Football 10/29/2019 2:47:00 PM

Notes: Senior Saturday For #25 Bulldogs As They Host McKendree

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KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – Senior Saturday will see the Truman Football team welcome McKendree University for a noon start at Stokes Stadium. Approximately 18 Bulldog seniors will be recognized prior to kickoff as the 'Dogs bring a 7-1 overall record and 4-1 conference ledger into the game.

Truman returned to the American Football Coaches Association Top 25 poll this week by grabbing the last spot in the survey with 16 votes. More importantly was the release of the NCAA Super Region 3 rankings that are a preliminary indicator for postseason selection. The Bulldogs were snubbed out of the poll in favor of 2-loss teams Fort Hays State and Missouri Western out of the MIAA.

The Bulldogs handled William Jewell on Saturday 49-27 with Jordan Salima scoring four rushing touchdowns and the Bulldog defense, specifically Griffin Becker, adding the fourth "pick-six" of the season. Truman rushed for 203 with Salima gaining 102 to go over 3,000 rushing yards in his Truman career. The team racked up 428 yards of total offense and scored over 40 points for the fourth time this season. Sam Reeves anchored the defense with seven tackles and 2.5 sacks on the afternoon.

McKendree comes into Saturday tilt as winners of three straight and four of their last five. The Bearcats got a 42-yard field goal with 4:24 left to break a 14-all tie with Southwest Baptist then added an eight-yard rushing TD in the final two minutes to win 24-14 over SBU. Both teams worked on their ground game with a combine 452 yards net rushing. McKendree's Dakota Reid was the leading carrier with 27 for 133 yards and two touchdowns. QB Turner Pullen was a modest 2-for-8 for 20 yards. Defensively Devon Myles and Ricco Gipson each had 15 stops and McKendree held SBU just a field goal in five redzone trips on Saturday.

Truman/McKendree Series Notes:
The spirited series with the Bearcats started only in 2011 with Truman taking five of the seven including the last two wins. The Bulldogs downed McKendree 17-14 in 2017 when Jordan Salima ran for 195 yards and Truman controlled the clock 43:44 including all but four minutes of the second half.

Last year, the Bulldogs got the final two scores in the fourth quarter to pull out a 45-38 win on the road. Salima had a 66-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 31, then after falling behind 38-31, Lawrence Woods made lightning strike with a 89-yd kickoff return for a touchdown. After a weather delay, Andy Satulla scored from two-yards out to put Truman in front by the final margin.
The defense made one last stand with Jordan Siegel picking off Reece Metcalf at the 22 to preserve the win.

The see-saw affair had nearly 1,000 yards of total offense at 948. The Bulldogs rushed for 311 yards and McKendree 248.

Bulldogs Back In AFCA Poll:
For the sixth week out of eight polls, Truman picked up votes in the AFCA Division II Coaches Poll. The Bulldogs earned enough support to garner the #25 ranking in the poll, making it the second time this season that Truman was in the elusive Top 25. The earlier ranking was #24 on October 7.

Among National/Conference Leaders:

Truman is in the top 20 nationally in four statistical categories. The highest ranking is seventh in sacks allowed at 0.63/game (5 sacks). Other rankings in order are 11^th in time of possession (33:04), 13^th in kick returns (26.0/return) and 18^th in scoring offense.

The Bulldogs are the conference leader in net punting at 37.0 yards per and redzone offense at 88.6%.

A Look Around The Region:
Truman is a member of the NCAA Super Region 3, comprised of the GLVC, MIAA, GAC and GLIAC conferences. The Bulldogs are one of 10 teams with one loss or fewer entering week eight.

Ferris State (GLIAC), Central Missouri (MIAA), Ouachita Baptist (GAC) and UINDY (GLVC) are the four undefeated teams in the region while Northwest Missouri, Harding, Henderson State, Southern Arkansas, Grand Valley St. and Truman have one-loss.

In the first regional rankings, Ferris State took the top spot followed by Central Missouri, Indianapolis and Ouachita Baptist. Harding, Northwest Missouri and Grand Valley State had spots five through seven. Two-loss Missouri Western and Fort Hays State had eighth and nine and Henderson State claimed the 10^th spot. In-region winning percentage and D2 winning percentage are two factors that committee members base rankings on.

Post Game Notes Against William Jewell:

Truman won their fifth straight over the Cardinals and first by more than two scores in four games against Jewell.
Jordan Salima's four rushing touchdown matched former teammate Andy Satulla's four TD mark against the Cardinals from 2015. It ties for second-most in a game by a Bulldog trailing only Jarrett Anderson's six rushing TD performance against Emporia State in 1996.
Salima finished with 173 all-purpose yards as he added 50 receiving yards on four catches and 21-yard kick return.
More Salima…He became only the fifth Truman back to climb over the 3,000 career rushing yard plateau, moved into a tie for eighth in career points scored with 204, moved to fourth in all-purpose yards (4,415) and to within 12 rushing attempts of third all time in Truman history. It was also the 10^th career 100-yard rushing game.
Jaden Barr was 19-of-27 for 216 and connected with Jake Ellis for his 49^th career touchdown pass.
Barr connected with Zach Zerwig five times for 57 yards and his longest pass of the day went to Ellis for 35.
Barr moved into fourth place at Truman in career passing yards with 6,279, passing Tom Hayes on Saturday. Barr is less than 400 yards away from third and Jeff Frost.
The Bulldogs scored TDs on every possession of the first half with the exception of the last one when Barr was charged an interception when throwing a long pass into the endzone on the final play.
Kicker Josh Scheiderer moved up the career rankings in point after makes. Scheiderer has hit all 40 this season and 73-of-74 for his career to place him eighth as a sophomore. He has made 64 straight point-after attempts.
The Bulldogs were a perfect 6-for-6 in redzone scoring chances on the game extending their streak to 25 straight trips getting points when they go inside the opponents 20 yardline. Truman has 25 touchdowns and six field goals in their 35 trips to the redzone this season, which ranks first in the GLVC and 26^th in Division II at 88.6%.
It was the fourth game this season in which Truman sacked an opposing quarterback four or more times. The defense registered four sacks with Sam Reeves having a part in three of them (2.5).
Concerning a bit, the Bulldogs allowed three more passing touchdowns to make it eight in the past three games. In the first five games, Truman allowed just three passing touchdowns.
The Bulldogs have now scored on their first possession in five of the eight games on offense and posted a three-and-out on defense.
Truman has been in the lead or tied in games this season 477 out of the 480 total minutes played or 99.3%.

Behind Enemy Lines…

McKendree features one of the most dynamic players in the GLVC in receiver/returner Matt Cole.
Cole leads the conference in all-purpose yards per game with 156.9, is the top kick returner at 29 yards per attempt and averages 81.1 yards (31-649; 8 TDs) receiving per game.
He is a three-time winner of the GLVC Special Teams Player of the Week award and has both a kick return and a punt return for a touchdown this season.
Quarterback Turner Pullen is in his first year as a starter and is 118-201 with six INTS and 17 TD passes for 1,537 yards. Pullen has also gained 249 yards on the ground with four touchdowns.
Jace Franklin is third in overall rushing in the conference at 76.4 yards per game and has 611 yards on 138 attempts.
The offense has averaged 27.8 points per game, 371.9 yards of total offense with 174.9 on the ground and 197 passing. They have surrendered only six QB sacks all season.
Rico Gipson is the top tackler with 74. He has 3.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks.
Brandon Purnell has a team-high five QB sacks and 5.5 tackles for loss.
The defense has allowed 29.6 points per game with 413.2 yards split between 193.8 rushing and 219.5 passing.
The Bearcats finished 2018 with a 6-5 record and were picked fifth, two points behind Truman in the preseason coaches' poll.

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Players Mentioned

#21 Andy Satulla: RB; 5' 7"; Senior

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

#27 Griffin Becker: DB; 5' 11"; Senior

#83 Jake Ellis: TE; 6' 7"; Junior; National Letter of Intent

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

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

#99 Josh Scheiderer: K/P; 5' 11"; Sophomore

#1 Jordan Siegel: DB; 5' 10"; Senior

#8 Lawrence Woods: DB; 5' 9"; Junior

#85 Zach Zerwig: WR; 6' 1"; Redshirt Freshman

Players Mentioned

#21 Andy Satulla
: 5' 7"; Senior
: RB

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

#27 Griffin Becker
: 5' 11"; Senior
: DB

#83 Jake Ellis
: 6' 7"; Junior; National Letter of Intent
: TE

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

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

#99 Josh Scheiderer
: 5' 11"; Sophomore
: K/P

#1 Jordan Siegel
: 5' 10"; Senior
: DB

#8 Lawrence Woods
: 5' 9"; Junior
: DB

#85 Zach Zerwig
: 6' 1"; Redshirt Freshman
: WR