Football 9/28/2016 8:08:00 AM

NOTES: Showdown Saturday For Bulldogs And Indianapolis

Game Notes (PDF)

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – Since joining the GLVC back in 2013, the game against the University of Indianapolis has been circled on the Bulldog Football calendar. The Greyhounds are the four-time defending league champions and will visit Stokes Stadium for Family Night at 7 p.m. on Saturday.

The first meeting saw UIndy score in the final minute to win the league title outright from the Bulldogs 21-14 in the season finale. Two years ago in their first meeting in Kirksville, the Bulldogs led 20-6 entering the fourth quarter but a pair of TDs and a late field goal allowed the 'Hounds to escape Kirksville with a 23-20 win.

Last year, UIndy scored late in the second quarter and put up 17 points in the third quarter to win 26-13.

The Bulldogs enter the game as winners of three straight after shutting out Lincoln 37-0 on Saturday night. Freshman running back Jordan Salima had his first 100-yard rushing game and finished with 196 all-purpose yards. Salima scored three touchdowns, two on the ground and one receiving and was named the GLVC Offensive Player of the Week.

Punter Brock Rohler was named the conferences' Special Teams Player of the Week after booting all five punts inside the Blue Tigers 20 with four being downed inside the 10.

The Truman defense is ranked first in the GLVC in scoring allowed at 13.8 points per game. Since joining the conference in 2013, in conference games, the Bulldogs have held opponents to 16.4 points per game.

The Greyhounds found their stride in a non-conference tilt with Kentucky Wesleyan on the road. UIndy spotted the Panthers an early score then rattled off 37 straight points for the 37-7 win. It was the first victory of the season for Indianapolis.

Junior running back Andrew Walker leads the 'Hounds with 211 yards rushing and four touchdowns. Walker was a first team all-GLVC running back last season with 1,158 yards on the ground and 20 TDs.

UP NEXT:
Truman heads to Bolivar and Southwest Baptist University to face one of the hottest teams in Division II in the Bearcats. SBU has won their first four games and are just outside the AFCA top 25 poll. SBU will play at home against McKendree on Saturday.

YOUNG PUPS:
The Bulldogs have had eight true freshmen make their debuts through the first four games. They are running back Jordan Salima, receivers Drew Slager and Cam Nisbet, full back Hayden Holt, offensive lineman James Mitchell, defensive lineman Jake Floyd and defensive backs Lawrence Woods and Jordan Siegel.

Of the 63 players that have taken the field this season 60% or 38 are listed as true freshmen, redshirt freshmen or sophomores.

COUNTDOWN TO 1,000:
The final game of the 2016 season at McKendree will be the 1,000^th game in Truman Football history. The Bulldogs began playing football in 1900 and have won 559 games, second most of any NCAA school in the state of Missouri and 10^th among all Division II schools in wins. Truman's overall record is 559-400-34 (.580).

MILESTONE WATCHES:
Senior defensive back Austin Zoda is now in the top 20 in career tackles (267 – 19^th). To get to the top 10, he will need 304 tackles. Zoda averages 7.4 tackles per game.

Senior Joey Schenck caught his 100^th pass against Missouri S&T and is approaching 1,000 receiving yards. Schenck's career line is 100 receptions for 959 yards and eight touchdowns.

TARGETING:
Schenck has been targeted 17 times by Bulldog quarterbacks making 12 catches for 214 yards. Drew Slager has been thrown to 20 times; making 16 catches for 284 yards and two touchdowns.

A total of 15 receivers and backs have had passes their direction this season with 13 making receptions, the same total from all 11 games of last season.

GLVC GAMES:
Truman is 16-9 since joining the GLVC in 2013 and has outscored opponents 613-411 (+202). The Bulldogs have held opponents to 98.6 yards rushing per game and have had nearly 30 sacks more than opposing defenses.

In the first half of league games, Truman has outscored GLVC foes by 229 points (384-144) and have only allowed 40 first quarter points in the 25 league games (1.4 points per quarter).

THIRD DOWNS:
This season, Truman has converted on third downs 46% of the time, up from 35% last season. In the first quarter of games, the success rate is 56% (13-of-23) while opponents in the first quarter is at 21% (3-of-14).

The offense has had eight "three and outs" through the first four weeks, last year through the same four week span, the Bulldogs had already had 24 three and outs.

SPECIAL TEAMS:
Truman is ranked first or second and among the top teams in Division II in special teams. Nationally, Truman is 14^th in Kick Returns at 26.7 per, 17^th in Kick Return defense at 16.1 per, 19^th in Punt Returns at 16.8 per and 36^th in Punt Return Defense at 4.67. Only six of the 20 Truman punts have had a return this season.

OTHER NUMBERS:

Truman is ranked 17^th in Tackles for loss/game (9.7).
Through five games, the Bulldogs are averaging 335.2 yards of total offense (172 passing, 163 rushing) while allowing 308.8 yards on defense (223 passing, 85.8 rushing).
Quarterback Jaden Barr had completed 64.2% for 637 yards and seven touchdowns. Truman had a total of seven TD passes all of last season.

The Bulldog defense has allowed only five individual opponents to rush over 100 yards since joining the GLVC in 2013 (a span of 33 games). Last year, Bubba Jenkins of Southwest Baptist has the most by an opposing back with 125 yards.
Place kicker Nick Dolezal is 14-of-18 for his career in field goal attempts and 40-of-46 in point after attempts. His 14 makes is ninth on the Truman career field goal list.
Under Gregg Nesbitt the Bulldogs are 12-1 when they rush for over 200 yards in a game. In addition, Truman is 20-9 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.

Lincoln Post Scripts:

Truman rushed for 241 yards despite being held to a -11 in the first quarter. Both teams had negative yards rushing after the first 15 minutes with Lincoln at -10 yards.
Jordan Salima's 125-yard rushing game was the first by a Bulldog at home since 2014 (6 games). Salima caught all eight passes thrown his direction as well for 53 yards.
The Bulldog quarterbacks and receivers continued their strong start as eight of 12 passes were completed in the first quarter. This season, Truman has completed 27-of-37 passes (72%) in the first 15 minutes.
The eighth Bulldog true-freshman made his debut on Saturday night with defensive lineman Jake Floyd making a pair of tackles.in the second half.
Brock Rohler joined Kevin Hollinger (1998) as the last Truman punter to have five punts in a game downed inside the 20.
Truman was 3-of-4 on fourth downs with a successful fake punt. Hayden Holt rumbled 28 yards on fourth and five in the third quarter.
Truman improved to 22-4-1 over Lincoln all-time and have won the last 21 games played dating back to 1974.