Football 8/28/2017 9:00:00 AM

NOTES: Truman Football Heads North For Season Opener

The Michigan Tech Game
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The 2017 Truman Football season will begin on Thursday as the Bulldogs travel north to face Michigan Tech University. The Bulldogs were 8-3 last season and co-champions of the Great Lakes Valley Conference while the Huskies were 4-6 and finished sixth in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Conference North Division.

The Bulldogs averaged 26.7 points offensively with 141.6 yards on the ground and 177.9 yard through the air. They were successful on third downs 41% of the time and averaged over 31 minutes of possession time per game. On the defensive side, Truman allowed 20.4 points a game and limited opponents to 103 yards rushing and 247 yards passing per game.

The Huskies averaged 23.4 points and allowed 28.1 points per game. They averaged nearly 150 yards per game on the ground and 208 yards through the air. Defensively they allowed 191 yards rushing and 207 yards passing.

Truman returns all of their offensive leaders from last season. Sophomore quarterback Jaden Barr threw for 1,905 yards and 17 touchdowns while earning GLVC Freshman of the Year honors. Sophomore running back Jordan Salima led the Bulldogs with 696 yards rushing and five touchdowns and freshman Drew Slager led the receiving corps with 39 catches for 625 yards and two scores.

For the Huskies, senior John Williams led the team in rushing with 129 attempts for 574 yards and six touchdowns. Receiver Ian Fischer nabbed 53 catches for 744 yards to pace the Huskies receiving corps but MTU will need to replace last year's starting quarterback Brandon Cowie, who threw for 1,888 yards and 10 touchdowns.

This will be the first meeting between Truman and Michigan Tech and the Huskies will return the trip to Kirksville to open up the 2018 season.

COACHES…Truman is led by Gregg Nesbitt in his eighth year at his alma mater and has a 38-38 overall record. Nesbitt is fifth on the all-time victories list at Truman and is the sixth Bulldog taskmaster to have also played and lettered for the team he now leads. Steve Olson was named the Head Coach of Michigan Tech last November after serving seven years as the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach.

HEADING NORTH…This will be the Bulldogs third trip to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan but first trip to Michigan Tech. Truman has played Northern Michigan five times, two in Marquette in both 1985 and 1986, both losses.

HEADING NORTH (II)… Houghton is the second furthest north the Bulldogs have travelled for a road game. In 1994, Truman played their Division II playoff game at the University of North Dakota. Grand Forks is listed at 47 degrees, 55 minutes north latitude while Houghton is at 47 degrees, 7 minutes (or approx.. 55 miles south) of Grand Forks. Houghton is farther north than three major Canadian cities, Montreal, Toronto and the capital Ottawa.

AGAINST THE GLIAC…Under Head Coach Gregg Nesbitt, the Bulldogs are 0-3 against schools that play in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Conference. Two of the losses are to Grand Valley State (2013 & 2016) and the other to Wayne State in 2015. The Bulldogs will host GVSU later this season and in the future will play Wayne State and Saginaw Valley St in future schedules. Truman will open up the 2018 schedule at home against Michigan Tech.

RETURNING ALL-GLVC…The Bulldogs placed 15 players on the All-GLVC list last season, the most by the team since the 1990 season. Of the 15 players, returning will be first team members, sophomore Sam Reeves and junior Ben Wellman. Second team returners are sophomore Jaden Barr, sophomore Jordan Salima, junior Nick Verbeck, senior Jordan Brown, sophomore Bryan Edwards and honorable mention choices sophomore Drew Slager, senior Isaiah Hinton and junior Brock Rohler.

ACADEMIC SUCCESS…The Bulldogs had 42 players named to the GLVC All-Academic team last season, up from 29 the previous two years. To earn Academic All-GLVC, a player must have a 3.3 cumulative GPA or a 3.4 GPA over the academic year. The team had a team GPA last year of 2.94 and is ranked among the top public schools in the NCAA Academic Success Rate.

YOUTH SERVED…Eight true freshman debuted last season for the Bulldogs. The top three offensive categories were led by newcomers last season with Jordan Salima leading in rushing (696 yard), Drew Slager in receiving (39r, 625y) and redshirt freshman Jaden Barr at quarterback. Barr was named the GLVC Freshman of the Year in 2016.

YOUTH SERVED (II)…Six true freshman this year have been assigned numbers and may see some action. They are Jaylen Jefferson (DB/KR), Zavian Hill (DB), Jacob Morris (FB), Michael Neisler (DL), Jacob Ellis (TE) and Trace Weatherford (TE).

CHAMPIONS AGAIN…Truman captured their first GLVC title last year as they shared the crown with Southwest Baptist. It was the 27^th overall league title for the Bulldogs dating back to 1912 and first since the 1988 season.

SETTING THE BARR…Quarterback Jaden Barr started the final 10 games as a redshirt freshman last season. He finished sixth in Truman single-season history with 26 touchdowns responsible for with 17 through the air and 10 rushing scores. Barr completed nearly 60% of his passes for 1905 yards with a single game high of 270 against William Jewell on October 22.

A "TRUMAN"…Running back Jordan Salima is a graduate of Truman High School in Kansas City and led the Bulldogs in rushing and all-purpose yards last season. Salima ran for 696 yards and had five touchdowns. His single game highs were 25 carries against William Jewell on October 22 and 125 yards against Lincoln on September 24. His longest rush of the season was 35 yards against Southwest Baptist on October 7.

MONEY MAN…Freshman Drew Slager led the Bulldogs in receptions (39) and yards (625). Slager led the team with 27 receptions that resulted in either a first down or touchdown aka "Money Plays". Slager averaged 16 yards per catch and had a season high six receptions in two games and 90 yards receiving against Southwest Baptist on October 7.

RETURN TO SENDER…Jordan Jorgenson broke a school record last season with 375 yards in punt returns (11.7 avg.) while Jordan Salima had 381 yards in kick returns (29.3 avg.). Defensive back Ben Chaney is currently fifth on the Truman career interception return yardage after accumulating 141 last season on two INTs.

BOOKENDS…Defensive ends Sam Reeves and Isaiah Hinton had a combine total of 25.5 tackles for loss a year ago and 18 of the teams 35 quarterback sacks. Reeves had 16 tackles for loss to rank third in Truman single season history, a half behind Nic Abbate and one behind Patrick Blackwell. His 10.5 sacks were tied for fourth in a Truman season.

BRINGIN THE HEAT…The Bulldog defense set a school record last year with 90 TFLs. Five of the top six years on the record books have been set by a Bulldog defense coached by Defensive Coordinator Kellen Nesbitt. Truman has averaged 6.8 tackles for loss per game since 2010.

BRINGIN THE HEAT (II)…Truman also set a school record last year with 35 quarterback sacks breaking the previous mark of 28 set in 1998, 1997 and 2012. The defense was ranked seventh nationally in red zone at 62%, 17^th in sacks and 19^th in rushing defense at allowing 103 yards per game by an opponent.

DEFENSIVE QUICK HITS…The 940 yards rushing allowed last season was the sixth fewest in program history and the least since 1,072 yards allowed in 1982. The Bulldogs allowed only nine rushing touchdowns all season after only 10 allowed in 2015.

B(ROCK)'n ROHLER…Junior punter Brock Rohler was fifth in the GLVC in punting last year at 39.5 yards per punt. He put 25 of his 55 attempts inside the opponents 20 yardline and 12 of the 25 inside the 10. On kickoffs, Rohler averaged 56.3 yards and had six touchbacks. He was a GLVC and D2Football.com Special Teams Player of the Week after having all five of his punts downed inside the Lincoln 20, four of which were downed inside the 10.

DOUBLE-DIP…With the closure of Saint Joseph's College in the GLVC, the Bulldogs were left with 10 games on the schedule. Fellow co-champion Southwest Baptist was left with nine games, one below the NCAA Division II minimum for qualification to the national tournament. The two teams had an open date on November 4 and agreed to play again. The Bulldogs have doubled up on an opponent three times in their history, against William Jewell in 1904 (split), Central Methodist in 1909 (Truman wins) and again against William Jewell in 1909. The 1909 games were marred with controversy as the Cardinals on the first game 49-0 but were awarded a 1-0 win after the Bulldogs left the field in protest during the second game.

A GRAND SEASON…The first game of the 2017 season will be game 1001 in the Bulldog history books. Truman finished the first 1,000 games with a 564-402-34 (.581) record that ranks among the top NCAA Division II programs in wins and winning percentage and second among NCAA schools (all divisions) in the state of Missouri.

COACHES POLLS…Truman was picked second in the GLVC Preseason Coaches poll with 41 total votes and two first-place tallies. Southwest Baptist was picked first with 48 points and six first-place votes. The Bulldogs also received votes in the first American Football Coaches Association preseason Top 25 survey. They were joined by league members Southwest Baptist (18) and the University of Indianapolis (RV).

UP NEXT…The Bulldogs will travel to one of the top ranked teams in the NAIA when they head to Sioux City, Iowa to face Morningside College. The Mustangs are ranked fourth in the preseason NAIA poll and will have two games under their belt when they host the Bulldogs at 1 p.m. Morningside was an NCAA Division II member until 2000 and played in Kirksville against the Bulldogs in 1992.

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Players Mentioned

#28 Zavian Hill: CB; 5' 10"; Freshman; National Letter of Intent

#17 Jaylen Jefferson: RB; 5' 9"; Freshman; National Letter of Intent

#46 Jacob Morris: FB; 5' 8"; Freshman; National Letter of Intent

#53 Michael Neisler: DT; 5' 10"; Freshman; National Letter of Intent

#98 Trace Weatherford: TE; 6' 3"; Freshman

#15 Jaden Barr: QB; 5' 11"; Sophomore

#6 Jordan Brown: DB; 5' 7"; Senior

#19 Ben Chaney: DB; 6' 1"; Senior

#48 Bryan Edwards: LB; 6' 0"; Sophomore

#7 Isaiah Hinton: DL; 5' 9"; Senior

Players Mentioned

#28 Zavian Hill
: 5' 10"; Freshman; National Letter of Intent
: CB

#17 Jaylen Jefferson
: 5' 9"; Freshman; National Letter of Intent
: RB

#46 Jacob Morris
: 5' 8"; Freshman; National Letter of Intent
: FB

#53 Michael Neisler
: 5' 10"; Freshman; National Letter of Intent
: DT

#98 Trace Weatherford
: 6' 3"; Freshman
: TE

#15 Jaden Barr
: 5' 11"; Sophomore
: QB

#6 Jordan Brown
: 5' 7"; Senior
: DB

#19 Ben Chaney
: 6' 1"; Senior
: DB

#48 Bryan Edwards
: 6' 0"; Sophomore
: LB

#7 Isaiah Hinton
: 5' 9"; Senior
: DL