Two teams looking to bounce back from two straight losses will clash on Saturday at Stokes Stadium in Kirksville as the Truman (Mo.) Bulldogs host #22 Pittsburg (Kan.) State University at 1:00 p.m.
The Bulldogs have designated this game as their celebration for survivors of Breast Cancer and invite all fans to show their support by wearing pink to the game.
The Truman Volleyball team will also “Dig Pink” when they host Southwest Baptist (Mo.) afterwards at 6:00 p.m. in Pershing Arena.
The Bulldogs (4-4; 3-4 MIAA) watched Emporia (Kan.) State’s senior quarterback put up 422 yards passing with Shjuan Richardson catching 217 of those yards in a 52-26 loss last Saturday.
Truman was picked off four times during the game however Garrett White broke through with a season-high 97 yards rushing on 19 carries.
The Gorillas (5-2; 5-2 MIAA) found themselves in an unfamiliar spot as they were handled at home by #16 Missouri Western State University 63-14.
After John Brown caught a six-yard TD pass from Anthony Abenoja to put the Gorillas up, Western scored the next 56 points in the jungle to win going away.
Pittsburg State ran 90 plays to the Griffons 48 on Saturday however Western averaged 9.1 yards to the Gorillas 4.5 per play in the win.
Both teams are tied for first in the MIAA in sacks by a defense with 26 (Missouri Western also has 26 sacks) with Patrick Blackwell leading the Bulldogs with eight and Gus Toca leading the Gorillas with six.
The overall series has been dominated by the Gorillas (26-15) however they last three years have included a Truman win (28-21 in 2009) and two wins by Pitt by a total of four points.
Last year in Kirksville, the Gorillas raced down the field in the final minute to pull out a 27-26 victory over the Bulldogs despite five Pittsburg State turnovers.
Briceton Wilson had 140 yards rushing for the Gorillas and Anthony Brown led the ‘Dogs with 119 yards receiving.
Pittsburg State and Truman are in the top eight among all-time overall wins in Division II.
The Gorillas are first with 659 wins while Truman is eighth with 538. Up until this year they were 1-2 among MIAA schools in victories but Central Oklahoma entered the conference with 590 overall wins and sits in fourth place.
Bulldogs Quick Glance:
Truman (4-4; 3-4 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 for 1693 yards and 12 touchdown passes while Grier has 55 catches for 798 yards and four scores.
Sophomore Garrett White has 423 yards on 82 attempts rushing and senior Will Mosquera has 391 yards on 111 rushes. White leads the team in scoring with nine touchdowns, eight rushing and one receiving.
Defensively, senior Richie Schumacher leads the team with 74 tackles and senior Patrick Blackwell has seven sacks and 13 tackles for loss.
The Bulldogs have picked off 12 passes and recovered nine fumbles through eight 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 #19 Washburn 35-24 and #18 Emporia State 52-26 in consecutive weeks.
Courtesy Truman State University
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