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Opponent: Lindenwood
Time: Saturday, October 23; 1:00 PM
Location: St. Charles, MO
 
St. Charles, Mo. - The Bearcats hit the road once again, looking to add on to their two-game winning streak. After upsetting Truman State 27-21, the team will face defending GLVC champs and current league leading Lindenwood on Saturday. 

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 enters Saturday's contest with a 3-4 (2-1 GLVC) record. 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. SBU has won their last two, defeating William Jewell 55-10 on the road, and upsetting Truman State 27-21 at home. The spring's GLVC Offensive Player of the Year, Cooper Callis, returns to lead the SBU offense. Callis has set several single game records this season, and has been named GLVC Player of the Week. He leads the GLVC in all passing categories, ranks 2nd in the nation in passing yards (2343), 7th in completion percentage (67.5), and 8th in passing TD (21). Preston Carson, Jordan Kent, and Cassian Foreman have all been big targets. Kent has the second most receptions per game in the GLVC at 5.7, Carson and Foreman follow at 5.3 and 4.7. Kent also ranks 3rd in receiving yards per game, Foreman is 4th and Carson is 5th. SBU's group of linebackers is strong, led by upperclassmen in Aaron Harris, Taylor Jones-Morgan, and three-time GLVC Defensive Player of the Week, Coleton Smith. He recorded 20 tackles week one, 19 in week four, and 21 in week seven. He leads the nation with 105 total tackles, 15 more than any other NCAA DII player. Brenden Smith has the second most takles on the team with 42.

Scouting The Lions
The Lindenwood Lions are coming off a huge 28-20 win at Indianapolis. They are 5-2 (3-0 GLVC) on the year and they lead the conference. Their two losses came at the beginning of the year, falling 40-20 to Angelo State and 52-7 against South Dakota State. Since then, Lindenwood has beat Kentucky Wesleyan, Findlay, #18 Truman State, Quincy, and UINDY. Jed Stugart leads the Lions, his fifth season in the position. He has been a head coach for 14 seasons with an all-time record of 108-42. In 2019, Stugart led the team to a perfect 7-0 conference record, winning the GLVC Championship. He was named GLVC Coach of the Year as well. Cade Brister is the team's quarterback, playing in all 7 games so far. On the year, Brister has completed 138-195 passes for 1572 yards, 10 touchdowns, and 4 interceptions. He has also rushed for 317 yards and 7 touchdowns. Robert Giaimo is the team's leading rusher with 426 yards and 8 touchdowns on the ground. He is averaging 5.5 yards per carry. The receiving is split rather evenly amongst four Lions, Alex Faddoul with 31 receptions for 361 yards and 3 scores. Senior linebacker, Drew Seers, leads the team with 72 total tackles this year. Of those 72, 5.0 have been for loss. He has also dropped back into coverage, collecting 3 interceptions so far this year. Kai Ross leads the team in that category, so far with 4 interceptions. The Lions defense hasn't been able to get too much pressure on the opposing quarterbacks, as no player has recorded more than 1.5 sacks or 3 quarterback hits.

SBU trails the all-time series with Lindenwood 3-0. Lindenwood visited Bolivar in the most recent contest in 2019, taking the game 42-10. Linebacker Taylor Jones-Morgan finished with 10 tackles in that game, including a tackle for loss.