The Truman Bulldogs will welcome one of the nation's hottest teams for Homecoming on Saturday as the nationally-ranked and lone unbeaten in the MIAA Emporia (Kan.) State University Hornets come to Stokes Stadium.
The 70th Homecoming game on the Truman campus will kickoff at 2:00 p.m.
The Bulldogs (4-3; 3-3 MIAA) will be looking to shake off a 35-24 loss at #19 Washburn (Kan.) University last Saturday.
Trailing 14-10 at the half, the Bulldogs and Ichabods endured an 81-minute weather delay before the start of the third quarter.
After Truman was forced to punt on the opening drive, Washburn marched down the field in nine plays to open up a 21-10 and then scored on a 69-yard pass on their next play from scrimmage to go up 28-10.
The turnover bug plagued the Bulldogs as they had four interceptions with two returned for touchdowns.
Emporia (7-0; 7-0 MIAA) pitched their first conference shutout since 2000 in a 13-0 win over Lindenwood (Mo.) University for their homecoming game last Saturday.
A pair of Derek Jonas field goals gave the Hornets a 6-0 lead heading into the fourth quarter before Tyler Eckenrode tossed a two-yard TD pass to Ray Ray Davis for an insurance score.
The Hornets held the Lions to just 282 yards of total offense while Eckenrode was 21-of-36 for 257 yards passing.
This is the 27th meeting between the Bulldogs and Hornets as Emporia is just one of two MIAA schools with a winning record over Truman.
The Hornets are 16-10 against the 'Dogs including last year's 52-18 win. Emporia scored 21 points in the first quarter and added 14 more in the second to down the Bulldogs a season ago.
Eckenrode was 19-of-28 for 194 yards but a trio of running backs each gained over 60 yards during the game. Truman was led by Anthony Brown's 145 yards receiving on nine catches.
Bulldogs In Homecoming Games:
Truman is 43-24-2 in Homecoming games played since the first one in 1939. The first game was a 21-7 loss to Central Missouri.
The longest homecoming winning streak was 10 straight from 1992-2001.
Truman is 3-2 in their last five Homecoming games, falling last year to Washburn (Kan.) 42-14 but defeating Missouri Southern in 2010 23-6.
Truman is 3-0 in Homecoming games against Emporia State with the last coming in 2007, a 33-30 overtime win in which the Bulldogs scored 14 points in the fourth quarter and won it on a 32-yard field goal by Mickey Masucci.
Bulldogs Quick Glance:
Truman (4-3; 3-3 MIAA) has already matched their victory total from last season and have been led by junior quarterback Conrad Schottel and junior receiver Dallas Grier.
Schottel has thrown from 1561 yards and 12 touchdown passes while Grier has 46 catches for 677 yards and four scores.
Senior Will Mosquera has had 111 rushing attempts for 391 yards and sophomore Garrett White has added 63 carries for 326 yards.
Defensively, senior Richie Schumacher leads the team with 65 tackles and senior Patrick Blackwell has six sacks and 11 tackles for loss.
The Bulldogs have picked off 11 passes and recovered eight fumbles through seven games.
Truman won their first three games to start the season defeating Southwest Baptist 24-14, Lincoln 42-12 and non-conference Northwestern Oklahoma State 63-21 before dropping consecutive games at Central Missouri 38-17 and Fort Hays State 37-23.
They bounced back with a 16-7 win over Nebraska-Kearney but lost to Washburn last week 35-24. Truman's past opponents have a record of 15-34 heading into this week's games.
Hornets Quick Glance:
Emporia State (7-0; 7-0 MIAA) is tied for 18th in the American Football Coaches Association Top 25 poll and are led by senior quarterback Tyler Eckenrode.
With 15 touchdown passes and 2096 yards,
Eckenrode is first in the MIAA in total offense at 324 yards per game.
Eckenrode is flanked by receiver Shjuan Richardson (48 catches, 756 yards) and running back Derwin Hall (72 attempts, 335 yards). Richardson leads the MIAA in receiving yards per game at 108.0.
Defensively, Ben Carlson leads the Hornets with 55 tackles with Aaron Matthews registering a team-high 3.5 sacks.
The Hornets have allowed just 18.3 points per game and 319 yards of total offense per game.
They are also second in the MIAA in turnover margin at +7 with 13 interceptions and six fumbles recovered.
Emporia has rolled to their first 7-0 start since 1988, before joining the MIAA and are the only undefeated team in the 15-team conference.
Emporia's past opponents have a 10-38 overall record heading into this week's games.
Courtesy Truman State University
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