The Truman Bulldogs will look to spoil Missouri Western’s homecoming on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in St. Joseph, Mo. as the two schools clash in week eight of MIAA Football.
The Bulldogs have lost two straight while the Griffons have reeled off three wins in-a-row.
Truman’s J.B. Clark threw for 263 yards and had a 69-yard rush but the Bulldogs came up seven points short in a 24-17 loss to Missouri Southern last Saturday in Joplin.
Collin Howard tossed two 27-yard touchdown passes, the last coming on a third and 12 early in the fourth quarter to break a 17-all score.
Clark (1,644 yards passing) has already surpassed last season’s team passing total and is currently on pace for the most single-season passing yards since Jake Czeschin 3,001 yards in 2004.
The Bulldog receiving corps, led by Anthony Brown and Dallas Grier, has a five-game streak of having a receiver over 100 yards in a game, the longest streak over the past decade.
Brown’s 135 yards against the Lions on Saturday was the most by a Bulldog receiver since Vanness Emokpae gained 200 yards through the air against Upper Iowa in 2007.
Richie Schumacher is on his own pace as the top defensive player for the Bulldogs this season.
Schumacher has notched 81 total tackles through seven games and with four remaining, is on pace to record the most since Marti Rave’s 144 in 1975.
The Griffons have won three straight after surviving a 22-16 victory against Emporia State on Saturday.
Western got off to a fast start with 19 points coming in the first 20 minutes of the game.
The Hornets got a 50-yard run by LaDarrian Page and a three-yard TD reception by Ray Ray Davis to trim the lead to six with 1:08 to play but could not recover the onsides kick.
Michael Hill led the Griffons with 112 yards rushing on 20 carries and is second in the MIAA with over 90 yards on the ground per game.
Hill leads the team in both rushing and receiving while the Griffon defense leads the conference with 16 interceptions this season.
Last season, the then-19th ranked Griffons were able to grind out a 29-7 win over the Bulldogs in St. Joseph. The lead was just six at half before Andrew Mead caught a 73-yard pass from Drew Newhart following a Bulldog punt.
Five Keys To Watch:
1 – Keeping An Eye On Hill
Western running back Michael Hill is second in the MIAA in rushing 90.9 yards per game with the second most carries in the conference with 126 and a 5.0 yards per rush.
He is also the team’s top receiver with 21 catches for 187 yards.
The Bulldogs are ranked ninth in the conference in rushing yards allowed at 218 per game while overall the Griffons are the third ranked team in rushing with a 213 per game average.
In addition to Hill, Dominic Thomas has 36 carries for 272 yards and quarterback Travis Partridge has 268 yards on 68 carries.
Truman’s Richie Schumacher leads the team with 58 tackles on running plays followed by Wade Pelc’s 38.
2 – Red Zone Success
Both teams are in the top half of the league in red zone success with the Griffons scoring nearly 90% of the time and the Bulldogs being successful 84%.
The top two field goal kickers in the conference will also be in action as Truman’s Derek Koon is 12-of-13 in field goal attempts while counterparts Greg Zuerlein and Taylor Anderson are a combine 18-of-19.
Zuerlein has made all 10 field goals attempted from outside of 30 yards including four from beyond 50 yards with a 57 yard make earlier this season.
Koon made a conference record 12 straight field goals until he missed from 51 yards last Saturday against Missouri Southern. His long this season is 42 yards.
3 –Keep Heat Off Clark
The Bulldog o-line have allowed 14 of their 22 sacks allowed in the last two games and will now face the MIAA’s top tandem pass sacks. David Bass has nine and Ben Pister has 6.5 sacks to place 1-2 in the conference.
Western had seven sacks against Central Missouri and another five against Langston during a two-game stretch which was more than half of their 21 recorded this season.
4 – Avoid The Picks
Missouri Western leads the MIAA with 16 interceptions while Truman has thrown 12 picks thus far through seven games.
Jeremy Weston has four picks and Shane Simpson three for the Griffons, however Western has allowed 229.4 yards in the air per game.
5 –The Intangibles
The two teams are polar opposites in terms of fouls called against. The Bulldogs have been flagged just 36 times for a 47.1 yards per game average while the Griffons have committed 57 fouls for an 80.9 per game mark.
Both teams are under 30 minutes of possession time per game and both are under 34% in third down success rate.
Courtesy Truman State University
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