Football 9/17/2012 4:35:00 PM

Game Notes: Bulldogs/Mules Take National TV Stage Thursday

Game Links Thursday, September 20 – 7:07 p.m. – Kennedy Stadium/Walton Field (Warrensburg, Mo.)
Truman Game Notes (attached)	Central Missouri
Ticket Information	Parking Information
Live Audio (104.7 FM) KRES (pregame 6:10 p.m.)	Live Video
Live Stats	MIAA Standings
MIAA Statistics	CBS Sports Net Channel Finder

Viewing Information:
The game is part of the CBS Sports Network and the NCAA Division II Game of the Week package. Fans from across the country can view the game on the CBS Sports Network by checking the Channel Finder. On Truman's campus, the game will be shown on Channel 28 while on Direct TV (613) and Dish Network (158). The network is NOT AVAILABLE on CableOne in Kirksville.

Old rivals will meet for the 96th time on Thursday night as the Truman Bulldogs (3-0; 2-0 MIAA) will square off against the University of Central Missouri (2-1; 2-1 MIAA) in front of a national television audience on the CBS Sports Network. Kickoff between two of the charter members of the MIAA is scheduled for 7:07 p.m.

Both teams coming into the contest on a roll as Truman has reeled off five straight wins dating back to last season and the Mules are 3-1 after a dominating performance over then-#3 ranked Northwest Missouri State and a road win last Saturday at Lindenwood (Mo.). However the records of both team's opponents is quite drastic. The Bulldogs opponents this year are 0-9 while the Mules opponents this year are 7-2.

This is the fourth oldest series in Division II football dating back to 1905 with 96 games played; the last 66 have been consecutive. The last year these two teams did not meet on the gridiron was 1945 as the Second World War was ending.

The Mules will be looking to win their sixth straight game over the Bulldogs, which would be their longest winning streak during the series. Central downed the 'Dogs 54-30 last year in Warrensburg. The series will at least continue one more year despite the Bulldogs moving to the Great Lakes Valley Conference in 2013. The Mules will visit Kirksville in mid-September for the first non-conference game between the two schools since 1911.

Bulldogs Quick Glance:
Truman is coming off a 63-21 dismantling of Northwestern Oklahoma State University on Saturday night in Kirksville. Junior Dallas Grier caught eight passes for a career high 156 yards and junior quarterback Conrad Schottel tossed four total TD passes in the victory. The Bulldogs gained 270 yards on the ground with sophomore Garrett White scoring twice, once from 46 yards away.
White and Will Mosquera have been a one-two punch for the Bulldog running game this year. Both have over 200 yards on the ground and four touchdowns. Schottel has completed 54% of his passes for 679 yards and eight touchdowns while Grier has 18 catches for 313 yards. Richie Schumacher leads a veteran defense with 20 tackles and Patrick Blackwell has 18 stops with three sacks.

Mules Quick Glance:
LaVance Taylor's 21-yard run with just over three minutes left gave Central Missouri a 35-28 victory over the Lindenwood (Mo.) Lions on Saturday night on the road. The Mules led 14-3 but the Lions would tie the game early in the fourth quarter before Taylor's running touchdown. Taylor finished with 96 yards rushing and Colter Smith completed 26-of-41 passing attempts for 285 yards.
Taylor leads Central with 292 yards on the ground (5.7/carry) and Smith has completed 65.5% of his passes for 836 yards and seven touchdowns. Top target is Ronrei Lloyd (14 catches, 193 yards). On defense, Central is led by Joe Carter with 23 tackles, two for loss and an interception.

About the Bulldogs:
Head Coach Gregg Nesbitt is in his third season on the Truman sideline after two straight 4-7 campaigns. The Bulldogs return 47 juniors and seniors, 59 total letterwinners and 18 starters from 2011. Of the starters returning, five are on offense, 10 on defense and both punter and place kicker are back.
• The Bulldogs have played 949 games all-time. The Bulldogs are 537-378-34 (.584) all time.
• 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).
• 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.
• Truman is the winningest NCAA program all-time in the state of Missouri with the .584 win percentage. The University of Missouri has the most wins with 626 with the Bulldogs second with 537.
• Truman's 537 wins is eighth all-time in Division II.

Returning All-Americans:
Truman features four players that have earned all-America honors during their career.
Senior defensive back Richie Schumacher was a third team BeyondSportsNetwork All-America selection after finishing third in Division II in tackles with 130.
Junior place kicker Derek Koon was also a BSN All-American earning a nod on the honorable mention list going 15-of-17 in field goals and converting on 22-of-27 point-after attempts.
Senior punter Eric Phillips was a second-team Don Hansen Division II All-America in 2011 after averaging 42.9 yards per punt, good for sixth in Division II. For his career, Phillips has averaged 39.0/yards per punt with a long of 75.
Senior defensive back Michael Elliott returns after earning a third-team Don Hansen selection in 2010 and taking last season off due to injury. Elliott led the defense as a junior with 91 total tackles and has six career interceptions.

Bulldogs In The MIAA/NCAA Statistics:
The Bulldogs are first in two conference statistical categories, Sacks (4.0/g) and Tackles for Loss (9.67/g). They are second in Rushing Defense (80.67/g) and third in Rushing Offense (193.3/g), Scoring Offense (43.0/g), Pass Efficiency Defense (101.77) and Scoring Defense (15.6/g).
Their highest national rankings for the Bulldogs are seventh in sacks and 14th in tackles for loss. They are 16th in scoring offense, 19th in scoring defense and 26th in both rushing defense and pass efficiency defense.
Michael Elliott is tied for first in the nation with Northwest Missouri's Brandon Dixon with three interceptions this season. Elliott's three picks came against Southwest Baptist and earned him the MIAA Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 3rd.
Dallas Grier is 17th nationally and 3rd in the MIAA in receiving yards per game (104.3/g).
Garrett White is 24th in scoring and tied for fourth in the conference (10.0/g).
Patrick Blackwell is tied for 2nd in the league in sacks per game (1.0/g) and tied for 28th nationally.

Offensive Notebook:

Sophomore Garrett White and senior Will Mosquera have 86 of the team's 132 rush attempts. Each have four rushing touchdowns with White averaging 82.3 yards/g and Mosquera 68.7 yards per game.
Junior quarterback Conrad Schottel has completed 54% of his passes (48-of-99) with eight touchdowns and four interceptions. He has an efficiency rating of 140.3 and has thrown for 679 yards.
Junior Dallas Grier has been the top target with 18 catches for 313 yards. Redshirt freshman Chico Orlando has caught nine passes for 145 yards and a team-leading three touchdowns.
The Bulldog offensive line has allowed seven sacks for 38 yards and 20 tackles for loss for 67 yards.
Through three games, Truman is averaging 43.0 points per game, up from 23.0/game 2011 and from 22.1 in 2010.
On the ground, the Bulldogs are averaging 193.3/g and have 580 yards rushing through three games. Passing, the Bulldogs are averaging 245.3/g (736 yards) with an average of 438.7/g (1316 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).
The longest plays from scrimmage is a 60-yard pass from Conrad Schottel to Dallas Grier against Northwestern Oklahoma and a 55-yard rush by Garrett White against Lincoln (Mo.) University. Last year it was a 69-yard rush by J.B. Clark against Missouri Southern and a 61-yard pass from Clark to Kurt Loyd against Central Missouri.
The Bulldogs, though three games, have turned the ball over six times (four interceptions and three fumbles lost). Opposing teams have scored twice 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).
Truman converted in the redzone this season 68% of the time with 12 touchdowns and one field goal out of 19 trips. Last year, the Bulldogs scored 80% of the time. They were 28 of 35 with 16 touchdowns.
The Bulldogs have started a third of their total drives (19 of 54) on the plus side of the 50 yardline. They have scored 10 touchdowns when starting a drive in their opponent's territory.
The offense has converted 39% of their third downs in 2012 up from 34% last season.

Defensive Notebook:

Senior Richie Schumacher leads the Bulldogs with 20 total tackles while 10 Truman defenders have over 10 tackles through three games.
The Bulldog defense has 12 sacks for 84 yards and 29 tackles for loss for 124 yards. Last season, Truman had 21 sacks for 145 yards and 56 tackles for loss. Senior Patrick Blackwell leads the team with three sacks.
Truman allowed just 15.7 points per game through three this season after allowing 32.5/g last year.
The team has allowed 242 yards rushing (80.7/g), 719 yards passing (239.7/g) and 961 yards of total offense (320.3). 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).
The Bulldogs have allowed just two plays from scrimmage over 30 yards this year, a 52-yard pass by Northwestern Okla. St. and a 50-yard pass by Lincoln (Mo.). In 2011, the Bulldogs allowed 24 plays from scrimmage of 30-yards or more.
The Bulldogs defense has forced seven turnovers, five interceptions and two fumble recoveries. The offense has scored touchdowns on two of the seven turnovers forced. Last season they forced 27 turnovers with nine interceptions and 18 fumble recoveries. Of the 27 turnovers, 10 resulted in scores for the Bulldogs with two scores directly credited to the defense.
Opponents have been in the redzone just six times out of 54 drives this season but have converted for touchdowns in each trip. Last year, opponents were successful 72.3% of the time with 34 of 47 with 28 touchdowns.
The opposing offenses are 28% successful on third down after going 39% in 2011.

Special Teams Notebook:

Junior Derek Koon is 1-of-3 in field goals in 2012 with a make from 37 and two blocked from 36 and 28 yards. For his career, he is 27-for-38 in field goals with a long 42 yards against Fort Hays State and Central Missouri in 2011. He has also converted on 62-of-71 extra point attempts.
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.
Senior Eric Phillips has had 19 punts in 2012 for an average of 39.8/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.
Phillips has had three punts this season downed inside the opponents one-yardline and nine finishing inside the opponents 20 with three touchbacks.
The Bulldogs have blocked one punt this season and three in the last two years.

Academic Success:
• The Bulldogs had 48 players earn distinction on the MIAA Academic Honor Roll last year, the most of any conference program. To be eligible, a player must have a cumulative grade-point average above a 3.00. The team had a cumulative grade-point average of 3.02 following the 2012 spring semester and an average ACT score of 24.
• Truman had an 88% Academic Success Rate in football according to data released by the NCAA last year. It was the highest ASR rate in the MIAA and one of the top percentages of all Division II public institutions. The Truman Athletics department had an overall ASR of 95%.

Up Next:
Truman returns home to face Fort Hays State (Kan.) in conference play on Saturday, September 29. The Tigers are winless in their first three games and host nationally ranked Missouri Western prior to coming to Kirksville. Kickoff is 1:00 p.m. in Kirksville.

Truman/Northwest Oklahoma Foot Notes:

Dallas Grier's 156 yards receiving matched his total for the first two games of the season and set a new career high for the junior. It was the most receiving yards by a Bulldog since Vanness Emokpae tallied 170 in a 2007 game against Upper Iowa University.
Place kicker Derek Koon matched the Truman single-game record for point after conversions with nine. It has happened three other times in Bulldog history, twice by Dave Austinson in 1982 (against Northwest Missouri and Lincoln) and most recently by Scott Rudel in a 1995 contest against Missouri S&T).
Truman started seven drives on the Northwestern Oklahoma side of the field and scored touchdowns in five of them. Five other drives started between the Bulldog 40 and midfield with four more scores. Truman's averaged starting postion was their own 48.
The Rangers started two drives from their own one and four inside their 10. Their average starting position was their own 19 yardline.
The Bulldog defense limited the Rangers to 90 yards of total offense in the second and third quarters on 45 plays (2.0/ypp). Northwestern Oklahoma, for the game, averaged 4.2 yards per play on 98 plays while Truman averaged 7.1 yards per play on 73 snaps from scrimmage.
The turnover battle ended in a tie with Northwestern Oklahoma getting a fumble and interception and the Bulldogs jumping on two fumbles.

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