Football 9/3/2019 1:42:00 PM

Game 1: Truman Kicks Off 2019 Season At Drake

Listen Live | Live Video | Live Stats | PDF Notes

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – It will be a battle of canines at the Bulldogs of Truman clash with the Bulldogs of Drake on Saturday in Des Moines, Iowa.
Truman will be opening up their 2019 season while Drake opened the season with a 47-7 loss to North Dakota last Saturday in Grand Forks.

Truman was picked third in the Great Lakes Valley Conference preseason poll picking up one first-place vote in the process. The Bulldogs lost their first three games to start last season but then reeled off six straight wins to pull into contention for a conference title. A tough 31-7 loss at home to eventual champion Indianapolis. Truman finished third after a road loss to second place Missouri S&T 34-33.

Drake was the top defensive team in the Pioneer League last season and was picked third in the conference coaches' poll this year behind defending five-time champion San Diego and Dayton. The Bulldogs were 7-4 last year and raised many eyebrows nationally with a 27-24 loss to FBS #24-ranked Iowa State in the season finale last year.

Truman/Drake Series Notes:
This will be the sixth all-time meeting between the two schools. Four of the previous five contests have been held at historic Drake Stadium. The Drake Bulldogs lead the series 3-2 and won the 2014 match-up 13-7 in overtime.

Truman swept a home and home series with Drake in 2001 and 2002 led by Drake alumnus and former Truman head coach John Ware. Truman won in Kirksville 40-29 in 2001 and 38-14 in Des Moines in 2002.

Bulldog Offensive Notes:

Quarterback Jaden Barr is in his fourth year as the starting quarterback for the Bulldogs. Barr has started 31 games (19-12 as starter) and is inching up the Truman career passing lists. He is ninth in yards completed with 4835, sixth in completions with 452 and third in total offense with 6,682.
Barr is also on the career charts in for passing attempts (773/8th), touchdown passes with 38 (T-6th) and touchdowns responsible for with 60 (6^th).
Barr finished the 2018 season with 910 rushing yards to lead the team and was ranked third in the GLVC in rushing at 82.7/game. His 208.9 yards of total offense per game was also ranked third in the league.
Running back Jordan Salima is eighth on the Truman career rushing charts at 2,487 yards. He is sixth in career rushing attempts at Truman with 621 and has averaged 75.4 yards per game in his 33 played thus far.
Salima earned first team all-GLVC honors last season with 743 rushing yards and six touchdowns and has caught 79 career passes for 536 yards.
Salima is in the top 10 in Bulldog history in rushing touchdowns with 20 and in the top 10 in all-purpose yards with 3,492.
Dante Ruffin led the receiving corps last season with 29 catches for 305 yards and two touchdowns while tight end Jake Ellis made the most of his grabs with five touchdowns out of seven total catches.
Truman returns all-conference offensive utility player Jacob Morris (second-team) and offensive lineman Jacob VanDoren (honorable mention). Morris caught 14 passes out of the back field last season for 153 yards and VanDoren offensive line helped Truman to a second place in the league in rushing yards per game at 213.5.

Bulldog Defensive Notes:

The Bulldogs return six all-league players on defense including three first-team selections in Sam Reeves (DE), Jordan Siegel (DB) and Lawrence Woods (DB).
Reeves' already owns the school career record for tackles for loss with 46 and with one more sack will tie Ernie Myerson for the school record in quarterback sacks with 32. Reeves is a three-time first team all-GLVC honoree.
Siegel, Wyatt Fishel and Zach Nadle were the top three tacklers from a year ago with each over 60 stops. Siegel has two "pick sixes" in his career and Nadle earned honorable mention all-league honors as a true freshman last year.
Seniors Jake Floyd (DT) and Travis Myerson (Bandit) round out the returning all-conference defensive players for the Bulldogs.
The Bulldog "D" was ranked third in the conference in scoring allowed at 23.0 per game and second against the rush at 114.7 per game. Truman was also second in third down success rate by opponents at 35%.

Bulldog Special Forces:

Lawrence Woods was the GLVC Special Teams Player of the Year and later named an All-American by the Division II Conference Commissioners' Association. Woods returned three kickoffs for touchdowns out of the 12 attempts and averaged an eye-popping 50.8 yards per return.
Jaylen Jefferson joins Woods in the back and averaged 38 yards on four returns last season with a 97-yard touchdown return.
Last year, Truman doubled the number of kick return yards over their opponent with 1,117 yards compared to allowing 588 yards.
Place kicker Josh Scheiderer entered the top 10 in career field goals in his first season as a Bulldog. The freshman made 15 of 21 attempts and 33 of 34 extra points to garner honorable mention all-GLVC nods.
Replacing all-GLVC punter Brock Rohler to graduation is transfer Taylor Cornish from Missouri Southern State University in Joplin. Cornish punted the ball 71 times in 2017 for the Lions with an average of 36.3 yards per. He had a long of 65 against Emporia State and had 25 fair catches and 13 inside the opponents' 20.
Spencer Newell handled the punt return duties with 19 for 126 yards.

Behind Enemy Lines…

The Drake 2-deep features 15 of the 23 projected starters as seniors, seven juniors and freshman quarterback Ian Corwin.
Against North Dakota on Saturday, Drake was outgained 431 to 129 with Corwin completing eight of 20 passes for 55 yards and was sacked four times. Drew Lauer was the leading rusher with 21 attempts for 73 yards.
The Bulldogs allowed on 19.1 points and 296.0 yards per game last season. The defense picked off 17 passes with eight coming from senior to be Will Warner.
The 'Dog defense was also number one in the Pioneer League in rushing yards allowed (96.8), passing yards allowed (199.2) and opponent third-down conversion rate at 31.4%.
Zac Rujawitz is the top returning tackler with 54 from a year ago, as he was fourth on the defense in tackles.
Corwin was slated to start the opener at North Dakota and is replacing Grant Kraemer at QB. Kraemer threw for 2,703 yards and 28 touchdown passes last year and over 10,000 career yards as a four-year starter for the Bulldogs.
Drew Lauer was the top rusher last year with 511 yards on 148 attempts while receiver Steve Doran (55-949) and tight end Devin Cates (45-570) are the top returning targets for Corwin.
Drake averaged 87.7 yards on the ground per game, 261 through the air and just over 28 minutes of possession time.

Up Next:
The Bulldogs will open the 2019 home slate with a Division Ii regional game against Wayne (Mich.) State. This is a return game from a 2015 meeting in Detroit when the Warriors rallied for a 21-20 win over the Bulldogs. Kickoff is scheduled for noon at Stokes Stadium.

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

#88 Brock Rohler: P/K; 6' 1"; Senior

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

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

#7 Wyatt Fishel: DB; 5' 8"; Junior

#93 Jake Floyd: DL; 5' 10"; Senior

#4 Jaylen Jefferson: RB; 5' 9"; Junior; National Letter of Intent

#30 Jacob Morris: FB; 5' 8"; Junior; National Letter of Intent

#20 Travis Myerson: DB; 6' 1"; Senior

#80 Spencer Newell: WR; 5' 9"; Sophomore

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

Players Mentioned

#88 Brock Rohler
: 6' 1"; Senior
: P/K

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

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

#7 Wyatt Fishel
: 5' 8"; Junior
: DB

#93 Jake Floyd
: 5' 10"; Senior
: DL

#4 Jaylen Jefferson
: 5' 9"; Junior; National Letter of Intent
: RB

#30 Jacob Morris
: 5' 8"; Junior; National Letter of Intent
: FB

#20 Travis Myerson
: 6' 1"; Senior
: DB

#80 Spencer Newell
: 5' 9"; Sophomore
: WR

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