Game Coverage:

• Video Streaming (Please note this is a pay-per view broadcast outside of the GLVCSN package, FloSports is part of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Conference and they set the price and terms.)
• Audio Streaming (There will be no live radio from KRES for this game, however you can listen to the Wayne State radio feed.)
• Live Stats
• PDF Notes

 
KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The final non-conference game has the 3-0 Truman State Bulldogs heading to Motown and Detroit, Michigan to face the 1-2 Wayne State Warriors on Saturday afternoon. This will be the fourth meeting between the two regional schools in the past nine season with Truman winning the last two both in 2021 and 2019.
 
The Bulldogs are on the cusp on entering the American Football Coaches Association top 25 poll this week as they sit 27^th on the rankings. Meanwhile in the D2Football.com poll, the Bulldogs have cracked the top 25 and are 24^th in this week's survey. 
 
Truman State once again brought the hammer down defensively in the second half in their 21-7 win over previously unbeaten Saginaw Valley (Mich.) State on Saturday afternoon. In the first three games this season, only one opponent touchdown has been scored in the final 30 minutes of a game and the Bulldogs have outscored the opposition 38-7 in that span. 
 
The defense has held opponents to 288 yards and 13.7 points per game through three games and have been held to a 31% conversion rate on third downs. To start the season, the Bulldog defense has allowed opponents just 109 yards on average in the second half while limiting the number of possessions to just over four in the final 30 minutes of a game. 
 
Wayne State lost to defending GLVC champion Indianapolis on Saturday night 28-7. Both of the Warriors losses have come against nationally ranked opponents with a 28-17 loss to #15 Slippery Rock (Pa.) in the season opener. They defeated GLVC foe Missouri S&T in week two at home 31-24.
 
The Bulldogs won 27-9 in their last trip to Detroit in 2021. In that contest, Truman led 20-3 at the half and added to the margin when Jaylen Jefferson took back the second half kickoff for a 92-yard touchdown return. Hair threw two touchdown passes, one to current Bulldog Tate Crane and the other to graduated tight end Jake Ellis. Current University of Missouri starting running back Cody Schrader, ran for 80 yards and made three catches out of the backfield for 35 yards.
 
This will be the seventh game in the series with Wayne State's last win in 2015 a 21-20 victory in Detroit. The teams played three times in the early 70s. 
 
A Look Back At Last Week:
The Bulldogs struck first in the second quarter with Christopher Kerr catching then running 46 yards on a touchdown pass from Nolan Hair. Following over an hour delay due to lightning, Saginaw needed just five plays to go 60 yards and score before halftime to tie things up at seven each. 
 
The score remained tied until Hair engineered a 10-play, 90-yard drive that resulted in a one-yard run by Mason Huskey to put the Bulldogs in front with 12:09 to play. After pushing the Cardinals out of the redzone with a penalty and sack by Kendall Hutchison, Saginaw missed a field goal then later turned the ball over on downs with 2:33 left to play and no timeouts. Hair's heave to kill the clock at the end of the game fell into the unguarded arms of Tate Crane from 14-yards out for the final score. 
 
Quarterback Nolan Hair became only the eighth signal caller in school history to throw for over 5,000 career yards on Saturday when he completed 14-of-22 passing for 263 and two touchdowns. Of those passing yards on Saturday, 78 came in big third down plays while 15 of his 22 rushing yards came in third or fourth down situations. 
 
In Indianapolis on Saturday, the Greyhounds methodically scored on three drives of over 60 yards in each quarter to go up 21-0 on Wayne State. The Warriors got on the board with 4:28 left in the game when Eli McLean scored on a 13-yard run that capped off a 95-yard drive. UINDY would get the touchdown right back on a 49-yard run 27 seconds later.
 
McLean finished as the leading rusher with 52 of the team's 125 yards on the ground and was 8-of-15 passing for 71 yards. Indianapolis was credited with six fumbles but lost none of them in the game.
 
Truman Non-Conference:
The Bulldogs are 29-15 in non-conference games under Coach Gregg Nesbitt. Since the 2019 season, Truman State is 17-1 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 4-8 all-time against the league. Those wins came against Saginaw Valley last week, 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 14^th 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 83-57 under Coach Nesbitt and have a 34-8 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 29 games at quarterback and is eighth on the career passing yards list with 5,145 yards. Hair will next catch Chris Hegg, who threw for 5,306 yards in just two seasons. He has completed 61% of his passes with 47 touchdown passes. His 47 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 4.4 yards per carry in three games while Tim Johnson Jr. has averaged 4.2 yards per carry. Huskey has also caught five passes for 133 yards and a touchdown. Tate Crane has been the top target with 15 catches for 197 yards and Zach Zerwig has hauled in nine catches for 85 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.
 
The balanced defense has five players over 10 tackles in the first three games led by Ben Thomas and Ulysses Ross with 21 each. Both have been credited with four pass breakups as well. Isaiah Estes is at 19 tackles and has one of two interceptions this season. Estes is the active career leader in tackles with 233.
 
Thomas has averaged 6.3 yards per punt return while punter Mason Gessert and the punting unit have only giving up one yard of punt returns this season on 12 attempts.
 
Scouting Saginaw Valley State:
Tyrone Wheatley inherited a Wayne State squad that was 1-9 last season and 0-6 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Wheatley was the running backs coach with the Denver Broncos last season and was a two-year head coach at Morgan State in Maryland.
 
In their first three games this season, Eli McLean has completed 15 passes for 185 yards with a touchdown and Jayden Waddell had nine completions for 137 yards and a score. D'Marco Singleton is the leading rusher with 145 yards on 32 attempts and Waddell is second with 126 yards on 30 rushes.
 
The defense has given up 411 yards per game with 188 on average on the ground and 223 through the air. Opponents have converted on third downs nearly 48% of the time. 
 
Up Next:
Conference play begins for the Bulldogs when they travel to McKendree to open up the Great Lakes Valley slate of games on September 30^th. The Bearcats are 0-3 with losses to Tiffin, West Florida and Minnesota State Moorhead but will have a week off prior to Truman's visit to Lebanon, Illinois.