Football 9/14/2016 7:55:00 AM

NOTES: Bulldogs & Miners Clash In GLVC Opener Saturday

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The start of Great Lakes Valley Conference play begins on Saturday night as the Truman Bulldogs (1-1) head to Rolla, Missouri for a date with Missouri S&T (1-1). Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

The Bulldogs and Miners have the most history between any two programs in the GLVC having played 78 previous times dating back to 1909. Truman has dominated the series as of late winning 24 of the last 26 meetings but the Miners stunned the 'Dogs last season with a 10-7 victory in Kirksville, also in the conference opener. The overall series is 51-23-4 in favor of Truman.

Truman quarterback Jaden Barr tossed five TD passes as the Bulldogs downed Malone (Ohio) on Saturday 35-3. Barr completed nine of his first 10 pass attempts in the first quarter and used eight different receivers in the process. On special teams, Jordan Jorgenson tied a school record with six punt returns and turned in the longest return since 2011. Jorgenson's 48-yard return in the first quarter set up Truman's second score of the game and he finished with 110 in punt return yards.

It was the 11^th game under Coach Gregg Nesbitt that the Truman defense held an opponent under 10 points in a game and the second time in four games dating back to last season that the "D" allowed only a field goal.

The Miners fell 45-28 to the University of West Florida on Saturday night after driving 12 hours from Rolla to Pensacola, Florida. The Miners held the Argonauts to zero yards rushing for the night, sacking UWF quarterback Kaleb Nobes five times for a -56 yards. However, Nobes threw for 503 yards and six touchdowns and had three receivers with over 100 yards in the win.

Braxton Graham posted his own impressive numbers for MST. Graham caught five passes for 164 yards, including an 86-yard strike and had a 93-yard punt return for a touchdown. He also added a 32-yard kick return to finish with 301 all-purpose yards.

The Miners controlled the second half in their 10-7 win over Truman last year. MST held the ball for nearly 20 of the final 30 minutes and outgained the Bulldogs 198 to 84 in the third and fourth quarters to earn the win. MST was able to win the turnover battle forcing three Truman turnovers and ending three other Bulldog possessions with stops of fourth down.

UP NEXT:
Truman will put their 20-game winning streak on the line against Lincoln (Mo.) University next Saturday night when the Bulldogs return home to face the Blue Tigers in week two of GLVC action. Kickoff from Stokes Stadium is scheduled for 7 p.m.

HOT ROUTES

Through two games, the Bulldogs are averaging 309.5 yards of total offense with 106 on the ground and 203 in the air. On defense, the team is allowing 349 yards overall with 111 rushing and 238 passing.
Quarterback Jaden Barr has completed 67.3% of his passes for 355 yards and six touchdowns. The Bulldogs had seven total TD passes all of last season.
Senior receiver Joey Schenck has been targeted 13 times this season with seven catches for 74 yards. True freshman Drew Slager has been targeted 10 times with eight catches for 131 yards.
A total of six true freshmen have made their collegiate debuts in the first two games. They are running back Jordan Salima, receiver Drew Slager, full back Hayden Holt, offensive lineman James Mitchell and defensive backs Lawrence Woods and Jordan Siegel.
In addition to the six true freshmen, a total of 13 redshirt freshmen have played the first two games.
Rover Austin Zoda is a three-time all-GLVC performer. He was on the second team in both 2013 and 2014 and first team last season. Zoda's 252 total tackles are tied for 23rd on Truman's career tackles list with Mark Sobol (1975-78).
Joey Schenck was second in the GLVC last year in receptions per game (6.5) and led the team with 71 catches for 693 yards and four TDs. He has 97 career receptions, 23 away from cracking the Bulldog Top 10 and has 927 receiving yards.
The Bulldog defense has allowed only five individual opponents to rush over 100 yards since joining the GLVC in 2013 (a span of 32 games). Last year, Bubba Jenkins of Southwest Baptist has the most by an opposing back with 125 yards.
Place kicker Nick Dolezal is 13-of-16 for his career in field goal attempts and 33-of-38 in point after attempts. His 13 makes tie him for ninth on the Truman career field goal list with Kent Fensom (1975-77).
Under Gregg Nesbitt the Bulldogs are 11-1 when they rush for over 200 yards in a game, they were 2-0 last season. In addition, Truman is 18-9 overall and 4-1 last year when winning the time of possession stat.
After playing seven road games last season and travelling over 5,000 miles (the equivalent of going from Kirksville to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Bulldogs will play six times in front of the home crowd. The road schedule in 2016 is kinder as the total miles scheduled to travel is roughly 3,000 round trip or driving to Las Vegas and back.

Malone Post Scripts:

Quarterback Jaden Barr completed nine of his first 10 pass attempts using eight different receivers in the process. Barr had 195 yards passing at half and used 10 receivers.
For the game, Truman quarterbacks (Barr & Randy Schroeder) targeted 12 receivers with 11 making catches. Last season, 13 receivers caught passes including one completion to offensive lineman Colby Dohrman on a deflection.
Receiver Drew Slager caught all six passes thrown in his direction to lead the Bulldogs with 73 yards.
The five TD passes was one off the school record of six set by Jake Czeschin in a 2004 game against Missouri S&T. QB Matt Ticich threw five touchdown passes twice during his career and was the last Bulldog to accomplish that feat. Ticich did it at Washburn on October 20, 2007 and against Missouri Western on November 10, 2007.
The Bulldogs improved to 15-2 under Coach Gregg Nesbitt when scoring over 30 points in a game and it was the 11^th game during the Nesbitt era that they held opponents to under 10 points and second time in four games in which they held the opposition to only a field goal.
Jordan Jorgenson became the fourth Bulldog to record six punt returns in a game. He joined Jason Douglass (2003 vs. Missouri Southern), Randall Mercer (1999 vs. Missouri S&T) and Derek Hammann (2015 vs. Wayne St.)
Jorgenson was also the third Bulldog since 1999 to record over 100 yards in punt returns with 110. Alfonso Pugh had 129 yards on three returns in 2000 against Southwest Baptist and also had 123 yards on four returns in 2002 against Quincy.
Jorgenson's 48-yard return was the longest since Andy Munwiller had a 58-yard return against Fort Hays State in 2011.
Truman was 9-of-17 (52%) on third downs against the Pioneers and upped their season third down conversion rate to 47%, second best in the GLVC.
It was the first ever meeting between Truman and Malone in any sport.