redzone with just two scores out of five entries while McKendree was a perfect five-for-five.

Match-Ups:
  • The Bulldog defense will be put to the test again as SBU comes into the game averaging nearly 450 yards of total offense through five games and 35 points a game.
  • Truman's "D" has been stingy allowing 306 yards per game and only 20 points per contest through the first five.
  • Bubba Jenkins and Trent Edwards lead the SBU offensive attack. Jenkins has 93 rushes for 574 yards (114.8/game) while Edwards is a dual threat quarterback with 81 rushes for 421 yards and has completed 56% of his passes for 943 yards.
  • In total, SBU has averaged 246 yards per game on the ground while the Truman defense has held opponents to 124 yards per game rushing.
  • The Truman offense will get their chance to break loose with an SBU unit that allows over 400 yards per game. The Bearcats have been most porous through the air allowing nearly 300 yards passing per game but have picked off 10 passes thus far.
  • The Bulldog passing game has been limited to 118 yards per game through five this season.  Truman has not had a 200-yard passing game in 11 straight games and a 300-yard passing day in 19 games (McKendree – 2013).
  • Once in the redzone, Truman has converted with scores on all 10 entries this year. SBU has struggled inside the zone with 18 scores out of 26 attempts (69%).
 
 Last Time vs. SBU:
  • It was all Bulldogs in last year's 52-7 victory in Bolivar last November. Truman scored the games first 45 points including 24 in the first quarter en route to the rout.
  • Truman ran for 350 yards on 48 attempts and had 502 yards of total offense. It was the sixth game since 2007 that the Bulldogs topped 500 yards of total offense.
  • Garrett White set a then-GLVC single game rushing record with 229 yards on 22 attempts. It was the first 200-yard rushing game by a Bulldog since Jerard Leverson ran for 204 yards against Washburn in 2003.
  • The Bearcats were held to 50 yards rushing and accumulated 230 yards through the air. Willie Tindal completed 23-of-38 passes while being sacked three times and tossing one interception.
  • Nathan Mourik caught seven passes for 95 yards and Kendrick Payne caught seven for 77.
  • All seven of Truman's touchdowns were scored by players no longer on the 2015 roster. Five where by graduating senior Garrett White with two by Vince Garcia and Scott Schwend, who are both no longer on the team.
Truman/UINDY Follow-Ups:
  • Eight of the first nine combine possessions by the Bulldogs and Greyhounds ended in punts as the teams locked into a defensive battle.
  • UINDY's defense scored the first points of the game on a safety in the Truman endzone. Lee Campbell tackled Malique Robbins in the endzone after the Greyhounds punter pinned the Bulldogs back to their own two yardline.
  • UINDY scored on four straight possessions, their final of the second quarter and first three coming out of the locker room at halftime.
  • The Greyhounds had the ball for 33:39 including 18:31 in the second half.
  • The Bulldogs were 7-of-16 on third down conversions while UINDY was 3-of-12.
  • Truman finished with 279 yards of total offense with 94 on the ground and 185 yards through the air. UINDY had 364 yards with 174 rushing and 192 passing.
  • Joey Schenck set career highs with 10 catches for 107 yards receiving including a 41-yard touchdown pass from Randy Schroeder. Schenck's 100-yard game was the first by a Bulldog receiver since Dallas Grier had 100 yards receiving at Indianapolis in 2013.
  • Robbins averaged 5.8 yards per rush with 54 yards on nine attempts to leave the Bulldogs.
  • Schroeder and Devonte Black both completed 10 passes for Truman with Schroeder throwing for 126 yards and had a one-yard rushing touchdown and Black tossing for 59 yards.
  • The Bulldog defense was led by Austin Zoda's eight total tackles but the team did not register a tackle for loss or sack. The last time that occurred was against Emporia (Kan.) State in 2011 (39 – straight games).
Behind Enemy Lines:
The Bearcats are 2-3 overall and 1-2 in the GLVC…they opened the season with a 36-28 loss at Grand Valley (Mich.) State before coming home to beat up NAIA Friends (Kan.) 52-0…lost 26-24 at Indianapolis in the conference opener…have lost four straight road games including all three this season…SBU is averaging 5.7 yards per play on offense and 5.8 yards allowed per play on defense…they have allowed 27 sacks for 162 yards while on defense have sacked opposing quaterbacks 13 times for 67 yards…Shaun Hutchinson leads the defense with 40 total tackles and four tackles for loss…Antion McBee has a team-leading six interceptions for 78 return yards…Robert Clardy is in his first season after being named interim coach in July, Clardy is in his ninth season on staff after a stellar career as a quarterback for the Bearcats ranking third in total offensive yards and pass completion percentage.

The Bulldogs In The GLVC:
  • Truman is 11-7 as they enter their third season of GLVC action. Both years the Bulldogs have tied for second in the league race behind champion the University of Indianapolis.
  • In those games, the offense has averaged 24.3 points per game with an average of 348.6 total offensive yards (176.9 rushing/171.7 passing).
  • The defense has allowed 16.2 points per GLVC game with an average of 299.6 yards of total offense (97.1 rushing/202.6 passing).
  • The defense has posted 48 sacks in 18 GLVC games while the offense has allowed 26 sacks.
  • Truman has outscored GLVC foes 437 to 292 (+145) with 57 Touchdowns to 33 Touchdowns allowed.
  • Most of the scoring damage has come in the first half with Truman outscoring GLVC opponents 294-100 (+194 points) but in the fourth quarter of conference games, opponents have a 133-75 margin (-58).
  • Truman defense has allowed just two 100-yard rushers, both in the same game (vs. Indianapolis on October 18, 2014) in 18 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 551 and trail the flagship institution of the state, the University of Missouri in that regard. Northwest Missouri (.576), Missouri Western (.551), Mizzou (.548) and Westminster College (.525) round out the top five of the 15 public and private schools in the state that play football under the NCAA banner.

Homecoming Throwbacks:
The Bulldogs will be wearing uniforms designed on the 1978 version for Homecoming. The uniforms will feature gold stripes on the sleeves, a "NE" on both the collar and on the helmet. The "NE" is in recognition of the former name of the university, Northeast Missouri was part of the school's name from 1919 until 1996.

Up Next:
The Bulldogs will play their final non-conference game of the season when they head to Joliet, Illinois to face St. Francis University at 1 p.m. The Fighting Saints are 4-1 on the season and will be wrapping up a three-game road swing with a game at #23 of the NAIA St. Ambrose on Saturday.
It will be the first meeting all-time between the two schools.
 
 
 
Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

Vince Garcia

#22 Vince Garcia

RB
5' 6"
Redshirt Freshman
Scott Schwend

#29 Scott Schwend

RB
5' 6"
Redshirt Freshman
Garrett White

#28 Garrett White

RB
6' 0"
Senior
Devonte Black

#9 Devonte Black

QB
5' 11"
Junior
Joey Schenck

#15 Joey Schenck

WR
6' 4"
Junior
Randy Schroeder

#8 Randy Schroeder

QB
5' 11"
Redshirt Freshman
Austin Zoda

#36 Austin Zoda

DB
5' 8"
Junior
Malique Robbins

#30 Malique Robbins

RB
5' 9"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Vince Garcia

#22 Vince Garcia

5' 6"
Redshirt Freshman
RB
Scott Schwend

#29 Scott Schwend

5' 6"
Redshirt Freshman
RB
Garrett White

#28 Garrett White

6' 0"
Senior
RB
Devonte Black

#9 Devonte Black

5' 11"
Junior
QB
Joey Schenck

#15 Joey Schenck

6' 4"
Junior
WR
Randy Schroeder

#8 Randy Schroeder

5' 11"
Redshirt Freshman
QB
Austin Zoda

#36 Austin Zoda

5' 8"
Junior
DB
Malique Robbins

#30 Malique Robbins

5' 9"
Freshman
RB