KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - The Truman State Bulldogs will look to defend their America's Crossroads Bowl title when they face Tiffin University in the third edition of the Division II Bowl game on Saturday in Hobart, Indiana. It will be a rematch of a thrilling September 24th battle that saw the Bulldogs rally from an early 10-0 deficit to win in overtime 18-17 at Stokes Stadium. The previous meeting between the two schools in 2021 also produced another dramatic finish with the Bulldogs erasing an 18-point deficit with two touchdowns in the final three and a half minutes to win at Tiffin 38-35.
Truman State will be playing for their third straight (non-COVID) nine or more win season. Sitting at 8-2, a victory would be the ninth time a Truman State Football team has won nine or more games in a season. The previous times were 1933 (9-0), 1961 (9-1), 1971 (9-1), 1982 (9-2), 1990 (9-2), 1992 (9-3), 2019 (10-2) and 2021 (9-3). This will be the Bulldogs third straight America's Crossroads Bowl having defeated Ohio Dominican 21-7 in the inaugural game in 2019 and Hillsdale (Mich.) 34-17 last season. It is the ninth postseason game in Bulldog history with four NCAA playoff games and now five bowl appearances.
Tiffin will represent the Great Midwest Athletic Conference in the bowl game after finishing 6-2 in conference play and 6-4 overall. The Dragons earned the league's bid by winning the tiebreaker over other second place teams Hillsdale (Mich.) and Findlay (Ohio). Ashland (Ohio) won the GMAC Championship and won their first round NCAA Playoff game against Notre Dame (Ohio) 20-13 before bowing out this past Saturday to Indiana (Pa.) 19-13.
All-Conference Honors:
Coach Gregg Nesbitt was selected as the Co-Coach of the Year by the Great Lakes Valley Conference coaches and 18 Bulldogs earned all-GLVC honors released by the league. Of those 18 players, a league-high 13 were selected to the first team honor roll with unanimous choices in offensive lineman Justin Watson and defensive lineman Robert Greco. They were joined on the first team by offensive lineman Dane Eggert, running back Shamar Griffith, tight end Matt Hall, offensive utility player Collin Sutton, defensive lineman Ben Miller, linebacker Isaiah Estes, defensive backs Ben Watson and Ben Thomas, defensive utility player Jake Closser and special team players, kicker Grant Ross and long snapper Casey Voichahoske.
Second team selections were linebacker Ulysses Ross, defensive back Peyton Darr and punter Taylor Cornish while honorable mentions went to Ben Thomas for special teams and Nolan Hair at quarterback.
The Bulldogs were voted the Sportsmanship Award winners for the sixth time since the awards inception in 2015. Truman led the GLVC and were in the top 10 in Division II in penalties, flags against per game, penalty yards and yards against per game.
National/Regional Polls:
Truman finished the regular season ranked in the American Football Coaches Association Top 25 poll for the third straight release. Following their loss to Indianapolis, the Bulldogs fell from 20 to 23 in the latest poll by the AFCA. The association will have a final poll following the conclusion of the Division II National Championship game which will be played on December 17th.
The Bulldogs were ranked sixth in the Super Region three rankings for NCAA Playoffs but were passed over for selection after the loss to the Greyhounds in the de facto league championship game on November 12th.
Game Recap: Indianapolis 28, Truman State 14
In the heavyweight title bout for the GLVC Championship, the Bulldogs led 14-0 after the first half on a pair of Nolan Hair touchdown runs. Hair capped off an 11-play, 68-yard drive with a three-yard run in the first quarter then scored from six yards out as a turnover forced set up the Bulldogs inside the Greyhounds 10-yard line.
UINDY swept down the field in their first possession of the second half with a five-play, 75-yard scoring drive that Jeremiah Lee scored on a one-yard rush to pull UINDY to within one touchdown and later in the third, Alonzo Derrick caught a 29-yard touchdown pass to complete an 86-yard drive to tie things up.
After tilting the field in favor of UINDY, the Greyhounds forced a deep punt in Truman territory and on the next play at the 7:07 mark of the fourth, Derrick hauled in a 51-yard pass to break the tie. A 75-yard pick six by Kivonte Houston sealed the game as the Bulldogs were driving for the tying score with 3:09 left to play.
Common Opponents with Tiffin:
Outside of the Bulldogs and Dragons meeting earlier this season, the teams each played two other schools. Tiffin lost to Indianapolis 27-20 on September 17 with the Greyhounds scoring in the final seconds to win on the road, while Truman lost at UINDY 28-14 in their last time out. Tiffin defeated Hillsdale 41-0 on the road while the Bulldogs defeated Hillsdale 21-13, also on the Chargers home field.
Truman Tidbits:
The Bulldogs had their eight-game winning streak snapped in their last outing, it was the longest winning streak during Coach Gregg Nesbitt's tenure at Truman with two others of six games.
Truman State was 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 36-10 in there last 46 games (.790) with two America's Crossroads Bowl championships.
Running back Shamar Griffith finished third in the league in rushing yards with 879 with nine touchdowns on 177 attempts. Denim Cook was ninth in rushing with 362 yards, six touchdowns on 45 carries this season.
Quarterback Nolan Hair has started 26 games and completed 62% of his passes this season for 1,470 yards. He thrown 42 career touchdown passes at Truman State and is the 14th signal caller to pass for over 4,000 career yards (4,423). Hair was fourth in the GLVC in total offense this season with 153.8 yards per game.
Tight end Matt Hall was the leading receiver this year with 37 catches for 368 yards. He has 85 catches in 26 games played for 964 yards and 13 scores.
Ben Thomas was second in the GLVC in punt returns with 15 for 215 yards and a long of 64. He averaged 14.3 yards per return this season and 13.0 in 30 career returns.
Punter Taylor Cornish was second in the GLVC in punting average at 38.6 this season. He is currently fifth on the career punt yardage charts at Truman with 6.053 and can pass Lloyd Wiese for fourth place with 102 yards in his final game. His 154 punts ranks sixth all-time along with career average of 39.3.
The Bulldogs were 16th in Division II in interceptions with made with 15 this season. Ryan Olivas and Ben Thomas led the squad with four each. Thomas has 11 career picks and Olivas has nine.
Isaiah Estes was the team's top tackler this year at 7.1 per game. He is second to Ben Watson on the active tackles list with 205, while Watson has 209 stops.
12 different players recorded a quarterback sack this season with Ulysses Ross leading the way with three.
Robert Greco is only two tackles for loss from cracking the Truman top 10 in that category. He has 26 TFLs, two back of Ernie Myerson, Derek Kent, Elijah Lockart and Devin Gillespie.
