KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - The Truman Football team will meet Valparaiso University for the first time on Saturday at 1 p.m. in Valparaiso, Indiana. 

The Bulldogs are searching for their first win after a gut wrenching 21-20 loss at Saginaw Valley State. The Cardinals scored 14 points in the final 4:41 with the winning touchdown coming 15 seconds left in regulation on a two-yard touchdown pass to cap off a fourth quarter that was controlled by the home team. 

Sagniaw led 7-3 at half but Truman found their offensive spark in their second possession of the third quarter. Facing a third and three, Jaden Barr hit Brass Woods for six yards and only the third first down of the game for Truman. On the next play, the two hooked up again for an 11-yard reception and two plays later Woods hauled in a 17-yard pass on another third down. Jordan Salima scored his first TD of the season from 12-yards out and the Bulldogs took the lead 10-7.

Dillon Weiss recovered an onsides kick after a Sagniaw player touched the ball before the required 10 yards and Truman got a 36-yard field goal from Josh Scheiderer to extend the lead to 13-7.
The Bulldogs would pick up 10 first downs in the quarter and outgained the Cardinals 147 to 1 with over 12 minutes of possession time. Salima would score his second touchdown of the game early in the fourth to put Truman up 20-7.

The tables were reversed after that scoring drive by the Bulldogs. Saginaw took the field with 13:11 left to play and outside of a three-and-out by the Bulldogs that took 1:10 off the clock, the Cardinals dominated the quarter. Saginaw ran 32 of the next 36 plays from scrimmage, including converting on all six fourth down attempts to earn the win over the Bulldogs. Ryan Conklin ran for two touchdowns and hit Chad Gailliard from two yards out for the winner. 

Woods caught seven passes for 88 yards, his most productive game as a Bulldog. Prior to Saturday, Woods had 14 catches for 131 yards in 17 games. His most in a single-game was four for 31 yards in a 2015 win at St. Francis (Ill.). Jaden Barr completed 15-of-24 for 146 yards and was the leading rusher for the third straight game with 46 yards and a long of 33. 

Valparaiso is a member of the Pioneer League of the NCAA Football Division I Championship Subdivision. The PFL, in its 26^thyear, is the nation's only non-scholarship, football-only FCS conference.
The Crusaders are 0-2 on the year after road losses to Duquesne (23-21) and Youngstown State (42-7). They were 6-5 last season, its first winning season since 2003 and finished third in the PFL earning head coach Dave Cecchini the conference Coach of the Year award.

This will be the first of two scheduled meetings between the two schools. The Crusaders will return the trip to Kirksville next season. It is the 10^thtime since 1995 that the Bulldogs will play a FCS or 1-AA school. The last one was in 2014 when Truman lost to Pioneer League member Drake (Iowa) 13-7 in overtime. 

Truman will open up the Great Lakes Valley Conference season next Saturday at home for Family Night. William Jewell will be the opponent for the 7 p.m. kickoff. 

About The Bulldogs…

• Jaden Barr is in his third year as the starting quarterback for the Bulldogs. Barr has started 23 games and is inching up the Truman career passing lists. He is 13^thin yards completed with 4,233, 10^thin completions with 359 and eighth in total offense with 5,047.
• Barr has thrown for 447 yards this season (149.0/game) and is the leading rusher with 216 yards (72.0/game). His top two targets have been Dante Ruffin (11-125) and Brass Woods (9-102).
• Jordan Salima had over 1,000 rushing yards last season for the Bulldogs but has only 108 through the first three games of 2018. Salima has 37 carries to go with seven catches on the season. He has two touchdowns rushing.
• Salima is nearing career milestones at Truman as a junior. He has 492 rushes which is 10^thon the Truman career list and is nearly 2,000 career rushing yards (1,915). That would make him the 14^thback in Truman history to gain over 2,000 yards for their career.
• The Bulldogs are 9-3 when Salima carries the ball more than 20 times in a game. The three losses all came in 2017 (Morningside, Indianapolis, Southwest Baptist) and were by a total of 24 points.
• Junior Sam Reeves moved into the career top three in quarterback sacks at Truman. Reeves had two against Saginaw Valley and now sit with 25 for his career, one back of second place Ligo Letuli and seven off of Ernie Myerson's career total of 32. His 36.5 tackles for loss is third all-time at Truman, one back of Patrick Blackwell and 5.5 behind leader Nic Abbate.
• Bryan Edwards, Jordan Siegel and Lawrence Woods at the top three tacklers on the team. Edwards has 21 stops and two tackles for loss, Siegel has 20 with three TFLs and a pick six and Woods has 20 with a team high four pass breakups. 
• Woods has been a threat in the kicking game with four returns for 161 yards and the 90-yard return for a score against Morningside. He has two career kick off returns for a touchdown and averages 40.2 yards per return.
• Brock Rohler has the Bulldogs atop the GLVC statistics in Net Punting. Rohler is averaging 43.1 yards per punt with a long of 55. He has had six of his 15 punts fair caught, four inside the 20 and two touchbacks. The Bulldogs have allowed only two punt returns this season for a total of six yards.
• Josh Scheiderer has made all four of his field goal attempts and all five extra points to start his Bulldog career. Each attempt has been longer than his previous one with a current long of 36 against Saginaw Valley.
• The Bulldogs are among the national and conference leaders in Kickoff Returns (10^th/1^st) at 27.8 per return and penalties per game (17^th/1^st) at 4.67 per game.

Behind Enemy Lines…

• Valpo enters at 0-2 and have averaged 277 yards offensively and given up 439 yards defensively in those losses. 
• They led 21-17 in the opener at Duquesne after Chris Duncan hit Griffin Norberg with a 58-yard touchdown pass but allowed a one-yard run with 2:42 left to play to fall 23-21.
• Last week against Youngstown State, Norberg and Duncan connected for a 75-yard pass to stake the Crusaders to the early lead but the Penguins gained 263 yards on the ground and scored the next 42 points for the win.
• Duncan has thrown for 406 yards on 28 completions but is not listed on the team's depth chart following the Youngstown game. Trey Bilinski threw the final five passes for eight yards after Duncan was sacked for a loss of 17 early in the fourth quarter.
• Kyle Cartales is the leading rusher with 27 carries for 96 yards. As a team, Valpo averages only 70.5 yards in their first two games on the ground.
• In addition to his two touchdown receptions that totaled 133 yards, Norberg has seven other grabs for 66 yards. 
• The defense has allowed 441 yards on the ground (220.5/g) and 437 yards through the air (218.5/g). Drew Snouffer leads the team with 22 tackles and has one sack. Christian Campbell has the lone interception.
• The Crusaders are 1-5 against teams from the Great Lakes Valley Conference. They lost to nearby Saint Joseph's College in 2012, 2013 and 2014. They lost to William Jewell in 2013 but defeated the Cardinals 39-30 in Liberty in 2014.

Playing Up:
Since 1995, Truman has played a NCAA FCS or 1-AA team nine previous times. The three of the last four have been against fellow Pioneer League member Drake ('14, '02, '01). The Bulldogs have twice played Illinois State ('99, '03), Western Illinois (1997), Missouri State (1996) and Southeast Missouri ('95, '98). 

Their two wins were against Drake in 2001 and 2002. Truman will play both Drake and Valparaiso next year. 

Inside The Numbers (Saginaw Valley St.)…

• It was the third loss by one-point since 2010 for the Bulldogs. The previous two heartbreakers were 27-26 at home against Pittsburg (Kan.) State in 2011 when the Gorillas scored with 16 seconds left to play and the other was the 62-61 shootout versus Nebraska-Omaha in 2010 when the Mavericks scored with 30 seconds left.
• The last Truman one-point win was in 2013 when the Bulldogs scored with 49 seconds left to defeat William Penn 24-23.
• Jaden Barr passed quarterback Don Cummings in career pass completions with his 15 on the day to move into the Truman top 10. Barr has 359 and will next pass Chris Livingstone in both completions with three and attempts with 16 on the career charts. 
• The only turnover of the game was Barr's interception that came on the final play of the game.
• Saginaw's Ryan Conklin threw for 229 yards on 26-of-42 and was the leading rusher with 41 yards and two touchdowns. 
• The Bulldogs had a season-high five three-and-outs and have nine out of 35 drives this season.
• Brock Rohler averaged 46.8 yards per punt with a long of 54 in his five boots Saturday.
• Marcus Edmondson and Chad Gailliard had eight catches apiece. Edmondson notched 85 yards receiving and Gailliard had 73. 
• Saginaw returned a punt for a touchdown that was called back due to an illegal block. That return, which was six yards, was the only punt return of the day for the Cardinals.
• Spencer Newell returned his first three punts as a Bulldog and had a long of 18.
• The Bulldogs have now started 0-3 two straight years and three of the last four. 

Returning All-GLVC…
Defensive lineman Sam Reeves and kick return/running back Malique Robbins are returning first team all-Great Lakes Valley Conference performers. Reeves was ninth in Division II in quarterback sacks with 11.5 and 42^ndin tackles for loss with 16. 

Backfield mates Jacob Morris and Jordan Salima were second team honorees last year while tight end C.J. Brown and linebacker Bryan Edwards were named honorable mention.

Brotherly Love…
The 2018 Bulldogs feature four sets of brothers on the team. Connor and Jack Borisenko, A.J. and Alec Devecchi, Brock and Cade Rohler and Bennett and Brayden Swope. 

Bulldogs/Bearcats Selected For National Stage…
For the second straight year, Truman and Southwest Baptist will be featured as part of the NCAA Division II Showcase package. The teams were part of the package last year from Stokes Stadium as the Bearcats downed Truman 21-17. This year's game will take place in Bolivar on October 20 and be available on the NCAA Division II Facebook Live page and produced by the Niles Media Group. 

All Truman games this season are streamed free of charge on the GLVC Sports Network with a free audio stream available through KRES 104.7 FM on either IHEARTRADIO and TUNEIN radio apps. 

Sportsmanship…
For the third straight year, the Bulldogs earned the GLVC Sportsmanship Award for Football. The award is voted upon by league coaches. Truman was one of the fewest penalized teams in Division II at sixth last year with just over four flags per game. They were third in Division II in penalty yards at 347 for the season or 31.5 per game. 

In addition to the Sportsmanship Award, Truman placed 33 players on the Academic All-GLVC team. To earn the award, players needed to average a 3.30 GPA for the academic year.