Game Coverage:
KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – Two teams knocking on the door of national prominence will clash at Stoke Stadium on Saturday in a key NCAA Division II football match-up. The Truman State Bulldogs and Saginaw Valley (Mich.) State Cardinals are both 2-0 on the young season and both are receiving votes in the American Football Coaches Association national poll.
The Bulldogs are coming off a 28-24 win over South Dakota Mines on Saturday while the Cardinals defeated their rival Northwood (Mich.) in the "Axe Bowl" game 31-8. Saginaw Valley is first in Division II in rushing yards allowed this season at only 31.5 per game while third in rushing yards gained with an average of 318 yards per outing. Their 216 yards of total defense is 11th in Division II and their 445 yards of total offense is 24th.
The Truman State defense has been stingy against the run in the past two seasons. In 2021, the Bulldogs were fifth in Division II allowing 77 yards rushing per game and last season, Truman was 13th in Division II allowing 83.3 yards per contest.
This will be the second meeting between the two schools. They met in 2018 and it came down to the wire in University Center, Michigan. The Bulldogs went up 20-7 on a Jordan Salima six-yard run with 13:16 to play. Saginaw Valley then churned out a 19-play, 70-yard drive that consumed 8:30 off the clock and pulled to within 20-14 on a three-yard run by Ryan Conklin. The Bulldogs went quickly three and out and were forced to punt.
The Cardinals converted on a pair of fourth downs, including a 26-yard pass on fourth and 10 to keep their drive alive. On a fourth and three from the 10, the quarterback took off and gained eight yards to put the Cardinals at the two with 19 seconds left. On the next play, Conklin found Chad Gailliard for a two-yard pass, the extra point was good and Saginaw Valley won 21-20.
A Look Back At Last Week:
Mason Huskey rushed for a career-high 111 yards and scored the go-ahead touchdown with 4:36 left to play in the Bulldogs 28-24 win over the Hardrockers of South Dakota Mines on Saturday. Huskey averaged 7.4 yards per carry and caught three passes for 66 yards with a long of 41. Quarterback Nolan Hair completed 17-of-26 for 189 yards and secured the win for the Bulldogs with key third down conversions during the final drive that extinguished the game clock in the fourth quarter.
Linebacker Ulysses Ross was named the Great Lakes Valley Conference defensive player of the week after he set a career-high in tackles with 13 on the afternoon and Ben Thomas added 11 as the 'Dogs defense got the key stops when they needed to.
It was the fifth consecutive Axe Bowl title for Saginaw Valley as the Cardinal defense held Northwood to only six yards of rushing and recorded seven quarterback sacks on Saturday evening. Quarterback Mike O'Horo completed just seven of nine passes but scored two rushing touchdowns. Terrance Brown gained 72 yards on the ground in 13 attempts and Tyler Amos rushed for 69 yards on 14 tries.
Truman Non-Conference:
The Bulldogs are 28-15 in non-conference games under Coach Gregg Nesbitt. Since the 2019 season, Truman State is 16-1 against non-GLVC teams. The only loss came at home last year in the opener when Davenport (Mich.) held on for a 20-19 win over the Bulldogs.
Truman State has played five members of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Conference since 2010 and are 3-8 all-time against the league. Those wins came against Davenport (Mich.) in 2021 and Wayne (Mich.) State in 2021 and 2019. The other GLIAC games have been against Michigan Tech, Saginaw Valley and Grand Valley (Mich.) State.
About the Bulldogs:
Gregg Nesbitt is in his 14th season on the sidelines second only to the 16 seasons of Maurice "Red" Wade in head coaching years of service at the school. The Bulldogs are 82-57 under Coach Nesbitt and have a 33-8 record since the start of the 2019 season. Last year, Truman State won nine games for the second consecutive season and capped off the 9-2 record with their third "America's Crossroads Bowl" championship. He was the GLVC Co-Coach of the Year last season.
The Bulldogs have averaged close to or more than 200 yards rushing per game over the past five seasons and have scored over 30 points per game in the past four.
Quarterback Hair has started the past 28 games at quarterback and with 118 yards, will go over 5,000 career passing yards at Truman State becoming the eight Bulldog signal caller to hit that milestone. He has completed 61% of his passes with 45 touchdown passes. His 45 TD passes is fifth on the all-time Bulldog career list and will chase down teammate Jaden Barr who is next on the list with 52.
Mason Huskey has averaged 5.9 yards per carry in two games while Tim Johnson Jr. has averaged 5.0 yards per carry. Huskey has also caught five passes for 133 yards and a touchdown. Tate Crane has been the top target with 10 catches for 101 yards and Zach Zerwig has hauled in eight catches for 68 yards.
The Bulldog defense has been one of the stingiest groups and last year's group allowed under 300 yards per game. It was the first time since the 1982 season in which Truman State held the opposition under 300 yards per game. It was the fourth time in the past nine seasons that Truman held opponents to under 20 points per game with their 18.6 scoring average. The defense has recorded 34 interceptions over the past two seasons and has averaged nearly two take-aways per game under Coach Nesbitt.
Up front, the line will be anchored by juniors Ben Miller and Zach Rouland along with sophomores Jack Weltha and Thomas Spaulding. Miller was an all-GLVC defensive lineman last season and both Weltha and Spaulding saw significant action as true freshmen.
Ulysses Ross and Ben Thomas are second and third in the GLVC in tackles per game this season. Ross averages 8.5 stops and Thomas 8.0 tackles per game. Isaiah Estes is the active career leader in tackles with 216.
Thomas will climb over the 200 career tackle milestone with five more stops and has 12 career interceptions, tied for fourth all-time. Ryan Olivas has nine career picks.
Scouting Saginaw Valley State:
Ryan Brady is in his fourth season at the helm of the Cardinals and are coming off an 8-3 record a year ago with a win over GLVC-champion Indianapolis (38-14). SVSU was picked fourth in the GLIAC preseason coaches poll trailing Ferris State, Grand Valley State and Davenport.
As a team last season, the Cardinals rushed for 208.1 yards per game with a mostly balanced attack. Senior Isaiah Malcome led the way with 128 attempts and 697 yards while junior Jairus Grissom was second with 59 carries for 342 yards.
On the defensive side, Micha Cretsinger is the leading returning tackler after averaging 5.8 stops per game last season. As a unit, they held opponents to 323 yards per game, 97.5 on the ground and 19 points per contest.
Up Next:
The Bulldogs will play their next two on the road with a non-conference matchup in Detroit, Michigan against Wayne State followed by the GLVC opener at McKendree the following week. Truman and Wayne State met in 2021 with the Bulldogs winning 27-9. The Warriors are 1-1 after picking up their first win of the season over Missouri S&T on Saturday 31-24 but they will head to Indianapolis to face the Greyhounds on Saturday evening.
