KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - The Truman State Bulldogs will make the short trip across Highway 6 in northern Missouri to face the feisty Quincy Hawks in a key Great Lakes Valley Conference matchup on Saturday afternoon. The Bulldogs are riding a six-game winning streak, mentioned in the first public NCAA Super Regional rankings and sitting just outside the America Football Coaches Association Top 25 poll. Quincy is 4-4 on the season but features an explosive offense that has scored 98 points in the second half of their last three games.

The Bulldogs made quick work of William Jewell on Saturday with 21 first quarter points en route to a 42-7 win over the Cardinals in Liberty. Running back Shamar Griffith turned in his first 100-yard rushing day as a Bulldog (110) and Ben Thomas not only had one of the two Truman interceptions on defense, but posted 95 punt return yards with a long of 64. 

Quincy fell behind 42-10 at Indianapolis on Saturday but had the ball down seven at 45-38 at the Greyhound seven yardline. A costly interception and subsequent touchdown on the ensuing UINDY drive allowed the 'Hounds to dash the Quincy comeback. Hawks quarterback Tionne Harris threw for 503 yards on 35 of 57 passing attempts and Quincy put the most points up in a conference game against the Greyhounds since 2016. 

Harris has over 5,500 career passing yards at Quincy and will move into second place in school history with 11 yards. His 503 yards last week was a new school record.

In last year's matchup in Kirksville, the Bulldogs led 28-0 at half but Quincy didn't go away quietly with 28 second half points in the 49-28 loss to the Bulldogs. Truman put up a season-high 522 yards of total offense in the game with Nolan Hair passing for a career-high 325 yards and five touchdowns. On the defensive side, the Bulldogs sacked Tionne Harris four times and picked off the signal caller three times during the game. 

Truman has won five straight over the Hawks and are 7-1 against Quincy since the Bulldogs joined the GLVC in 2013. The Bulldogs won 63-14 in their last visit to QU Stadium in 2019 while the only Hawks win also came at home, in 2015, 23-19.

National/Regional Polls:

The first NCAA regional rankings were announced on Monday and the Bulldogs were listed as one of the teams under consideration for a spot in the national championship tournament. The first poll released by the NCAA listed teams via alphabetical order while subsequent polls will rank the teams within the region. Each region will have seven teams selected for the playoffs following the final regular season games on November 12th. The Bulldogs last made the NCAA Division II playoffs in 1994.

Four teams listed are undefeated, Davenport (6-0), Grand Valley State (7-0), Ouachita Baptist (8-0) and Pittsburg State (8-0), Truman is one of three teams with one loss joining Ferris State (5-1) and Indianapolis (5-1) and Emporia State, Harding and Saginaw Valley State are all at 6-2.  

Truman State sits just outside the AFCA Division II Top-25. The Bulldogs garnered 22 points while New Haven (Conn.) sits 25th with 45 points. The Bulldogs peaked at 18th in the poll last season before falling from the unbeaten with a 31-21 loss to Lindenwood. The Bulldogs have been inside the top 25 in the 2001, 2019 and 2021 seasons. 

Game Recap: Truman State 42, William Jewell 7

The game was delayed 30 minutes due to mechanical issues with one of the Truman buses heading to Liberty on Saturday.

Having the wind at their back in the first quarter, the Truman defense posted three straight three-and-outs to start the game and each Jewell punt traveled no more than 21 yards. 

The Bulldogs scored on each of those first three possessions with Chris Kerr catching a seven-yard pass, Collin Sutton rushing in from 11-yards out and Shamar Griffith blasting through for a 52-yard touchdown run, his longest run of the season.

The lead expanded to 28 when Jake Closser returned an interception for a touchdown. It was the first pick-six by a Bulldog since the 2019 season and Griffin Becker returning a 40-yard pass also against William Jewell.

Truman shutout the Cardinals for six consecutive quarters until Taylor Eggers punched in a QB sneak from one yard away late in the third quarter for Jewell's only touchdown of the game.

The defense held the Cardinals to 171 yards of total offense and only 34 on the ground on 29 carries. 

Ben Thomas entered the Bulldog top 10 in interceptions with is 10th and also had a Truman "GLVC" record of 64 yards on a punt return during the game. The prior longest punt return in a GLVC game by a Bulldog was 36 yards, twice by Jordan Jorgenson in 2016 against both Lincoln and Southwest Baptist. 

Truman Tidbits:

The Bulldogs have won six straight games for the second time during Coach Gregg Nesbitt's 13-year tenure. The last occurred in 2018.

Truman's prior longest winning streak was eight straight games in 1994 under then Head Coach and current radio analyst Eric Holm. The longest winning streak in school history is 36 games that started in 1931 and lasted until 1935 and was led by Head Coach Don Faurot.

Truman went 13-4 in 17 games played during the 2021 calendar year and 9-3 during the traditional fall season. The Bulldogs had the GLVC Offensive Player of the Year in Cody Schrader, who led Division II in rushing yards with 2,075 and touchdowns with 25 before entering the transfer portal and signing with the University of Missouri-Columbia. Robert Greco and Ben Watson, both defensive players are returning 2021 first-team all-GLVC members. In total, the Bulldogs had 178 players selected to the all-league list and will return 60 letter winners and 23 starters from 2021.

The Bulldogs were picked second in the GLVC Preseason Coaches poll behind perennial champion Indianapolis and ahead of McKendree, Southwest Baptist, Missouri S&T, Quincy and William Jewell.

Head Coach Gregg Nesbitt is in his 13th season on the sidelines of Truman State, the second most by any previous coach in school history. The team has gone 34-9 in there last 43 games (.790) with two America's Crossroads Bowl championships.

Punter Taylor Cornish is seventh in punt yards with 5,636 yards and sixth in punt attempts as a Bulldog with 144. In those boots, Cornish has a career average of 39.1, the fourth career best of any Bulldog punter to date. 

In 23 games as a starter, Nolan Hair has completed 61.7% of his passes for 4,086 yards and 40 touchdowns. He became the 14th Truman signal caller to throw for 4,000 career yards and currently ranks first in career pass completions percentage. He is sixth alone on the career touchdown passes list at Truman and four back of fifth place Chris Hegg.

Defensive back Ben Watson is closing in on 200 career tackles and will be the first defender since Jordan Brown (231 from 2014-17) to reach that milestone. Watson sites at 196 stops in 35 career games played. 

Next on the active leader list is Isaiah Estes with 185 in 33 games. In total, six active players have 100 or more career tackles, Ben Thomas (168), Peyton Carr (132), Kendall Hutchison (107) and Robert Greco (100).

Thomas has 10 career interceptions, and joined Tommy Hernandez, Steve Ernst, Marcus Yokeley and Mike Dahlberg at 10th on the career INT list. Ryan Olivas has eight career INTs.

Robert Greco is just two tackles for loss from cracking the top 10. Greco has 26 TFLs, two behind Ernie Myerson, Derek Kent, Eliah Lockart and Devin Gillespie.

Since 2018, Truman has returned seven kickoffs for touchdowns and three punts for scores. The last opponent to score on a kickoff was 2016 by William Jewell. 

Up Next:

The Bulldogs will face another volatile offense for their final home game of the season next Saturday when McKendree visits Kirksville. The Bearcats are the top offensive team in the GLVC at 40.1 points per game and have the most touchdowns of any league school with 44 through eight games. McKendree will host Southwest Baptist in their final home game this week.