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Truman State University Athletics

15FBTS03

Football

Truman Football Welcomes Missouri S&T For Family Night

 
KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – "Home Sweet Home" for Truman Football as they raise the curtain on the Great Lakes Valley Conference season when they host Missouri S&T on Saturday night at 7 p.m.

The Bulldogs and Miners will both be looking for their first wins of the season after each suffering two in-region, non-conference losses. Truman fell 21-20 to Wayne State in Detroit, Michigan on Saturday afternoon while the Miners lost 38-20 at Texas A&M-Kingsville.

It will be the 78th meeting between the two schools that were conference members of the Mid-America (Missouri) Intercollegiate Athletics Association from 1935 until 2004. They first met in 1909, played two non-conference games in 2007 and 2008 and have two games under their belts at members of the GLVC.

Truman has won the last two meetings in GLVC action, a 27-7 win in 2013 at Stokes Stadium and a 27-16 victory last year in Rolla. The Bulldogs have won 24 of the last 25 meetings dating back to 1983 with the only loss coming in 2008 39-38 at home and in overtime.

Truman/Wayne State Game Notes:
  • The Bulldogs struck first on a 31-yard pass from Devonte Black to Felix Neboh at the 7:56 mark of the first quarter. It was the longest play from scrimmage in the first two games this season.
  • Truman extended their lead to 17-7 late in the half on a 27-yd field goal by Nick Dolezal and a seven yard pass from Black to Brass Woods with 45 seconds left.
  • Dolezal's 35-yard field goal in the third made it 20-7. It was the longest of this collegiate career and fourth field goal made out of five attempts for his career.
  • Wayne State capped off an 11-play, 85-yard drive with a 25-yard TD pass to cut the lead to 20-14. The Warriors converted on a fourth and one and the TD pass came on third and five.
  • WSU blocked Truman's punt in their next possession and scored four plays later to take a 21-20 lead.
  • It was the fifth loss in 25 games in which Truman led at the half since 2010.
  • The Bulldogs fell to 5-6 in games decided by three points or less since 2010.
  • 16 of Truman offense's 17 drives lasted less than three minutes of game time and the Bulldogs finished with 24:24 of possession time.
  • 15 of Wayne State's 17 drives had six plays or fewer. The Bulldog "D" forced eight three and outs, however they were on the field for 35:36.
  • The two teams combine for 21 punts.
  • Derek Hammann had six punt returns for 32 yards and a long of 10 and one kick return for 26 yards.
  • Wayne State finished with 271 yards of total offense (174 rush, 97 pass) while Truman finished with 227 yards (100 rush, 127 pass).
  • Devonte Black finished 10-of-28 with 102 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. His top target was Felix Neboh with 43 yards on four catches, long of 31.
  • D.J. Zezula was 9-of-20 for 97 yards and two touchdowns for Wayne State. Jamel Hicks caught six passes for 77 yards and a score.
  • A.J. Hartfield was Truman's leading rusher with 10 for 50 yards. Black added 31 on nine and Andy Satulla had 19 on eight attempts.
  • WSU rushed 53 times with Romello Brown gaining a team-high 73 yard on 24 carries. Demetrious Stinson had 61 yards on 17 attempts.
  • The Bulldogs had one first down in the second half and were outgained 150 to 60.
  • Truman defense registered eight tackles for loss totaling 34 yards with two sacks and two turnovers forced.  Austin Zoda led with nine stops and Luke Lamar had eight with two tackles for loss and a sack.
  • Wayne State had seven tackles for loss and was credited with two sacks.  James Howard led the Warriors with seven tackles.
 
Behind Enemy Lines:
The Miners are 0-2 after a season opening home loss to Chadron (Neb.) State 40-27 and a road loss last week to Texas A&M Kingsville 38-20…the Javelinas led 21-3 at the half and outgained the Miners 443 to 267 while also being flagged 17 times for 168 yards…quarterback Lamar Wilkes has thrown for 324 yards and run for another 54…Wilkes has completed 31 of 73 passes with three interceptions and one touchdown…last season, Wilkes threw for 965 yards (43.4%) and six touchdowns and nine interceptions…the Miners were one of the top teams in the nation in sacks last year with 39 (3.5/game) but has just two in the first two games…MST has been outscored in the first half 38-3 but have outscored their opponents 23-12 in the fourth quarter…Tyler Fenwick is in his third season as head coach for Missouri S&T.

A Bulldog Victory Would…
  • Be their fourth win in the conference opener. They defeated Southwest Baptist in2012, Quincy in 2013 and Missouri S&T in 2014.
  • Improve their record over the Miners to 52-22-4, 30 more victories over Missouri S&T and be the 25th win out of the last 26 games played.
  • Tie Gregg Nesbitt with his former Coach Ron Taylor with 26 career victories, good for seventh in Truman coaching lore.
  • Be the 552nd win in program history.
Preseason Polls:
The Bulldogs were picked to finish second in the Great Lakes Valley Conference preseason coaches' poll that was released on July 31. It is the third straight year Truman was picked second by league coaches behind returning GLVC champion, the University of Indianapolis. The Miners were picked sixth in the poll with 32 votes, just behind Quincy with 34.

The Bulldogs In The GLVC:
Truman is 10-5 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 25.7 points per game with an average of 359.1 total offensive yards (180.6 rushing/178.5 passing).
The defense has allowed 16.1 points per GLVC game with an average of 297.0 yards of total offense (94.8 rushing/202.2 passing).

New Faces Getting Time:
Over the first two weeks, 13 Bulldogs have made their purple and white debut including four true freshmen.  Of the 13, seven have registered stats in the first two games.

On offense, redshirts Brass Woods and Randy Schroeder along with true freshmen Andy Satulla and C.J. Brown are on the stat sheet. Woods has two catches for 11 yards and a touchdown. Schroeder is 3-for-7 for 25 yards at quarterback. Brown has one reception for seven yards and Satulla has 13 rushes for 33 yards and a long of seven.

On defense, Kade Young is second on the team in tackles with 16 and has two fumble recoveries while Justin Mikeworth has five total tackles and 1.5 TFLs.
True freshman Brock Rohler has punted the ball 13 times with a long of 52 for an average of 33.2 yards per punt and has averaged 63.3 yards on his three kickoffs attempted.

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.

The Bulldogs will start the season with two straight non-conference road trips, to Midwestern State and Wayne (Mich.) State before playing in front of the home crowd on September 19. They will then embark on another two-game trip before Homecoming against Southwest Baptist on October 10. Following that game, the Bulldogs will play three straight on the road until the final two games of the season in November.

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 .580 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 (.575), Missouri Western (.549), Mizzou (.547) 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.

Up Next:
One of the three "short" trips will start a two-game road swing next Saturday night. The asterisk on this game is the fact that Truman has not played a game at Lincoln since the 1989 season. The Blue Tigers have been to Kirksville in 2011, 2012 and 2014 while the two schools have been transitioning through conferences.

The Bulldog's last visit to Jefferson City was October 14, 1989 when they defeated the Blue Tigers 43-9. Lincoln dropped the program the next season then revived in the early 2000s before rejoining the MIAA in 2011.
Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.
 
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Players Mentioned

Devonte Black

#9 Devonte Black

QB
5' 11"
Junior
Nick Dolezal

#42 Nick Dolezal

K
5' 10"
Sophomore
Derek Hammann

#5 Derek Hammann

WR
5' 8"
Junior
Luke Lamar

#24 Luke Lamar

DB
6' 1"
Senior
Justin Mikeworth

#33 Justin Mikeworth

LB
5' 11"
Redshirt Freshman
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
Austin Zoda

#36 Austin Zoda

DB
5' 8"
Junior
Brock Rohler

#22 Brock Rohler

K
6' 2"
Freshman
Andy Satulla

#29 Andy Satulla

RB
5' 9"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Devonte Black

#9 Devonte Black

5' 11"
Junior
QB
Nick Dolezal

#42 Nick Dolezal

5' 10"
Sophomore
K
Derek Hammann

#5 Derek Hammann

5' 8"
Junior
WR
Luke Lamar

#24 Luke Lamar

6' 1"
Senior
DB
Justin Mikeworth

#33 Justin Mikeworth

5' 11"
Redshirt Freshman
LB
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
Austin Zoda

#36 Austin Zoda

5' 8"
Junior
DB
Brock Rohler

#22 Brock Rohler

6' 2"
Freshman
K
Andy Satulla

#29 Andy Satulla

5' 9"
Freshman
RB