The Bulldog football team takes their first road trip of the 2011 season as they will face their third ranked opponent in four weeks when they visit #20 University of Central Missouri on Saturday in Warrensburg.
The ‘Dogs are 1-2 overall after a heartbreaking 27-26 loss to #15 Pittsburg State last Saturday night.
Central Missouri trailed 35-17 in the third quarter and scored 28 of the next 31 points to down Emporia State on the road 45-38.
This is also the first game back in Warrensburg for five members of the Bulldog coaching staff. Head Coach Gregg Nesbitt was the defensive coordinator (2007-09) before becoming the Truman head coach.
Jed Paulsen (Offensive Line), Andy Ball (Defensive Line), Troy Williams (Linebackers) and Kellen Nesbitt (Defensive Coordinator) all served as graduate assistants for the Mules during the 2000s.
Kellen was a four-year letterwinner for UCM.
Five Things To Watch:
1 – Who Can Establish The Run
Central Missouri, coming off their best season a year ago at 11-3, and were led by quarterback Eric Czerniewski and his nearly 400 yards per game passing average.
While Czerniewski is gone, Mules quarterback Tommy Corwin is picking up the slack by leading the MIAA with 318 yards per game through the air.
Truman’s J.B. Clark is fourth in the conference passing yards per game at 227.3.
Both Truman and Central are the bottom two teams in the league in rushing offense.
The Mules are 10th with a 68.7 average while the Bulldogs are 19 yards per game better at 87.7 through three games.
2 – Keep The Clock Moving
Due to the fact that both teams have been throwing the ball, both are at the bottom of the league in time of possession per game. The Central offense has been on the field just 71:32 in three games for an average of 23:50, while Truman’s offense is slightly better at 78:13 or 26:04 per game.
3 –Punching It In
Central leads the MIAA in redzone offense scoring at a 87.5% clip with five touchdowns out of seven chances.
Truman is eighth at a 72.7% scoring rate but has three touchdowns out of eight redzone possessions.
Both schools are in the top five in redzone defense as Central has allowed six touchdowns 14 possessions and the Bulldogs have allowed nine TDs out of 16 possessions.
4 – Getting To The QB
While both quarterbacks like to throw with Truman averaging 41 pass attempts and the Mules 35 attempts per game, offensive and defensive line play will be important.
Truman’s defense has registered four sacks with the Mules have three in the first three games.
Truman’s O-Line has allowed four sacks while Central’s line has allowed seven.
5 – First Road Test
After playing their first three games at home to start the season, this will be the Bulldogs first away game.
Truman was 2-3 on the road last season with wins at non-conference Saint Joseph’s College (Ind.) and MIAA member Emporia State (Kan.).
The Bulldogs lost by three at Pittsburg State in their last road game on Nov. 6th.
The Mules were 5-1 at home a season ago with the only loss coming on a last second field goal by Northwest Missouri (17-16).
Offensive Notebook:
• Senior transfer J.B. Clark completed 58-of-118 pass attempts (49.1%) for 682 yards. He is fourth in the MIAA in passing with a 227.3 per game average.
His long pass is officially 48 yards to Donald Harvey, who lateralled the ball to Andy Mundwiller for a 63-yard pass against Pittsburg State.
• Clark passed for nearly 4,000 yards in 19 starts with 37 touchdown passes while a member of the Lehigh University (FCS) squad.
He did not play in the 2010 season after recovering from an injury.
• Senior Harnish Ayora leads the team in rushing with a 45.3 yards per game average.
He’s gained 136 yards on 25 carries for a 5.4 average. For his career, Ayora has 735 yards rushing and a 3.6 yards per carry average.
• Junior Will Mosquera is second in rushing with 23 attempts for 66 yards.
• Senior Anthony Brown leads the receiving corps with 19 catches for 247 yards and one touchdown.
Brown is tied for second in the MIAA in receptions per game at 6.3 and 3rd in yards per game with 82.5
• The Bulldogs are 8-of-11 (73%) in redzone opportunities in 2011 with three touchdowns.
Last season, the team was 80% successful in the redzone with 36 scores (25 touchdowns). In 2009, they were just 67% in the redzone with only 16 touchdowns in 36 opportunities.
• For the season, Truman is 33% in third down situations.
They are just 4-of-12 (25%) in short yardage third down situations (under three yards) but 39% when facing over four yards to go for a first down.
Defensive Notebook:
• Junior Patrick Blackwell is tied for fifth in the MIAA in sacks with three and has 16 for his career.
Truman has four total sacks with Jeramey Dockery and Nic Abbate picking up the others. The Bulldogs have 11 tackles for loss.
• The D recorded 27 pass sacks in 2010 for 216 yards, five more and nearly 100 more yards than 2009.
14 players were credited with sacks last year with Blackwell (8.0) and M.J. Kang (2.5) leading the attack.
• Junior Richie Schumacher has posted three straight 10+ tackles to start the season.
He is second in the MIAA behind Alex Whitehill (FHSU) in tackles per game with 13 and also has two tackles for loss. Schumacher has 28 tops on running plays.
In the 14 games that Coach Gregg Nesbitt has been in charge, six or 42% have come down to the final quarter before being decided, Truman is 3-3 in those games played.
In the six previous seasons before Nesbitt, the Bulldogs were involved in 13 nail biters in 66 games played (17%) and were 6-7 in those ball games.
Courtesy Truman State University
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