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Opponent: Truman State
Time: Saturday, October 16; 1:00 PM
Location: Bolivar, MO | Plaster Stadium
 
Bolivar, Mo. - The Bearcats return home after dominating William Jewell 55-10 on the road last week. The Bulldogs of Truman State will be coming to town, receiving votes in the latest national poll. 

Scouting The Bearcats
Robert Clardy will be entering his seventh season (2021-22) as the Head Football Coach and his 14th season overall on the Bearcats Football coaching staff. In 2016, Coach Clardy earned GLVC Coach of the Year honors after leading the Bearcats to their first ever conference title and NCAA National Playoff appearance after finishing the season 10-2 (7-1 GLVC). Clardy's Bearcats were ranked as high as 17th in the NCAA Division II AFCA poll, finishing 22nd in the final NCAA Division II AFCA poll, while earning their first ever regional and national rankings. Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, the 2020-21 football season took place in the spring of 2021. The spring season was a shortened, three game, conference opponents only, season. Truman State visited Bolivar, taking the first game after a very tight first half. SBU nearly defeated Missouri S&T on the road the next week, but fell short late in the game. The final game finished with a high scoring victory over William Jewell.

Southwest Baptist is off to a 2-4 (1-1 GLVC) start to the 2021 season. Texas Permian Basin's strong defense held off the potent Bearcat offense, taking the week one matchup 24-16. Week two saw the Bearcats take on the defending national champions and #1 ranked West Florida on their turf. The Argonauts took the game 63-14. The Oilers of Findlay won a shootout in week three, 62-41. Bouncing back, the Bearcats defeated Lake Erie 28-20 on the road in week four, holding the Storm scoreless in the second half. UINDY won week five, 77-10. Most recently, SBU dominated William Jewell 55-10 on the road. The spring's GLVC Offensive Player of the Year, Cooper Callis, returns to lead the SBU offense. Coming off a record-breaking week, Callis won GLVC Player of the Week honors. In that game, he threw for 512 yards, 6 TDs and 0 int. He leads the GLVC in all passing categories, ranks 5th in the nation in passing yards (1942) and 9th in passing TD (18). Preston Carson, Jordan Kent, and Cassian Foreman have all been big targets. Kent has the second most receptions per game at 6.0 and Carson is a couple spots behind with 5.5. Kent also ranks 3rd in receiving yards per game, Carson is 4th and Foreman is 5th. Eric Knight, Bryce Cabrera, and Abel Carter will all take reps at running back. SBU's group of linebackers is strong, led by upperclassmen in Aaron Harris, Taylor Jones-Morgan, and two-time GLVC Defensive Player of the Week, Coleton Smith. Week one saw Smith with 20 tackles, and Smith recorded 19 tackles week four. He leads the nation with 84 total tackles, 17 more than any other in the GLVC. Brenden Smith has the second most takles on the team with 37.

Scouting The Bulldogs
The Truman State Bulldogs enter Saturday's matchup with a 5-1 (1-1 GLVC) record this fall. For the 12th season, Gregg Nesbitt leads the Bulldogs, recording a 62-52 record over that span. The team started 4-0, defeating Davenport 31-14, Wayne State University 27-9, Hillsdale College 38-24, and #12 ranked Tiffin University 38-35. In the GLVC opener, the Bulldogs fell to Lindenwood 31-21. They bounced back and defeated Missouri S&T 38-21 last week. Truman's offense is dominant in the run game. Cody Schrader has rushed 151 times for 1044 yards and 12 touchdowns so far this season. His numbers are just behind UINDY's RB for 2nd in the conference and he ranks 3rd in the nation in rushing yards and TDs. Nolan Hair is the QB for TSU, completing 95-156 passes for 1021 yards, 10 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions. Dante Ruffin has caught most of Hair's passes, 24 to be exact, for 252 yards and 3 touchdowns. Matt Hall has also received 15 passes for 205 yards and a couple of scores. Ben Thomas leads the Truman defense with 49 tackles, but a handful of Bulldogs have recorded 30+ tackles this year as well. Along with his 49 tackles, Thomas has broken up 8 passes and has recorded 2.5 tackles for loss. Peyton Carr leads the team with 2 interceptions. The defense has been good at applying pressure, as four Bulldogs have recorded 2.0 sacks this year. In total, they have 15.0 sacks and 16 quarterback pressures.

SBU trails the all-time series with Truman State 27-4. In the shortened spring season, SBU hosted TSU in the opening game. Aaron Harris picked off TSU in the end zone just before half, trailing 17-13 at the break. Cooper Callis had 378 yards through the air and 3 touchdowns. Brenden Smith also recorded an interception in that game.