KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - The Bulldogs will play the first of two monster road trips when they make the estimated 11-hour jaunt to Rapid City, South Dakota to face the Hardrockers of South Dakota Mines on Saturday.
Truman is hoping to bounce back after suffering a 20-19 season opening loss to Davenport (Mich.) on Saturday. After spotting the Panthers the first 13 points of the game, the Bulldogs took advantage of a pair of Davenport turnovers to take a 14-13 lead. They would increase the lead on a second quarter safety then got a 45-yard field goal from Grant Ross to account for the Bulldog scoring.
Ben Thomas picked off a pair of passes in the third quarter but Truman couldn't covert them into points. Later in the fourth, a costly fumble at the Bulldog 26 allowed a short field for Davenport to operate in and they took full advantage punching in the go ahead score with 2:11 left to play. The Bulldogs moved the ball briefly into field goal range but another miscue, an offensive pass interference call pushed them outside which eventually led to a game-ending interception.
South Dakota Mines was in the Show-Me-State last Thursday to face the Miners of Missouri S&T. Quarterback Jayden Johannsen lit up the scoreboard by throwing for 433 yards and four touchdowns in the Hardrockers 43-20 victory over S&T. Johannsen completed 71% of his passes, going 20-of-28 with a long of 94. Jeremiah Bridges had 192 yards receiving on five catches and Isaiah Eastman nabbed six ball for 136, both had two TDs each.
The Hardrockers were 6-5 last season and are under the direction of a familiar name to Truman Football. Charlie Flohr, who coached wide receivers and was the recruiting coordinator in 2004 under first-year head coach Shannon Currier, has been the man in charge at SD Mines the two previous seasons. Flohr played at Dakota State and was a graduate assistant at Northwest Missouri State before arriving in Kirksville. He returned to Maryville and was an offensive coordinator from 2006-2019.
This is the first ever meeting between the two schools and Truman's first venture into South Dakota since 2005. It will be the first game Truman has played in the "Mountain Time Zone". The Bulldogs have 11 games played against the University of South Dakota (Vermillion) and were 1-10 against the now Division I Coyotes.
Game Recap: Davenport 20, Truman 19
Quarterback Nolan Hair targeted eight different receivers in throwing for 148 yards and a touchdown. Zach Zerwig caught four passes for 26 yards and a touchdown while Shamar Griffith, Tate Crane and Matt Hall all have over 30 yards through the air. Griffith and Jake Tuttle split the running back load with Griffith going for 15 carries for 46 yards and Tuttle ran the ball a dozen times for 49 yards and a score.
Hair eclipsed 3,000 career passing yards at Truman (3,101) and moved pass Steve Rampy (1975-78) into 14th position on the career passing charts at Truman State. His one TD pass was his 30th of his career and is now two back of cracking the career top 10 in TD passes.
Truman finished with 235 yards of total offense (3.2/play) but led in time of possession (34:35) and were 7-of-18 on third downs.
All three Davenport touchdowns had their drives start on Truman's side of the 50 yardline and two were set up by Truman turnovers.
Davenport finished with 285 yards of total offense with 42 on the ground and 243 in the air. They averaged only 1.6 yards per rushing attempt but quarterbacks Johnny Saavedra and Jason Whittaker combine for 22-of-28 and were sacked only once. Sy Barnett (9-99) and Preston Smith (6-105) were the top two receivers.
Punter Taylor Cornish had a busy day with eight punts for 346 yards (43.3/average). He had three punts fly over 50 yards with his longest going 56 and one late in the game, downed at the Davenport one yardline as he needed to pooch one for field positioning.
Davenport used a pair of punters and averaged 50.2 on four boots Saturday. Sy Barnett had the biggest blast of the game with a 75-yard punt that moved the chains from the Davenport 19 to the Truman six. It was one yard off the longest punt against the Bulldogs in school history. Bill Moats blasted a 76-yard punt for South Dakota in 1978.
Isaiah Estes led the Truman defense with eight total tackles, seven solo. Thomas Spaulding recorded the lone Bulldog sack and Jack Marth recorded one of six tackles for loss which resulted in a safety, the first since 2018.
Ben Thomas finished with seven tackles, two interceptions and three pass breakups.
Davenport evened the all-time series with Truman at one win each.
Truman Tidbits:
Truman went 12-4 in 16 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 28-9 in there last 37 games with two America's Crossroads Bowl championships.
Offensive coordinator Jason Killday's squad was first in the GLVC last season in scoring offense and averaged 6.27 yards per play, the second most in school hisory.
Defensive coordinator Kellen Nesbitt has been by his dad's side for all 13 seasons and has held opponents to an average of 22.3 points per game. Last season, the defense held the opposition to 19.3 points and only 77.3 yards on the ground per game.
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:
A slightly shorter but still lengthy road trip will see the Bulldogs face Hillsdale (Mich.) College next Saturday. It is a rematch of week three from last season and a rematch from the America's Crossroads Bowl in December. Truman won 38-24 against the Chargers at Stokes Stadium last season then completed the season sweep with a 34-17 triumph in Hobart, Indiana at the bowl game.
Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. (eastern time)
