KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - After spending the last four weeks at home, three games and a bye week, the Truman State Football team heads out for a road game at William Jewell on Saturday afternoon. The Bulldogs roll into Liberty with a five-game winning streak after holding on to defeat Southwest Baptist 25-20. The Cardinals are mired in a 21-game GLVC losing streak and were shutout by the Bulldogs 52-0 last season at Stokes Stadium.

The Bulldogs put up their biggest offensive output of the season in 431 total yards, with 279 coming on the ground against the Bearcats on Saturday. Running backs Shamar Griffith and Denim Cook combined for 193 yards and were complemented with 57 yards from quarterback Collin Sutton. Starting QB Nolan Hair threw for an efficient 135 yards on 13-of-18 completions. 

The defense got the stops when needed in the turnover-free game. Peyton Carr led the unit with 11 stops and was named the GLVC Defensive Player of the week after assisting on the only sack of the game late in the fourth quarter that eventually led to an SBU turnover on downs.

The Cardinals lost for the 30th time in 31 games and their 17th straight GLVC contest when Missouri S&T won 41-14 at Greene Stadium on the Jewell campus Saturday. The Miners jumped on Jewell for 21 first quarter points and held the Cardinals to only 156 yards of offense in the win. Only five of those yards came via the ground game despite 25 rushing attempts. 

Jewell broke their 27-game losing streak when they defeated Kentucky Wesleyan College 24-17 back on September 24th. Since conference play began, the Cardinals lost 45-34 to McKendree, 44-21 to Southwest Baptist and 41-41 to Missouri S&T. Their last GLVC win came in 2018 against SBU.

The Bulldogs have claimed the last seven over the Cardinals and eight of nine since the teams began playing under the GLVC banner. Jewell's only victory in the series was a notable 21-17 win in 2014 in which the Cardinals spoiled homecoming in Kirksville with 21 unanswered points in the second half.

Last year for homecoming in Kirksville, the Bulldogs exploded with 28 second quarter points and recorded a 52-0 shutout win. It was the fourth shutout during Coach Gregg Nesbitt's tenure.

National/Regional Polls:

The Bulldogs continue to receive votes in the America Football Coaches Association Division II poll. They picked up 11 votes in this week's survey and are one of 35 Division II programs to be listed. 

Within the NCAA Super Region 3 that consists of 39 schools between the leagues of the MIAA, GAC, GLVC and GLIAC, 14 teams are listed in the AFCA poll led by #1 Grand Valley (Mich.) State, #4 Ouachita Baptist (Ark.), #5 Pittsburg (Kan.) State, #7 Ferris (Mich.) State, #14 Northwest Missouri, #20 Indianapolis, #22 Davenport (Mich.), #23 Harding (Ark.), #24 Saginaw Valley (Mich.) State, Emporia (Kan.) State, Truman, Henderson (Ark.) State, Central Oklahoma and Nebraska-Kearney. 

Super Region 3 has 14 teams, followed by nine from Super Region 2, seven in Super Region 1 and five in Super Region 4. Each region will get seven bids to the NCAA Division II Football bracket in mid-November. 

Game Recap: Truman State 25, Southwest Baptist 20

The 600th win in program history saw the Bulldogs have to win after trailing at halftime 14-12. It was the third time this season that the Bulldogs won a game after trailing at the break and 10th time compared to 42 losses since 2010.

Matt Hall snared an 11-yard TD pass on the Bulldogs first possession of the second half to put Truman on top 18-14. Then after coming up empty on an 18-play, 91-yard drive, the defense stepped up big as SBU marched down the field following the missed field goal. Peyton Carr and Garrett Linn combining for the only sack of the game as the Bearcats faced a third and eight at the Bulldog 11 with 1:40 left to play. On the fourth down play, Cooper Callis' pass sailed over the receivers head in the endzone for the turnover on downs.

Denim Cook exploded for a 50-yard rush on the next play and two plays later, busted a 27-yard touchdown run for some insurance. 

SBU would add a late TD but Chris Kerr recovered the onside kick to seal the win.

The 431 yards of total offense was the most by the Bulldogs this season and the team also had a season-high 279 yards on the ground and a 7.1 yards per play average. It was the second straight game without a turnover.

Each team only had eight drives in the game with one each burning close or over 10 minutes of game time. Truman had a 18-play, 91 yard drive that lasted 9:55 while SBU had a 17-play, 65 yard possession that lasted 10:26. 

Truman Tidbits:

The Bulldogs have won five straight games for the sixth time during Coach Gregg Nesbitt's 13-year tenure. The last occurred at the end of 2019 and the three games that comprised the "spring" season in April of 2021. The Bulldogs also won five straight to start the 2019 season.

The longest winning streak during Coach Nesbitt's tutelage is six games in 2018. Prior to 2010, the last five-game winning streak was in 2001. They won eight straight games in 1994 under then Head Coach and current radio analyst Eric Holm. The longest winning streak in school history is 36 games that started in 1931 and lasted until 1935 and was led by Head Coach Don Faurot.

Truman went 13-4 in 17 games played during the 2021 calendar year and 9-3 during the traditional fall season. The Bulldogs had the GLVC Offensive Player of the Year in Cody Schrader, who led Division II in rushing yards with 2,075 and touchdowns with 25 before entering the transfer portal and signing with the University of Missouri-Columbia. Robert Greco and Ben Watson, both defensive players are returning 2021 first-team all-GLVC members. In total, the Bulldogs had 178 players selected to the all-league list and will return 60 letter winners and 23 starters from 2021.

The Bulldogs were picked second in the GLVC Preseason Coaches poll behind perennial champion Indianapolis and ahead of McKendree, Southwest Baptist, Missouri S&T, Quincy and William Jewell.

Head Coach Gregg Nesbitt is in his 13th season on the sidelines of Truman State, the second most by any previous coach in school history. The team has gone 33-9 in there last 42 games (.780) with two America's Crossroads Bowl championships.

Punter Taylor Cornish is seventh in punt yards with 5,478 yards and sixth in punt attempts as a Bulldog with 139. In those boots, Cornish has a career average of 39.4, the fourth career best of any Bulldog punter to date. Cornish passed Bob Fletcher on Saturday night with 139 punts and will pass Fletcher in yards with 111 yards.

In 22 games as a starter, Nolan Hair has completed 61.8% of his passes for 3,975 yards and 38 touchdowns. He will become the 14th Truman signal caller to throw for 4,000 career yards and currently ranks first in career pass completions percentage. He is tied with Don Cummings for seventh in TD passes and one behind Steven Thompson for sixth on the list.

Defensive back Ben Watson is closing in on 200 career tackles and will be the first defender since Jordan Brown (231 from 2014-17) to reach that milestone. Watson sites at 193 stops in 34 career games played. 

Next on the active leader list is Isaiah Estes with 182 in 32 games. In total, six active players have 100 or more career tackles, Ben Thomas (164), Peyton Carr (126), Kendall Hutchison (107) and Robert Greco (100).

Thomas has nine career interceptions, one away from cracking the top 10 in Truman career interceptions. He will join Tommy Hernandez, Steve Ernst, Marcus Yokeley and Mike Dahlberg with his next pick. Ryan Olivas has eight career INTs.

Robert Greco is just two tackles for loss from cracking the top 10. Greco has 26 TFLs, two behind Ernie Myerson, Derek Kent, Eliah Lockart and Devin Gillespie.

Since 2018, Truman has returned seven kickoffs for touchdowns and three punts for scores. The last opponent to score on a kickoff was 2016 by William Jewell. 

Up Next:

Truman State's second stop on this two-game road swing will be across the Mississippi River and a trip to Quincy University on October 29th. The Hawks are 4-3 and 1-1 in league play before Saturday's tilt at the University of Indianapolis.