KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - The Truman State Bulldogs and the Indianapolis Greyhounds will meet on Saturday in a "winner takes all" Great Lakes Valley Conference championship game. Both teams are nationally ranked and sitting inside the top seven in the NCAA Super Region 3 rankings. Truman has won eight straight games since a season opening loss to Davenport (Mich.) while UINDY has won the last three with both schools sporting a 5-0 record inside conference play.

The Bulldogs matched their longest winning streak since 1994 with a no-doubt 52-7 blasting of McKendree on Saturday. Truman State scored 21 points on their first four offensive plays from scrimmage and tallied 45 points by scoring on each of the seven drives in the first half. On the flip side, the Bulldog defense kept the potent McKendree offense in check by limiting the Bearcats 21 yards in their first seven drives of the game and only 144 yards until their final possession of the game.

Truman State rushed for 423 yards, tying their GLVC era record set in 2019 in a game against Southwest Baptist. Shamar Griffith led the way with 165 yards and three touchdowns. Isaiah Estes had seven stops and an interception on McKendree's second possession that led to a touchdown and was selected as the GLVC Defensive Player of the Week. Estes joins Peyton Carr (Defensive) and Grant Ross (Special Teams) to earn a conference award this season.

The Greyhounds led the GLVC in scoring offense at 40.7 points per outing and have sliced through their last three victims 52-38 over Quincy, 42-16 over Missouri S&T and 48-14 on Saturday against William Jewell. By contrast to McKendree, the Greyhounds are tops in the league in rushing yards at 2,134 this season (237.1) and the top back in the league in Toriano Clinton. Jaquan Buchanan was the featured back the past three Saturdays with 410 yards and 10 touchdowns in those wins.

UINDY has won seven of the nine GLVC titles up for grabs, their last was in 2021 in the spring season over Truman State 46-29 in the championship game. The two teams met at Stokes in the season finale last fall with the Greyhounds scoring 10 fourth quarter points, including the game winning field goal with 19 seconds left to play in a 13-10 win over the Bulldogs. UINDY has taken eight of the nine matchups with Truman's lone win coming in 2016, 24-17 at home. 

Conference Finishes:

Truman State has won 27 conference titles and finished second 16 additional times. Their last and only GLVC championship was shared with Southwest Baptist in 2016, which broke a 28-year drought of league titles (1988), the longest in program history. Since joining the league in 2013, the Bulldogs have finished either second outright or tied for second three times, including falling in true championship games to Indianapolis in 2013 and the spring 2021 "COVID" season. The Bulldogs won 26 championships, the most at the time of departure, between 1924 through 2012 in the Missouri/Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association.

National/Regional Polls:

Week two of the NCAA Super Region 3 rankings saw little change with the Bulldogs holding on to the #6 spot and UINDY sitting at #7. Grand Valley (Mich.) State is first, followed by Ferris (Mich.) State, Pittsburg (Kan.) State, Ouachita Baptist (Ark.) and Davenport (Mich.). Harding (Ark.) Emporia (Kan.) State and Northwest Missouri State occupy eight through 10 and will be looking to bounce a team inside the top seven. 

The Bulldogs lone loss of the season thus far is against Davenport in week one 20-19. 

Truman climbed one spot in the American Football Coaches Association top 25 poll to number 20 and are number 22 in the D2Football.com media poll. 

Game Recap: Truman State 52, McKendree 7

A 24-point first quarter followed by a 21-point second quarter led the Bulldogs to their eighth straight win overall and fifth straight over McKendree on Saturday.

The Bulldogs have four quarters in the last 12 played in which they have scored 20 or more points. The most was 28 in the third quarter against Quincy on October 29th.

The 423 yards rushing tied their record in the GLVC era that was set against Southwest Baptist in 2019. The most rushing yards by a Bulldog team in a game was set in 1982 with 472 yards on 53 attempts against Minnesota State Mankato. The most in a conference game was 455 against Central Missouri in 1995.

It was the second straight game and third out of the last four that the team averaged over seven yards per play and third straight topping over 33 minutes of possession time.

On the defensive side, it was the third straight keeping an opponent under 100 yards rushing in a game (32) and seventh straight under 400 yards of total offense (224). The most rushing yards by an opponent this season is 148 yards by Tiffin on September 24 and the most yards of total offense was 408 by South Dakota Mines on September 10th.

Nolan Hair completed 5-of-8 pass attempts for 44 yards with 21 coming on one play to receiver Matt Hall. Hall finished with a team-high 35 yards in the air.

It was the second straight game in which Truman had six rushing touchdowns, one off the school record of 7 set in 2002.

Truman Tidbits:

The current eight-game winning streak is the longest in Coach Gregg Nesbitt's tenure at Truman with two others of six games. 

Truman's last nine-game winning streak came in 1990 under then Head Coach and current radio analyst Eric Holm. The Bulldogs lost to Pittsburg State in week one and in the first round of the NCAA playoffs to the Gorillas.  

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 36-9 in there last 45 games (.790) with two America's Crossroads Bowl championships.

Truman are second in Division II with fewest flags against them with 36 this season. They are fourth in fouls per game at 4.0 and in penalty yardage at 354. In the last five full seasons, the Bulldogs have averaged just under 50 flags in a season with a low of 39 in 2018.

Punter Taylor Cornish is second in the GLVC in punting average at 38.1 this season. He is currently sixth on the career punt yardage charts at Truman with 5,765 yards and seventh in average at 39.2.  His longest punt this season is 56 yards and longest career boot is 65.

Defensive backs Ryan Olivas and Ben Thomas are tied for the league lead in interceptions with four each. UINDY's Kivonte Houston also had four picks. Thomas has 11 career picks and Olivas has nine.

The Bulldogs are seventh in Division II in interceptions this season with 15.

Thomas is second in punt return yards with a 17.7 per return average (12 returns). He is in the top 10 at Truman in career return yards with 388 (9th).

The Bulldogs are ninth in Division II and first in the GLVC in redzone offense at 91% scoring rate. They have 25 touchdowns and six field goals in their 34 trips inside the opponents' 20 yardline. 

In 25 games as a starter, Nolan Hair has completed 61.9% of his passes for 4,245 yards and 42 touchdowns. He became the 14th Truman signal caller to throw for 4,000 career yards and currently ranks first in career pass completions percentage. He is sixth alone on the career touchdown passes list at Truman and two back of fifth place Chris Hegg.

Running back Shamar Griffith is third in the league in rushing yards per game at 94.4. Griffith has posted three consecutive 100-yard rushing games this season.

Defensive back Ben Watson is the active leader in career tackles with 205 followed by Isaiah Estes at 197. Estes is seventh in the GLVC in tackles per game at 7.0.

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:

The NCAA Division II playoff field will be announced on Sunday, November 13th at 4 p.m. on NCAA.com. The Bulldogs have made four appearances in the Division II playoffs (1982, 1990, 1992 and 1994). The first round games will be played next Saturday, November 19th. 

In addition, the All-GLVC team will be announced next week.