For the second straight year the Bulldog Football team will head to Joplin and face Missouri Southern State University on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. Truman is coming off a 20-6 loss to #22 Pittsburg (Kan.) State while the Lions have dropped two straight including last week's 45-30 loss at Lindenwood (Mo.) University.
Truman managed a pair of
Derek Koon field goals in their loss to the Gorillas. Koon hit from a career-best 46 yards out to put Truman up 3-0 in the first quarter and later hit from 44 yards.
Richie Schumacher registered 20 tackles, the first time since 2001 for a Bulldog, but Pitt State controlled the ball for nearly 40 minutes and grounded out 382 yards rushing for the win.
The Lions got a 90-yard kickoff return from Travis Hurd to start their ball game with Lindenwood and went up 14-0 before the home team got four touchdowns of 60 or more yards in a 45-30 loss to the league's newest Lions. Lindenwood had scoring passes of 63, 65, 73 and a 76 yard punt return during the game. Kellen Cox had 111 yards rushing for the Lions.
This is the 25th meeting between the Bulldogs and Lions. Southern has won the last three at home including last year's 24-17 victory. Truman leads the overall series 15-9 and last won in Kirksville in 2010 by a 23-6 score.
In last year's game, Landon Zerkel snared a 27-yard pass from Collin Howard with 8:24 left in the fourth quarter to break a 17 all tie. Zerkel finished with 111 yards receiving while Truman was led by
Anthony Brown's 135 yards receiving.
Bulldogs Quick Glance:
Truman (4-5; 3-5 MIAA) has lost three straight games, all against nationally ranked opponents.
Dallas Grier enters this week's game with 887 yards receiving, the eighth best single-season total in Truman history and with 113 yards become just the second Bulldog to have 1000 yards receiving in a single season. The school record is 1,167 yards by Russell Evans in 1986. Grier has 61 catches and four touchdown receptions.
Quarterback
Conrad Schottel has completed 52% of his passes for 1,816 yards and 12 touchdowns but has also thrown 13 interceptions while running back
Garrett White has 503 yards on the ground and eight touchdowns with four plays from scrimmage going over 40 yards.
Defensive back
Richie Schumacher leads the Bulldogs in tackles for the second straight season. Schumacher has 94 stops through nine games with six tackles for loss and a pair of interceptions
. Patrick Blackwell has seven sacks and 20.5 for his career. Blackwell is second in the MIAA in sacks behind Missouri Western's David Bass.
Punter
Eric Phillips is averaging over 40 yards per punt for the second straight season while place kicker
Derek Koon is second on the Bulldog all-time field goal list with 34 having hit two last week including his career long of 46 yards against Pittsburg St.
Truman won their first three games to start the season against Southwest Baptist (24-14), Lincoln (42-12) and Northwestern Oklahoma State (63-21). Their other win came at Nebraska-Kearney (16-7) on Oct. 6. Truman losses came at the hands of Central Missouri (38-17), Fort Hays St. (37-23), #19 Washburn (35-24), #18 Emporia State (52-26) and #22 Pittsburg State (20-6).
Lions Quick Glance:
Missouri Southern (5-4; 4-4 MIAA) pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the season when they handed Missouri Western their only conference loss back in seven on the road. Since then the Lions have lost games at home to Northwest Missouri State (38-14) and Lindenwood (Mo.) (45-30).
Quarterback Kellen Cox leads the Lions with 743 yards rushing and 467 yards passing. Cox has rushed the ball 171 times this year and is one of eight Lion players to run the ball at least 20 times this season. Southern is second in the MIAA in the run with an average of 268.7 yards per game. Landon Zerkel leads the receivers with 19 catches for 382 yards.
Brandon Williams is second on the team in tackles with 54 but has 5.5 sacks and 12.5 tackles for loss. Williams was an all-MIAA defensive lineman last year. Alex Wong leads the defense with 60 total tackles.
Head Coach Daryl Daye is in his first year as head coach of the Lions after being an assistant coach for the Buffalo Bills in the NFL.
Odds & Ends:
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The Bulldogs are ranked eighth in the MIAA in scoring offense (26.8) and scoring defense (26.2) while the Lions are ninth in scoring offense (24.2) and scoring defense (26.6).
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Southern is second in the league in rushing offense (268.7/g) and first in time of possession (34:17/g) however they are 13th in pass defense (255.7/g) and 15th in pass offense (79.8/g) with a minus six turnover margin.
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The Bulldogs are tied for second in sacks (2.89/g), kickoff coverage (42.7/k) and third in punting (37.2/p) but 14th in third down conversions (28%) and last in redzone offense (66%).
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Truman is 39% successful on third down in the first quarter (14-36) but just 19% (6-31) in the third quarter of games.
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Offensively, Truman's best quarter is the first with 1049 yards (490 rush, 559 pass and 5.6/play) and on average 8:28 possession time.
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The Bulldogs have not scored following a turnover in three games or seven straight turnovers gained.
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Truman has scored 45 points off of 23 turnovers gained but given up 73 points on 23 turnovers lost.
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Opponents are just 2-of-24 when facing third downs and over 10 yards to go but over 50% successful when facing less than five yards to go.
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Truman has had 38 drives start on the opponents' side of the 50 yardline and scored 50% of the time while opponents have started 12 drives on the Bulldog side of the 50 and also scored 50% of the time.
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The Bulldogs average starting field possession is their own 39 while the opposing teams are starting at their own 26.4.
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In four of the five losses, Truman has allowed an opposing score in the final two minutes of the first half.
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The Bulldogs have played 955 games all-time. The Bulldogs are 538-383-34 (.581) all time.
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Truman is 4-2 in overtime games. All six games have been played at Stokes Stadium with the last being on Oct. 24, 2009 against Emporia State (Truman lost 30-24).
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The Bulldogs have finished .500 or above in 70 of the 104 seasons of football played at the University and have had five wins or more in 62 seasons.
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Truman is the winningest NCAA program all-time in the state of Missouri with the .581 win percentage. The University of Missouri has the most wins with 628 with the Bulldogs second with 538.
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Truman's 538 wins is eighth all-time in Division II.
Truman/Pittsburg State Footnotes:
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The Gorillas had 79 offensive plays to the Bulldogs 45. Pittsburg averaged 5.7 yards per play while Truman was at 4.8.
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Pitt was 7-of-15 on third down conversions while Truman was just 1-of-10, a nine-yard rush by Taylor Breen in the first quarter.
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Richie Schumacher's 20 tackles were the most by a Bulldog since Derek Kent had 20 exactly 11 years earlier and against the same opponent. (October 27, 2001 against Pittsburg State).
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Conrad Schottel finished with 123 yards passing on 9-of-19 and a long of 24. Both Bulldog quarterbacks threw an interception and each was sacked.
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Garrett White led Truman with 141 all-purpose yards.
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The Bulldogs limited Pittsburg's top threat in John Brown. The receiver/special teams player had three catches for 35 yards and 149-yards of all-purpose yards. Brown had a 30 yard kickoff return and a 27 yard punt return.
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Eric Phillips averaged 43.2 yards per punt with a long of 56 and three inside the Gorilla 20 yard line.
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Pitt was just 4-of-8 on redzone chances however the 'Dogs did not score in their only redzone trip.
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It was the first game this season that the Bulldogs did not register a sack.
Up Next:
Truman will host MIAA newcomer Lindenwood (Mo.) University in the final MIAA game for the Bulldogs. The Lions have transitioned from the NAIA and are 6-3 heading into their game against Pittsburg (Kan.) State this Saturday. Truman is a founding member of the MIAA but will leave the conference after this school year for the Great Lakes Valley Conference. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. with senior recognition beginning at 12:40 p.m.
Offensive Notebook:
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Sophomore Garrett White leads the team in rushing with 503 yards on 94 carries (5.4/rush, 55.9/g) while senior Will Mosquera is second with 111 attempts and 391 yards. White leads the team with eight rushing touchdowns, nine total.
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Junior quarterback Conrad Schottel has completed 52% of his passes (156-of-297) with 12 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. He has an efficiency rating of 108.5 and has thrown for 1816 yards.
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Junior Dallas Grier has been the top target with 61 catches for 887 yards. Redshirt freshman Chico Orlando has caught 20 passes for 252 yards and four touchdowns. Sophomore Jared Haferbier has 24 catches for 240 yards and senior Brett Nagel has 24 catches for 221.
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The Bulldog offensive line has allowed 21 sacks for 126 yards and 51 tackles for loss for 188 yards.
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Through nine games, Truman is averaging 26.8 points per game, up from 23.0/game 2011 and from 22.1 in 2010.
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On the ground, the Bulldogs are averaging 129.4/g and have 1165 yards rushing through nine games. Passing, the Bulldogs are averaging 239.8/g (2095 yards) with an average of 362.2/g (3260 yards) in total offense. Last season, the team gained 1,389 yards on the ground (126.3/g), 2,422 yards passing (220.1) for a total offensive mark of 3,811 (346.4/g).
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The longest plays from scrimmage are a 66-yard pass from Conrad Schottel to Dallas Grier against Nebraksa-Kearney and a 55-yard rush by Garrett White against Lincoln (Mo.) University.
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The Bulldogs, though nine games, have turned the ball over 22 times (15 interceptions and eight fumbles lost). Opposing teams have scored 11 times following a Bulldog turnover. Last season, Truman turned the ball over 24 times with 16 interceptions and eight fumbles. Of those turnovers, opposing teams scored 11 times (10 touchdowns and one field goal).
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Truman has converted in the redzone this season 67% of the time with 23 touchdowns and six field goals out of 44 trips. Last year, the Bulldogs scored 80% of the time. They were 28 of 35 with 16 touchdowns.
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The Bulldogs have started 38 of their 143 drives on the plus side of the 50 yardline. They have scored 17 touchdowns and two field goals (50%) when starting a drive in their opponent's territory and their average field position is their own 39.
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The offense has converted 28% of their third downs in 2012 from the 34% last season.
Defensive Notebook:
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Senior Richie Schumacher leads the Bulldogs with 94 total tackles while 10 Truman defenders have over 30 tackles through nine games.
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The Bulldog defense has 26 sacks for 181 yards and 65 tackles for loss for 268 yards. Last season, Truman had 21 sacks for 145 yards and 56 tackles for loss. Senior Patrick Blackwell leads the team with seven sacks. His 20.5 career sacks are seventh all-time in Truman history.
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Truman allows 26.2 points per game through nine this season after allowing 32.5/g last year.
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The team has allowed 1587 yards rushing (176.3/g), 2158 yards passing (239.8/g) and 3745 yards of total offense (416.1). In 2011, the Bulldogs allowed 2,188 yards on the ground (198.9/g) , 2,703 yards passing (245.7/g) for a total defensive mark of 4,891 (444.6/g).
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The Bulldogs have allowed 25 plays from scrimmage over 30 yards this year the longest being a 81-yard pass by Emporia State. In 2011, the Bulldogs allowed 24 plays from scrimmage of 30-yards or more.
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The Bulldogs defense has forced 23 turnovers, 12 interceptions and 11 fumble recoveries. The offense has scored touchdowns on six of the 23 turnovers forced with another coming on a defensive pick-six against Central Missouri. Last season they forced 27 turnovers with nine interceptions and 18 fumble recoveries.
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Opponents have been in the redzone 36 times out of 143 drives this season but have converted for scores in 28 trips (78%). Last year, opponents were successful 72.3% of the time with 34 of 47 with 28 touchdowns. The average field position for the opposing is their own 25.4 yard line.
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The opposing offenses are 37% successful on third down after going 39% in 2011.
Special Teams Notebook:
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Junior Derek Koon is 8-of-15 in field goals in 2012 with a long from 46 and three blocked. For his career, he is 34-for-50 in field goals with a long 46 yards against Pittsburg State in 2012. He has also converted on 73-of-83 extra point attempts.
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Koon made 12 straight field goals to start the 2011 season, breaking the school record of Scott Bresaw's 10 set in 1990 and tied Bresaw's 1990 single-season record of 15 field goals made. Koon also broke Josh Barcus' (Pittsburg State) MIAA record for consecutive field goal. Koon's streak snapped when he missed a 51-yard field goal against Missouri Southern. That record was broken by Missouri Western's Greg Zuerlien also during the 2011 season.
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Senior Eric Phillips has had 58 punts in 2012 for an average of 40.2/punt. His long this season is 58 yards while his career long is 75 against Southwest Baptist in 2011. Last year, Phillips was second in the nation in punting with an average of 42.9/punt.
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Phillips has had five punts this season downed inside the opponents' one-yardline and 27 finishing inside the opponents 20 with four touchbacks.
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The Bulldogs have blocked two punts this season and four in the last two years.
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Dallas Grier has 17 punt returns for 197 yards (11.6/ret) with a long of 39.
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Garrett White (13) and Aaron Hartfield (8) lead the team in kickoff returns. White averages 24.9 per return and Hartifeld 21.2. Hartfield has the longest return of 41 yards against Washburn.
