Showdown With UINDY Highlights Senior Saturday

11/10/2021 8:16:00 AM

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – There will be lots riding in the regular season finale at Stokes Stadium on Saturday when Truman hosts Indianapolis for a noon clash. Both teams enter with 4-2 conference records, tied for second. If league champion Lindenwood earns a spot in the NCAA Division II playoff field, the winner of Saturday's game will most likely be selected to participate in the America's Crossroads Bowl in Hobart, Indiana for December 4^th.

That is just one subplot on Saturday. Two of the nation's best running backs, along with two of the nation's top defenses against the rush will battle it out on the Stokes turf. Truman's Cody Schrader has taken over the Division II rushing lead with 1,653 yards after his 217 yards performance on Saturday in the Bulldogs 44-13 win over McKendree. UINDY's Toriano Clinton has 1,525 yards and was leading the nation before departing the Missouri S&T game after the first quarter two weeks ago. Clinton did not have any action in the Greyhounds 45-14 win at home against William Jewell last Saturday.

Both teams are 1-2 in the GLVC in rushing defense and in the top 10 in Division II. The Greyhounds have allowed 77.4 yards per ground this season and have allowed only two teams to top 100 yards rushing against them. Truman gives up only 78.4 yards rushing and three teams have topped 100-yards against them in a game this season.

Truman throttled McKendree behind Schrader and the stifling defense of the Bulldogs. Schrader scored four touchdowns, three on the ground and the offense rolled up 474 yards in the 44-13 win on Saturday. The defense held McKendree to their second lowest output of the season of 329 yards and lowest point total of 13. The Bearcats had on 40 rushing yards on just 16 attempts having to play from behind after falling down 21-0.

UINDY scored the first 24 points and rolled past William Jewell 45-14 in their home finale on Saturday. Bryce Stancombe completed 20-of-26 passes for 271 yards and three touchdowns while JaQuan Buchanan rushed for 154 yards on 23 attempts with two more scores in the blowout. The Greyhound defense held down the Cardinals to only 52 rushing yards on 26 attempts and 275 yards of total offense on the day.

It has been feast or famine for the Greyhounds this season. The average margin of victory in their six wins is 34 points, highest 67 against Southwest Baptist and lowest four over Hillsdale. However, three of their four defeats have come by just a field goal margin, with one in double-overtime. Their largest margin of defeat was eight to Lindenwood in which the Lions scored 21 in the second half to rally for the victory.

This is a rematch of the one and only GLVC Championship game from the abbreviated spring season. In that game, UINDY grabbed the lead after a back-and-forth first half on an 11-yard pass from Bryce Standcombe to Ryan Topper with eight seconds left. That put the Greyhounds up 24-21 and they would score on four of their seven second half possessions to win 46-29.

Truman was held to only 22 rushing yards with Cody Schrader gaining just 19 on 13 attempts but Nolan Hair threw 57 passes for 316 yards and four touchdowns. Jake Ellis (138) and Dante Ruffin (111) had 20 catches between the two of them. UINDY got 235 yards from Toriano Clinton and 292 yards passing from Standcombe to outgain the Bulldogs 532 to 338.

The Greyhounds have controlled the series between the two schools. UINDY has won seven of eight and the last four meetings. Truman's only win came at home in 2016 by a 24-17 score.

About the Bulldogs:
Offense:
With eight straight 100-yard rushing games, sophomore back Cody Schrader has now taken over the NCAA Division II rushing lead with one regular season game left to play. Schrader has a 106-yard lead over Barton (N.C.) Jordan Terrell and a 128-yard lead over UINDY's Toriano Clinton. Devontae Jordan, DIII-Emory & Henry, is the all divisions national leader in rushing yards with 1,671. Clinton and Schrader are 1-2 in both the nation and GLVC in rushing yards per game with Clinton averaging 169.4 per game in nine games and Schrader 164.8 in 10 games.

In Truman single season history, Schrader has overtaken second place on the rushing charts after jumping five spots on Saturday with his third 200-yard game this season. Schrader is still 487 yards behind the 1996 Harlon Hill winner Jarrett Anderson for the single-season record. Anderson earned the Division II Player of the Year honor after rushing for 2,140 yards on 321 attempts (6.67) and 27 touchdowns. Schrader is averaging 6.8 yards per rush on only 242 attempts and is second in rushing touchdowns with 21. Schrader's 35 career rushing touchdowns is already fifth on the career list, one back of former teammate Jordan Salima's 36 and three back of Chad Guthrie's 38.

Quarterback Nolan Hair is 11-3 as the starting quarterback with four games in the spring and all 10 games in the fall season. He has thrown for 2,723 yards with 28 touchdowns in those 14 games and completed 62% of his passes. This season, Hair has thrown for 1,905 yards with 19 touchdowns and added 160 yards and one rushing touchdown.
Truman has had 13 different players catch passes from Hair this season led by Dante Ruffin's 35 and Matt Hall's 30. Ruffin has five receiving touchdowns and 396 yards this season while is also the active leader in receiving yards with 1,312 on 113 receptions. Ruffin cracked the career top 25 at Truman in his last game and sits in 21^st position. He can move past Charles Blakley for 20^th with 48 yards. 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 first in Division II in fourth down conversions at 85% (11/13). They are second in rushing yards per game in the GLVC at 213.0 and have won 35 straight games when running for over 200 yards in a contest dating back to the 2010 season. Truman is averaging 34.8 points per game.

Truman has scored on 34-of-38 trips inside the redzone (89%) which is good for second in the conference and have touchdowns on 32 of those 38 trips.

Defense:

The Bulldog defense is seventh in Division II and first in the GLVC in rushing yards allowed at 76.4 per game. Truman trails UINDY in total defense at allowing 335.9 per game and they are first in scoring defense at 20.2 per contest.

Two out of nine opponents have gained over 100 yards rushing this season with Quincy posting the highest total of 169 yards on 51 attempts. The lowest allowed on the ground was 24 in the season opener against Davenport (Mich.). Lindenwood's Robert Giaimo is the only individual this season to gain 100 yards rushing (102) against the Bulldog defense.

Truman has forced 13 turnovers in their last five games 19 total this season.

The top three tacklers for Truman this season have been Isaiah Estes (75), Peyton Carr (72) and Ben Thomas (69). Carr and Thomas have five of the team's 12 interceptions with Thomas leading the squad with 11 pass breakups.

Truman averages 7.3 tackles for loss per game and 2.8 quarterback sacks. Ulysses Ross leads the charge with 12.5 tackles for loss this season with Robert Greco second at 9.5. Ross also has the team lead in sacks with 5.5 and Michael Neisler second at five.

Special Teams:
Truman special teams have again been "special" this season. They are second in the conference in kickoff returns and ninth nationally and first in the league and fifth nationally in kick return defense. Josh Scheiderer is averaging 54.3 yards per kickoff with 10 touchbacks.

Scheiderer is 6-of-12 on field goal attempts with a long of 46 this season. He has converted on 45-of-47 point after touchdown attempts. Scheiderer has 262 career points which ranks him fourth on the career scoring list at Truman. His 38 field goals is second all-time and he is the leader in PAT kicks made with 146.

Punter Taylor Cornish is the GLVC leader in punting with a 40.4 yards per boot mark. He has 36 punts on the season with three touchbacks, 11 fair catches and 13 inside the opponents 20. His long this season was 62 yards.

Jaylen Jefferson is second in Division II after leading the nation in kickoff return yards at 34.9 per attempt and has two kick return touchdowns. He has 14 returns for 475 yards.

Ben Thomas has 14 punt returns for 176 yards (12.6/return) with a long of 26.

Miscellaneous Tidbits:

A win on Saturday would be the ninth this season for Truman and give them second place in the Great Lakes Valley Conference.
It would be the 17^th second place conference finish all-time for Truman and fourth out of nine seasons in the GLVC.
Truman has finished first, second or third in the conference standings a total of 62 times since 1924 (97 years).
The Bulldogs have won nine or more games seven times dating back to the first one in 1933.
This is the second time in school history that Truman has won eight or more games in two consecutive full seasons*. Truman was 10-2 in 2019. The last time was an 8-1 record in 1960 and a 9-1 mark in 1961.
Since losing the first three games at the start of the 2018 season, the Bulldogs are 27-7 overall (.794).

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