Football 10/16/2019 7:42:00 AM

NOTES: Truman Hosts Surging Miners For Homecoming Saturday

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KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – No time to dwell on their first loss of the season, the Truman Football team will host a surging Missouri S&T squad for Homecoming Saturday at 2 p.m. at Stokes Stadium.

The Bulldogs saw a 10-point lead evaporate in the final 1:16 in Saturday's loss to Lindenwood to snap their five-game winning streak to start the season. Jaden Barr completed a career-high 26 passes for a season-high 197 yards in the game while Jordan Salima rushed for two touchdowns. It wasn't enough as the Bulldogs gave up all 28 points in the second half and were outgained in the fourth quarter 250 to 78.

The Miners are on their own five-game winning streak after a win over FCS-Texas Southern 23-20 on Saturday in Houston. S&T led 23-17 after three quarters and held Texas Southern to a field goal and a missed field goal in the fourth to hold on for the win. Quarterback Brennan Simms threw for 219 yards on 14-of-34 completions while Deshawn Jones gained 96 yards rushing on 20 attempts. S&T's only loss came in the season opener to Eastern New Mexico 35-28 on the road and are coming off a season in which they went 10-2 and a resounding 51-16 win in the Mineral Water Bowl to close the 2018 campaign.

Truman/Missouri S&T Series Notes:
This is the oldest rivalry among active opponents and will be the 82^nd meeting between Truman and Missouri S&T on the gridiron. It will be the 11^th time the Miners have been the homecoming opponent with only Central Missouri (18) occupying that spot on the schedule more times.

The Bulldogs own a 52-25-4 overall record but S&T has won the last two meeting and have split the six games played since 2010. Last year in Rolla, the Miners overcame a 24-10 second quarter deficit to down Truman 34-33. Quarterback Tyler Swart threw for 381 yards and three touchdowns. In 2017, S&T won at Stokes Stadium when they won 27-11.

Bulldogs Drop From Poll:
One and done for Truman in the AFCA Top 25 Division II Coaches poll. The Bulldogs were ranked 24^th last week but did not pick up any votes after the 28-24 loss to Lindenwood on Saturday. It ends a four-week stretch in which Truman received at least one vote in the survey. Missouri S&T was on two ballots in this week's poll.

The Bulldogs are still among some top teams in Division II statistical categories. The Bulldogs are first in the nation in sacks allowed having given up only two quarterback sacks all season. Truman has not allowed a single sack to a Division II opponent as one sack came against Drake in the opener and the other was against Valparaiso in week three, both FCS schools.

Truman is second in kickoff returns at 31.6/attempt, fifth in the nation in opponent third downs at 23.5%, fifth in turnover margin at 1.5 per game and +7 on the season and sixth in scoring defense at allowing only 12.5 points per game. The Bulldogs have only trailed this season for the six seconds they were behind in Saturday's loss to Lindenwood.

In conference rankings, Truman is either first or second in 17 of the 23 categories. They are first in the GLVC in scoring defense (12.5), pass efficiency defense, kickoff returns, net punting, turnover margin, sacks allowed, opponent third downs and redzone defense.

Post Game Notes Against Lindenwood:

The Bulldogs had a season-high three drives of 10 or more plays with two drives being the longest time consuming drives of the season. The opening drive of the second half took 7:56 seconds off the clock while and earlier drive knocked off 6:52 seconds.
Jaden Barr completed a single-game collegiate high of 26 passes, most for him since his completed 23 against McKendree in 2016. It was the most passes completed by a Bulldog since Conrad Schottel completed 25 against St. Joseph's College in 2013.
Truman forced Lindenwood into punting six straight times or all six possessions of the first half and allowed a total of 72 yards.
In the second half, the Lions scored touchdowns on four of six possessions with the other two ending in turnovers for Truman.
The Bulldogs went three and out and had only 14 yards in both possessions that started in the fourth quarter.
Zach Nadle and Ben Watson accounted for the turnovers gained by the Bulldogs. Nadle recovered a fumble in the third quarter that turned into a Jaden Barr touchdown and Watson thwarted a score with his second interception of the season in the endzone.
It was the first 300-yard passing day allowed by the Bulldogs this season and first since week two of the 2018 campaign against Morningside (Iowa).
It was only the eighth time Truman lost in 54 games in which they led at the half since 2010. The last was the season opener in 2016 when Truman led 14-13 over Midwestern State and lost 31-19.

Behind Enemy Lines…

The Miners are 5-1 and 2-0 in the GLVC entering Saturday's game. Their conference wins were 41-24 at William Jewell and 21-13 over Quincy at home.
S&T is successful on third downs 53% of the time which is tops in the GLVC.
The squad averages 482.8 yards on offense with 189.8 rushing and 293.0 passing. Quarterback Brennan Simms has thrown form 1,607 yards and 13 touchdowns with Josh Brown and Logan Armontrout each hauling in over 20 passes. Brown has 28 catches for 471 yards and Armontrout 25 receptions for 396 yards.
Running back Deshawn Jones leads the team with 394 yards on the ground and has been complemented by both Aaron Moya and Payton McAlister. Moya has 384 yards on 56 carries and McAlister had 274 yards on 52 attempts.
Defensively, the Miners allow 21.7 points and 434.2 yards per game. They have allowed 166.5 on the ground and 267.7 in the air while also allowing 43% third down successes.
The Miners have 13 quarterback sacks and 10 interceptions with three players having two each.

Homecoming Notes:

The Bulldogs are 46-27-2 (76 games) on homecoming since the first event occurred on November 3, 1939.
This will be the 11^th homecoming appearance for Missouri S&T, second most among opponents. Central Missouri leads the way with 18 appearances followed by Northwest Missouri and Southeast Missouri being the opponent eight times each.
The last time Missouri S&T was the homecoming opponent was 1997, a 56-7 Truman win.
Three of Truman's seven overtime games have occurred on homecoming in 1999, 2007 and 2008.
Former Bulldog Head Coach Russ Sloan is this year's parade Grand Marshall. Sloan compiled a 22-5-1 record in three seasons as head coach with three MIAA championships. Those three squads were inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2012.
Eric Howe will be inducted into the Truman Athletics Hall of Fame over the weekend. Howe is the all-time leader in passing yards and total offense at Truman. Howe guided the Bulldogs from 1998-2001.

Up Next:
The Bulldogs will hit the road next week with a date against William Jewell College in Liberty. Kickoff will be 3 p.m. against the Cardinals.

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Players Mentioned

#14 Conrad Schottel: QB; 6' 3"; Senior

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

#2 Jordan Salima: RB; 5' 10"; Senior

#16 Ben Watson: DB/QB; 5' 11"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#14 Conrad Schottel
: 6' 3"; Senior
: QB

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

#2 Jordan Salima
: 5' 10"; Senior
: RB

#16 Ben Watson
: 5' 11"; Freshman
: DB/QB