Football 9/26/2017 2:20:00 PM

NOTES: Conference Showdown Set For Saturday

The Indianapolis Game
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An early season showdown with conference leader, the University of Indianapolis is on the horizon for the Bulldog Football team as they wrap up a stretch of four road games in the first five weeks. The two 'dogs of the GLVC will battle at 6:00 p.m. (ET) at Key Stadium in Indianapolis.

Dating back to last season, Truman has been on the road for seven of their last eight games.

The Bulldogs got win number one on the year with a 41-14 victory at Lincoln on Saturday. Truman turned four Blue Tiger turnovers into 21 points, 14 coming in the first quarter and running back Jordan Salima ran for a career high 147 yards on 16 carries in the victory. Salima scored three rushing touchdowns and averaged 9.2 yards per carry on a hot Saturday afternoon in Jefferson City.

The Greyhounds are off to their best start in 20 years and were ranked 10^th in the latest AFCA Coaches Poll that was put out last Monday. They got off to a hot start in a non-conference game against Hillsdale on Saturday going up 23-0 early in the second quarter.

The Chargers scored 21 straight and the game bounced back and forth until a 93-yard interception return by Martece McClinton gave UINDY a 45-38 lead and victory.

Quarterback Jake Purichia has completed over 70% of his passes and thrown for nine touchdowns and no interceptions to lead the Greyhounds.

Last year in Kirkville, the Bulldogs had the defensive stand at the end of the game to come away with a 24-17 win at Stokes Stadium. Jaden Barr's one-yard plunge early in the fourth quarter broke a 14-14 tie. Brett Judkins sacked Purichia on third and goal at the four and in the panic to try and run another play, the Greyhounds tried to kill the running clock, only it was fourth down to give the Bulldogs the turnover on downs. Purchia threw for 311 yards while Barr was 15-of-26 for 156 yards.

COACHES…Truman is led by Gregg Nesbitt in his eighth year at his alma mater and has a 39-41 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. Bob Bartolomeo is in his eighth season at the helm of the Greyhounds and has amassed a 58-23 overall record and 35-4 GLVC record during those years.

SCOUTING THE GREYHOUNDS…After a 6-5 record last year, the Greyhounds have exploded out of the gate for a 4-0 record including wins over #2 Grand Valley State at home and a 45-17 victory over co-champion Southwest Baptist at home…in three of their four wins, they have had late heroics to capture the W. They scored with 3:43 left to overtake the Lakers 24-20 in week one, kicked a field goal at the buzzer to down Wayne State 31-28 and got a 93-yd interception return with 2:55 left to beat Hillsdale…the number 10 ranking is the highest in the program's history…quarterback Jake Purichia has been the GLVC Offensive Player of the Week the past two games and has thrown for seven touchdowns and 609 yards the past two weeks.

LINCOLN POSTGAME TIDBITS

The Bulldogs ran for a season-high 226 yards with running back Jordan Salima setting a new single-game bench mark for his career with 147 on 16 carries.
Truman improved to 13-1 since 2010 when rushing for over 200 yards in a game. The last time they gained 200 or more yards on the ground was also against Lincoln in 2016 with 241 yards.
In the six games played against the Blue Tigers since 2011, Truman has ran for over 200 yards in five games, with a high of 396 (2011).
Jaden Barr was 8-of-12 for 80 yards with a long of 34 on the first play from scrimmage to Dante Ruffin. Seven receivers caught nine passes for the Bulldogs with Jacob Morris and Salima leading the way with two catches apiece.
Salima averaged 9.2 yards per carry with a long of 44. Those 9.2 yards per carry average ranked 11^th in single game history with a minimum of 10 carries. The Truman record is 12.3 yards by Dusty Burk against Drake in 2002 (13-160). The 44-yard rush was a single play high for Salima on the ground for his Bulldog career.
The offensive line did not allow a quarterback sack and only four tackles for loss totaling seven yards on the afternoon.
Sam Reeves and Isaiah Hinton were credited with a sack and the team had seven tackles for loss equaling 14 yards. Reeves had two TFLs, plus a forced fumble.
The Bulldogs turned Lincoln over four times with two fumble recoveries and two interceptions. Jordan Siegel's 62-yard pick six was the first defensive score by the Bulldogs this season.
With temps soaring into the 90s and field temps being higher with the artificial surface, the Bulldogs went through 120 gallons of water during the game. The team is limited to 60 players on road games so that means each player consumed two gallons of water each during the two hour, 36 minute game.

ROAD WARRIORS…The Bulldogs will complete a stretch of seven of their last nine games (dating back to last season) having played on the road. They have played four of their first five games this season on foreign soil. In 2015, the Bulldogs played seven of the first nine games that year all on the road.

HOLDING ON TO THE ROCK…Truman is one of four teams in Division II that have not lost a fumble this season. The other schools are Texas A&M Kingsville, Fayetteville St. and Fort Hays St. The Bulldogs lost just three fumbles last season to finish ranked fourth in Division II.

AGAINST THE GLVC…The Bulldogs are 22-11 in GLVC games since joining the league in 2013. They have outscored opponents by 168 points in the first quarter and 281 points in the first half of league games and have recorded 94 sacks (2.8/game).

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.

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.

GOING DEEP…The Bulldogs have had 14 pass plays through the first four weeks of over 20 yards (3.5 per game) while last year Truman had 27 pass plays over 20 yards (2.4 per game).

SETTING THE BARR…Quarterback Jaden Barr returned as the starter on Saturday and completed 8-of-12 for 80 yards with a passing and rushing touchdown. Barr is 9-4 as a starter. He has thrown for 2,392 yards with 22 touchdown passes and 11 interceptions. His single game high in passing is 270 yards against William Jewell in 2016 and rushing is 116 yards against Michigan Tech this year. Barr has accounted for 34 touchdowns in his career.

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 has three career 100+yard rushing games with a high of 147 against Lincoln in 2017. He will enter the Bulldog Top 25 in rushing yards with four more (1,044) and has nine rushing touchdowns. Salima is second on the team with 12 receptions for 120 yards and has 44 receptions for his career for 353 yards.

DOUBLE J…Jordan Jorgenson broke a school record last season with 375 yards in punt returns (11.7 avg.). He is the team's leading receiver after four games with 18 catches for 281 yards, 199 came against Morningside on 12 catches. It was his first 100+yard receiving game.

CATCH ME IF YOU CAN…Kick returner Malique Robbins is 32nd in Division II and third in the GLVC with 324 kick return yards this season. Robbins is averaging 27 yards per return and has three of his 12 go for over 40 yards.

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. Reeves is first in the GLVC and 19th nationally in sacks per game at 1.0.

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. This year, Truman has 26 tackles for loss for 71 yards through four games and has nine sacks for 49 yards lost.

DEFENSIVE QUICK HITS…Linebacker Justin Mikeworth leads the team in tackles with 35 with fellow backer Bryan Edwards second with 28. Jordan Brown is third with 26 and Reeves is fourth at 22. Seventeen defensive players have recorded a tackle for loss this year, 24 players had one last year.

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.

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. In the week four poll, Indianapolis is up to 10^th and is the only GLVC school mentioned in the survey. Grand Valley State, the Oct. 14 opponent, is ninth after starting the season second.

AROUND THE GLVC…Everyone in the GLVC has at least one league game under their belt and six teams have one win. Indianapolis, McKendree and Missouri S&T are all 1-0 while Quincy, Southwest Baptist and Truman are 1-1. UINDY's quarterback Jake Purichia won the Offensive Player of the Week for the second straight time after accounting for 447 of the Greyhound's 477 yards of total offense on Saturday against Hillsdale. Kicker Brad Schickel became a three-straight winner of the Special Teams award with a 3-for-3 (FGs) and 4-for-4 (PATs) mark for UINDY on Saturday. Southwest Baptist's Brycen Gagnon was the Defensive Player with 11 stops, two TFLs and a fumble recovery in the Bearcats win over Quincy.

UP NEXT…Before there was a Super Bowl II their had an original. That will be the case when Southwest Baptist comes to Kirksville for the first of two games this season against the Bulldogs. This will be the scheduled conference game between the two co-champions of the league last year. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Stokes Stadium.

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Players Mentioned

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

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

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

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

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

#11 Jordan Jorgenson: WR; 5' 10"; Senior

#54 Brett Judkins: DL; 6' 0"; Senior

#33 Justin Mikeworth: LB; 5' 11"; Junior

#9 Sam Reeves: DL; 5' 8"; Sophomore

#5 Malique Robbins: RB; 5' 8"; Junior

#88 Brock Rohler: P; 6' 1"; Junior

#86 Dante Ruffin: WR; 5' 11"; Redshirt Freshman

Players Mentioned

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

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

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

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

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

#11 Jordan Jorgenson
: 5' 10"; Senior
: WR

#54 Brett Judkins
: 6' 0"; Senior
: DL

#33 Justin Mikeworth
: 5' 11"; Junior
: LB

#9 Sam Reeves
: 5' 8"; Sophomore
: DL

#5 Malique Robbins
: 5' 8"; Junior
: RB

#88 Brock Rohler
: 6' 1"; Junior
: P

#86 Dante Ruffin
: 5' 11"; Redshirt Freshman
: WR