Football 10/13/2021 8:44:00 AM

Truman Marches To Bolivar For Saturday Showdown With Southwest Baptist

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – Truman is 5-1 overall and 1-1 in the GLVC will head to Southwest Baptist on Saturday to face one of the top quarterbacks in the conference. The Bulldogs rushed for their highest team total since joining the GLVC in 328 yards on Saturday in their 38-21 victory over Missouri S&T. The Bulldogs highest rushing total in the GLVC prior to that was 303 at Kentucky Wesleyan back in the 2013 season.

Cody Schrader accounted for 278 of those rushing yards and had the third highest rushing total for a half in Truman history with 208 yard in the first 30 minutes of action and finished with the fifth highest single-game total in Bulldog history before calling it a day after three quarters. Schrader has eclipsed 1,000 rushing yards on the season and 2,000 rushing yards in 23 career games.

The Bulldog single-game record for rushing yards is shared by Jarrett Anderson and Dale "Paley" Mills at 306 yards followed by Mike Richardson at 296 and Chad Guthrie at 280.
Southwest Baptist features Cooper Callis and his 1,942 passing yards this season. That total ranks fifth in Division II and tops the GLVC. Callis threw for 512 yards and six touchdowns Saturday at William Jewell in the Bearcats 55-10 rout over the Cardinals and in his SBU debut against the Bulldogs went 29-of-38 for 378 and three scores.

The Bearcats have three of the top five receivers in the GLVC in Jordan Kent (88.2/g), Preston Carson (79.8/g) and Cassian Foreman (69.8/g). Those three have accounted for 90 of the 153 pass completions this season for SBU. The pass-heavy Bearcats have only rushed for 299 yards this season or an average of 49.8 per contest.

Truman has had a dominance in the series with Southwest Baptist having won 28 of the 32 meetings all-time. They have won the last four, including a 38-20 win in April behind 121 yards and two touchdowns by Schrader and 221 yards and two passing touchdowns by Nolan Hair. The last SBU win was in 2017 in Kirksville (21-17) and the last Bearcat win on their home turf was 38-36 back in 2005.

In that April opener, SBU led 13-7 midway through the first quarter but the Bulldogs scored the next 31 points to break the game open. Truman ran for 253 yards on 41 carries with the biggest run coming from Jaylen Jefferson and a 56-yard TD scamper. Hair used eight different receivers with Schrader catching four passes for 25 yards.

Eric Knight led SBU in receiving with nine catches for 101 yards and two scores. The Bearcats had seven pass plays go for over 20 yards on the night with a long of 33 that Knight hauled in from Callis. Truman was 11-of-14 on third down conversions and converted on both fourth down plays.

About the Bulldogs:
Offense:
Cody Schrader provided the spark on Saturday taking the first play from scrimmage 74 yards for an early 7-0 lead over Missouri S&T. Schrader also had touchdown runs of 69 and 61 yards that afternoon and has 12 plays this season of 20 yards or more. Eleven have been rushes and one pass play.

For the season, Schrader is second in the GLVC, 14 yards back of UINDY's Toriano Clinton for the rushing lead. Both backs are second and third respectively in Division II with Clinton at 176.3 per game and Schrader at 174.0 per game. Jordan Terrell of DII-Independent Barton (N.C.) College is the leader at 178.5/game and is 27 yards in front of Schrader.

It is the 22^nd time that a Truman running back has gained over 1,000 yards in a season and is the 13^th individual to do so. Schrader's current total of 1,044 yards is 17^th on the single-season list. The highest rushing total for the 2000s is 1,166 (12^th overall) by Garrett White in 2014 and the single-season record is Jarrett Anderson's total of 2,140 yards in 1996.
Schrader is the 16^th Bulldog player to gain over 2,000 career rushing yards.

Quarterback Nolan Hair is 8-2 as the starter and is nearing a career milestone as well. He has thrown for 1,839 yards in 10 games and will become the 20^th Bulldog to throw for 2,000 career yards. Hair this season has completed 60% of his passes for 1,021 yards and 10 scores.

Truman has had 13 different players catch passes from Hair this season led by Dante Ruffin's 24 and Matt Hall's 15. Ruffin has three receiving touchdowns and 252 yards this season while is also the active leader in receiving yards with 1,168 on 104 receptions. Jake Ellis is second on the active list with 1,154 yards on 93 catches and is tied for the school record for career touchdown receptions with 22.

The Bulldog offense is third in Division II in fourth down conversions at 90% (9/10). They are second in rushing yards per game in the GLVC at 208.7 and have won 33 straight games when running for over 200 yards in a contest dating back to the 2010 season. Truman is averaging 32.2 points per game.

Defense:
The team is the top ranked team in the GLVC and 15^th nationally against the run. Truman has held opponents to 85.3 yards per game and only two of the five opponents this season have gained over 100 yards. The most rushing yards allowed was 154 by Lindenwood in the only loss thus far two weeks ago.

Truman is second in the GLVC in scoring defense having allowed 22.3 points per game.

Ben Thomas and Peyton Carr are the unit's tackle leaders with 49 and 41 stops respectively. Thomas has had eight pass breakups and 2.5 tackles for losses this season. He has four career interceptions.

Carr has both of his INTs this season, including a pick-six last week against Missouri S&T. Carr had four TFLS.

Four players have over 30 stops led by Isaiah Estes (38), Ulysses Ross (37), Ben Watson (31) and Kendall Hutchinson (30). Ross has the team lead for TFLs with 7.5 and has two fumble recoveries.

Eight of the top 11 defenders this season have played in 10 or fewer career games only Watson (22), Estes (20) and Thomas (18) have played in more games.

Special Teams:
Truman is sixth nationally and first in the conference in kick return defense. They allow opponents only 13 yards per kick return. Josh Scheiderer is averaging 55.1 yards per kickoff with eight touchbacks.

Scheiderer is 4-of-8 on field goal attempts with a long of 46 this season. He has converted on 23-of-24 point after touchdown attempts. Scheiderer has 234 career points which ranks him sixth on the career scoring list at Truman. His 36 field goals is one shy of tying for second all-time and he is second alone in PAT kicks made with 124.

Punter Taylor Cornish is the GLVC leader in punting with a 40.6 yards per boot mark. He has 25 punts on the season with two touchbacks, eight fair catches and eight inside the opponents 20. His long this season was 54 yards.

Jaylen Jefferson leads all NCAA Football in kickoff return yards at 42.2 per attempt and has two kick return touchdowns. He has eight returns for 338 yards. He needs 1.2 returns per game to remain eligible for the statistical lead.

Ben Thomas has 10 punt returns for 119 yards (11.9/return) with a long of 26. That ranks him 22^nd in Division II and third in the GLVC.

Miscellaneous tidbits:
The Bulldogs are 24-6 in their last 30 games played. In those last 30, Truman has averaged 33.8 points per game while allowing 21.4. They have outscored their opposition by 373 points (1015-642).

Truman appeared in both the American Football Coaches Association Division II Top 25 and the D2Football.com media poll. The Bulldogs were 18^th in the AFCA and 22^nd in the D2Football polls the week of September 27. They dropped out of both polls following the loss to Lindenwood but have received votes in the AFCA poll, including this week.

Head Coach Gregg Nesbitt is second in school history in coaching wins with 67 and has the second-longest coaching tenure at the school in 11 seasons. He is 67-53 all-time and 39-18 in GLVC games played since joining the league in 2013.

The Bulldogs are tied for ninth in Division II in all-time wins with 591 in 113 seasons. Virginia State is also ninth with 591. Northwest Missouri is eighth with 604 wins.

Up Next:
Homecoming will be next Saturday at Stokes Stadium as Truman will welcome William Jewell College for the annual event. It will be the 77^th Homecoming game on the Truman campus with the Bulldogs sporting a 47-27-2 record.

Kickoff from Kirksville will be 2 p.m. next Saturday.

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Players Mentioned

#17 Peyton Carr: DB; 6' 0"; Freshman

#98 Taylor Cornish: P; 6' 4"; Junior

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

#33 Isaiah Estes: LB; 5' 10"; Sophomore

#6 Nolan Hair: QB; 5' 10"; Redshirt Freshman

#10 Matt Hall: TE; 6' 3"; Sophomore

#36 Kendall Hutchison: DB; 5' 7"; Freshman

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

#41 Ulysses Ross: LB; 5' 10"; Freshman

#11 Dante Ruffin: WR; 5' 11"; Senior

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

#7 Cody Schrader: RB; 5' 9"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

#17 Peyton Carr
: 6' 0"; Freshman
: DB

#98 Taylor Cornish
: 6' 4"; Junior
: P

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

#33 Isaiah Estes
: 5' 10"; Sophomore
: LB

#6 Nolan Hair
: 5' 10"; Redshirt Freshman
: QB

#10 Matt Hall
: 6' 3"; Sophomore
: TE

#36 Kendall Hutchison
: 5' 7"; Freshman
: DB

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

#41 Ulysses Ross
: 5' 10"; Freshman
: LB

#11 Dante Ruffin
: 5' 11"; Senior
: WR

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

#7 Cody Schrader
: 5' 9"; Sophomore
: RB