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Truman State University Athletics

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Football

Game Notes: Title Pursuit Begins At Quincy Saturday

Truman State University Bulldog Football Game Notes:
 
KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The Truman Bulldogs begin their quest for a conference title on Saturday when they face Quincy (Ill.) University in the first Great Lakes Valley Conference game at 1:00 p.m. from Flynn Stadium.

The Series:
Despite a tradition-rich rivalry that the Bulldogs and Hawks share in a majority of sports, the two football teams have met just three times in the past. The first meeting was the only loss handed to the Bulldogs in the 1951 season finale. The Hawks won 43-12 at home as Truman finished 7-1-1 in Red Wade's first season on the sideline.

The two teams played a home and home series in 2001 and 2002 that was dominated by the Bulldogs. Truman outscored the Hawks 120-21 in the two games and put up nearly 1000 yards of total offense. The 2001 game at Quincy was a 51-7 victory while the 2002 contest in Kirksville was decided 69-14.

The Hawks have spent the majority of their years on the gridiron as a member of the NAIA while Truman has been an NCAA Division II member since the subdivision formed in 1973.

The Match-Up:
The Bulldogs and Central Missouri Mules battled for three quarters on Saturday night with Truman entering the final 15 minutes down 20-16 with the football. An errant snap on a punt that led to a safety and three straight Central touchdowns led to a 44-23 Truman loss.

Truman is led offensively by junior running back Garrett White, senior wide receiver Dallas Grier and senior quarterback Conrad Schottel. White is averaging 106.8 yards per game and a 7.1 yards per carry average while Grier has caught 24 passes for 271 yards. Schottel has completed 55% of his passes for 529 yards and five touchdowns.

Defensively, redshirt freshman Austin Zoda leads the team with 44 total tackles while junior Matthew Bell is second with 32 total stops and has one of the team's three interceptions.

The Hawks cracked the win column for the first time in 2013 with a 36-7 non-conference victory over Lindenwood-Belleville on Saturday afternoon. Wide receiver Justin Dickens earned GLVC Offensive Player of the Week honors after hauling in seven catches for 190 yards including an 86-yard touchdown reception and a 52-yard TD strike from quarterback Nick Lonergan.

Quincy was second in the GLVC in time of possession at nearly 34 minutes per game while first in redzone offense at 91.7% going 11-of-12. Lonergan is fifth in the league in total offensie at 220.5/game and Dickens is third in receiving yards at 89.0.

The Coaches:
Gregg Nesbitt is in his fourth season as head coach of his alma mater. Nesbitt has gone 4-7 in the three previous years for an overall record of 14-23. Nesbitt's teams were 7-21 in MIAA games the past three seasons and are 6-11 away from Kirksville.  

Tom Pajic guided the Hawks to a 3-8 record in his first season on the sidelines in the Gem City.  The Hawks allowed 32 points per game while scoring 18.5 per contest. Quincy was 3-5 in GLVC play last year and return eight all-conference players led by second team selections, running back LaDarion Shelby and Justin Dickens on offense and defensive players Tyler Reidl and Zach Vath.

What's Hot:
  • Truman is 540-387-34 (.580) all-time since 1900. The .580 winning percentage is the best by any NCAA I Football playing school in the state of Missouri. Next highest is Northwest Missouri State at (.565).
  • The Bulldogs are ranked fourth in Division II in kick returns averaging 30.8 per. Tremaine Millender is third with his 40.0 yard return average, while Aaron Hartfield is 15th with a 31.9 return average. 
  • Truman has had five kick returns go for over 50 yards through the first four games. Millender has a 100 and 54 yard return, Harfield has a 68 and 59 yard return and Garrett White has a 52 yard return. Eight kick returns take up the 15 Truman plays that have gone for over 30 yards.
  • Jacob Lamp is 10th in Division II with a 44.0 yard punt average and the Bulldogs are sixth in net punting average with a 41.3 mark. Just two of the 16 punts by Lamp have been returned for a total of two yards.
  • The Bulldogs are 10th in the nation in fewest penalties per game at 4.5 for 40.7 yards.
  • The Truman defense did not gain a turnover in Saturday's loss against Central Missouri which broke a string of 33 straight games the Truman has forced a turnover.  The Bulldogs have forced a turnover in all but three games since Kellen Nesbitt took over as defensive coordinator in 2010.
  • Garrett White is second in the GLVC in rushing yards with 427 and 106.8/game. White is averaging 7.1 per carry and is on pace to become Truman's first 1000 yard rusher since Jerard Leverson ran for 1012 in 2003.
  • Dallas Grier moved into third place all-time in Truman receptions and receiving yards following Saturday's game.  Grier passed Fontaine Walker in receptions and now has 185 for his career with eyes on second place Rich Otte's 206 catches from 1989-1992. Grier's 2,444 yards receving moved him past Russell Evans's total of 2,387 from 1983-86. He is 450 yards away from Otte's career yards for second place.
 
Bulldogs In Conference Openers:
Truman is 55-29-2, all under the Mid-America or Missouri Intercollegiate Athletics Association banner, in conference openers. Last year, the Bulldogs won 24-14 over Southwest Baptist to break an 11-game losing streak in league openers.

Overall, Truman has played 961 football games, with 521 being conference games. Truman/Northeast Missouri played 333 games under the league known as the Missouri Intercollegiate Athletics Association from 1912-1992 while another 188 games in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association. The Bulldogs overall conference record during that span was 300-201-20 with a league-high 26 conference titles.

GLVC Preseason Poll:
In the league poll, voted on by conference coaches and released in August as part of the GLVC Kickoff event, the Bulldogs were picked to finish third in their first season in the league. Defending champion, the University of Indianapolis was the overwhelming favorite to repeat while second place Missouri S&T was chosen second.

The Quincy Hawks were picked sixth out of the eight teams in the conference. The Hawks garnered 18 points to trail Saint Joseph's and McKendree.

Team Statistical Trends:
  • Offensively, Truman is averaging 25.5 points per game with a season-high of 40 against Southwest Baptist in week one. The Bulldogs average 133.8 yards on the ground and 167.3 through the air for a total offense average of 301.0.
  • The average time of possession per game for Truman is 26:59 with a high of 29:16 against Grand Valley State and a low of 24:35 against William Penn. Opponents have averaged 33:00 minutes per game with William Penn chewing up a season-best 35:25 in week three.
  • Defensively, Truman is allowing 33.8 points per game with 221.0 yards rushing and 285.2 passing for a total defensive number of 506.2.
  • The first quarter has statistically been the best quarter for the Bulldogs with a 6.9 yards per play average, 50% on third down conversions and an average time of possession of over eight minutes.
  • Opponents have averaged over nine minutes of possession time in the second and fourth quarters with an 8.2 yards per play mark in the final 15 minutes.
  • Truman has started nine of their 46 drives on the opponent's side of the field and have scored in eight of those possessions (89%). Opponents have started six drives in Truman territory out of 50 possessions and have scored touchdowns on each occasion.
  • The Bulldogs average starting position is their own 36 while opponents have started nearly nine yards back on their own 27.
  • The offense has averaged five yards per play while the defense has allowed seven through the first four games.
  • Truman is 60% successful on third down when facing less than five yards while opponents are 65% successful when facing the same situation. Longer than five yards, the conversion percentage drops to 26% for Truman and just 21% for opponents.
  • In redzone scoring, Truman has been successful on 10 of 13 trips (76%) with seven touchdowns and three field goals. Opponents have scored on 18 of 23 trips (78%) with 14 touchdowns and four field goals.
Individual Statistical Trends:
  • Five different Bulldogs have at least 10 carries through four games with Garrett White leading the way with 60 for 427 yards and three touchdowns. White is averaging 106.8 yards per game and 7.1 per play.
  • White had a season-high 20 rushers in week two against Grand Valley State and a season/career high 146 yards in a week one victory over Southwest Baptist. He has the longest rush from scrimmage this season with an 80 yard touchdown run against William Penn in week three.
  • Conrad Schottel has completed 55% of his passes for 529 yards and has 20 career touchdown passes. Sophomore Zach Tobin is 8-of-11 and redshirt freshman Devonte Black was 7-of-11 in a week three victory over William Penn.
  • Dallas Grier has hauled in 13 career touchdown passes over his four seasons and is averaging 67.8 per game and 11.3 per catch this season. Has had nine 100-yard receiving days with 106 against Central Missouri being his season-high this season.  Grier has six games in his career when he caught 10 or more passes and had 10 in week four against Central Missouri.
  • Jared Haferbier is second with 11 receptions for 86 yards while Brett Nagel, Garrett White and Chico Orlando have caught eight, seven and seven respectively.
  • Nic Abbate has seven of the team's 24 tackles for loss this year and 20.5 for his career.  Nick Reichert is second on the team with 3.0 tackles for loss out of his 12 stops.
  • Austin Zoda leads the team with 18 unassisted tackles and 44 total stops.
  • Matthew Bell, Chris Stanton and Brady Schroeder have the team's three interceptions this season while Stanton has the squad's only fumble recovery.
  • Derek Koon has made 43-of-63 career field goal attempts and is Truman's career leader in makes. His long is 46 yards during the 2012 season and has attempted three kicks of 50 yards or more.  Koon is 85 of 96 on extra point attempts and has 214 career points.
  • Dallas Grier has four punt returns for 70 yards this season for an average of 17.5 and a long of 39. During his return career, Grier has 22 for 275 yards.
  • Tremaine Millender and Aaron Hartfield each have seven kick returns this season with Millender averaging 40 yards with a long of 100 and Harfield averaging 31.9 and a long of 68. Millender has 33 career returns for 27.6 yard per return average and two touchdowns.
  • Jacob Lamp has 16 punts this season for a 44.0 yards per punt average. Lamp has a long of 59 in week one against Southwest Baptist and has six total over 50 yards with 10 landing inside the opponent's 20 yard line. Only one punt, for two yards, has been returned this season.
This Date In Bulldog History:
The Bulldogs are 6-5 on games played on October 5.

They last defeated Southwest Baptist 44-32 in 2002 to break a five-game losing streak on this date.

Truman lost at Pittsburg State in 1996 (31-16), at Southwest Baptist in 1991 (37-25), at home against Missouri State in 1985 (59-33), at home against Central Arkansas in 1974 (16-13) and 20-6 at Lincoln in 1968.

The Bulldogs won a 25-20 game at Pittsburg State in 1963, a 12-0 shutout at Southeast Missouri in 1951 and completed their fifth straight shutout with a 19-0 win against Missouri S&T in 1934. It was the second time a Don Faurot team had shutout five straight opponents during the Bulldogs record 27-game winning streak dating from 1931-1935.

Up Next:
Truman will head west for the first and only time this season as they will play the William Jewell Cardinals next Saturday in Liberty, Mo. It will be the second straight road game for the Bulldogs and first meeting with the Cardinals since 1961. Kickoff from Greene Stadium is slated for 1:00 p.m.
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